The following characters are considered special characters in JSON:
- Double quotes (“)
- Backslash ()
- Newline (\n)
- Carriage return (\r)
- Tab (\t)
- Backspace (\b)
- Form feed (\f)
Important to note: By default, the GLU.Engine will not make changes to any special characters within JSON payloads during the integration flow.
Unescape JSON Special Characters
GLU provides the capability to ‘unescape’ these characters – i.e. to remove the backslash ‘\’ characters from a JSON payload. The process of unescaping JSON characters is the reverse of the escaping process, and it involves converting the encoded special characters back into their original form. This allows special characters within JSON payloads to be properly interpreted and used by applications that receive them.
To perform the unescape operation, choose “Unescape JSON” from the Decoder dropdown menu in the Response Manager Panel.

Example 1
Original JSON payload:
{ \”TRANSACTION_ID\”:\”5930551\” } |
Unescaped JSON payload:
{ “TRANSACTION_ID”:”5930551″ } |
Example 2
Original JSON payload:
{ \”test\”:\”backslash \\ and double quotes ‘\”\” } |
Unescaped JSON payload:
{ “test”:”backslash \ and double quotes ‘”” } |
Retain escaped JSON Special Characters
The GLU.Engine introduces the “Retain Escaped JSON” feature, providing users with the ability to preserve the integrity of JSON data containing escaped characters. This feature ensures that special characters remain intact during data transmission or storage, preventing misinterpretation and maintaining the accuracy of the original data structure.
The ability to retain escaped JSON characters can be utilised in both API requests and orchestration responses.
