/services/hbs/bot_responses_to_messages
Request: {method: POST, url: /services/hbs/bot_responses_to_messages, params: {}, query: {}, body: {"data":{"authorLastName":"","buttons":[{"id":"1","title":"Jah","payload":"#service, /POST/services/active/mcq_test_mcq_1_0"},{"id":"2","title":"Ei","payload":"#service, /POST/services/active/mcq_test_mcq_1_1"}],"chatId":"","botMessages":[{"result":"Do you need to use an \"\\*\" asterix with quotes or not? So like \\* or..."}],"authorFirstName":"","created":"2026-05-27T07:05:20.323Z","authorTimestamp":"2026-05-27T07:05:20.322Z","authorId":""}}}
err: SyntaxError: Bad escaped character in JSON at position 63
at JSON.parse (<anonymous>)
at /workspace/app/server.js:139:31
at ExpressHandlebars.<anonymous> (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:301:25)
at step (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:49:23)
at Object.next (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:30:53)
at fulfilled (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:21:58)
Response: {statusCode: 200, responseData: "{\"error\":\"There was an error executing /workspace/app/module/services/hbs/bot_responses_to_messages.handlebars\"}"}
Request: {method: POST, url: /services/hbs/bot_responses_to_messages, params: {}, query: {}, body: {"data":{"authorLastName":"","buttons":[{"id":"1","title":"Jah","payload":"#service, /POST/services/active/mcq_test_mcq_1_0"},{"id":"2","title":"Ei","payload":"#service, /POST/services/active/mcq_test_mcq_1_1"}],"chatId":"","botMessages":[{"result":"Do you need to use an \"\\*\" asterix with quotes or not? So like \\* or..."}],"authorFirstName":"","created":"2026-05-27T07:05:20.346Z","authorTimestamp":"2026-05-27T07:05:20.345Z","authorId":""}}}
err: SyntaxError: Bad escaped character in JSON at position 63
at JSON.parse (<anonymous>)
at /workspace/app/server.js:139:31
at ExpressHandlebars.<anonymous> (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:301:25)
at step (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:49:23)
at Object.next (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:30:53)
at fulfilled (/workspace/app/node_modules/express-handlebars/dist/express-handlebars.js:21:58)
Response: {statusCode: 200, responseData: "{\"error\":\"There was an error executing /workspace/app/module/services/hbs/bot_responses_to_messages.handlebars\"}"}
Bug description:
MCQ node does not render “Message to client” when the message contains an asterisk *.
When an MCQ message includes an escaped asterisk, DataMapper fails while processing:
DataMapper error:
Expected behavior:
MCQ “Message to client” should support * characters without causing DataMapper/HBS JSON parsing errors.
The message should render correctly in the widget, whether * is used as plain text or part of formatting.
Screenshots:
Additional information:
Likely escaping issue in the HBS/DataMapper response generation flow.