Fix: API server returning double-encoded JSON string

[kl421]

Issue: > When running the API server, CollectData.run() returns a JSON-formatted string rather than a Python dictionary. Because Connexion automatically serializes the return value, it wraps the already-stringified JSON in another layer of quotes and escape characters (e.g., "{\n "bins": [\n..."). This prevents external dashboards and tools from natively parsing the JSON response.

Fix:
Imported the json module and wrapped the return statement in json.loads(). This converts the string back into a dictionary before handing it to Connexion, allowing the API to serve clean, native JSON payloads.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed API response format to return structured JSON data instead of raw strings, improving data accessibility and consistency.

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Modified council_data() function to parse raw string output from CollectData.run() using json.loads() and return the resulting JSON object. Adjusted try: block indentation, affecting exception handling structure.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
JSON Parsing Update uk_bin_collection_api_server/server.py	Added json import. Modified council_data() to deserialize CollectData.run() output via json.loads(). Changed try block indentation, altering control flow and exception handling scope.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Poem

🐰 A rabbit hops through JSON trees,
Parsing strings with newfound ease,
The try block shifts—oh what a sight!
Does indentation match the light?
We parse, we catch, we hope it's right! 🎯

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The pull request title 'Fix: API server returning double-encoded JSON string' accurately describes the main change: addressing the issue where JSON strings are double-encoded when returned by the API.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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Caution

Some comments are outside the diff and can’t be posted inline due to platform limitations.

⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)

uk_bin_collection_api_server/server.py (1)

35-43: ⚠️ Potential issue | 🔴 Critical

Critical indentation error: try: is outside the function scope.

The try: statement at line 35 has no indentation, placing it at module level rather than inside the council_data() function. This causes a Python IndentationError because the except clause at line 40 is indented at 4 spaces (function body level), which doesn't match the try: at column 0.

The JSON parsing logic is correct—CollectData.run() returns a JSON string from output_json(), and json.loads() properly converts it back to a dict for Connexion to serialize.

🐛 Proposed fix for indentation

-try:
+    try:
         CollectData = UKBinCollectionApp()
         CollectData.set_args(args)
         raw_string_output = CollectData.run()
         return json.loads(raw_string_output)
     except Exception as err:
         logging.error(traceback.format_exc())
         logging.info(f"Schema: {err}")
         raise err

🤖 Prompt for AI Agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

In `@uk_bin_collection_api_server/server.py` around lines 35 - 43, The try/except
block is at module scope instead of inside the council_data() function;
move/indent the entire try/except (the lines creating UKBinCollectionApp,
calling CollectData.set_args(args), raw_string_output = CollectData.run(),
json.loads(raw_string_output), and the except that logs traceback and err) so
that the try: aligns with the other statements inside council_data(); ensure
references to UKBinCollectionApp, CollectData.set_args, CollectData.run,
json.loads, logging.error(traceback.format_exc()), logging.info(f"Schema:
{err}") and raise err remain unchanged except for indentation.

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Outside diff comments:
In `@uk_bin_collection_api_server/server.py`:
- Around line 35-43: The try/except block is at module scope instead of inside
the council_data() function; move/indent the entire try/except (the lines
creating UKBinCollectionApp, calling CollectData.set_args(args),
raw_string_output = CollectData.run(), json.loads(raw_string_output), and the
except that logs traceback and err) so that the try: aligns with the other
statements inside council_data(); ensure references to UKBinCollectionApp,
CollectData.set_args, CollectData.run, json.loads,
logging.error(traceback.format_exc()), logging.info(f"Schema: {err}") and raise
err remain unchanged except for indentation.

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 90ae2ff5-fb34-456e-8130-a8e4ad1c6cad

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 60bd3cc and 12890e6.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• uk_bin_collection_api_server/server.py