ADF Resource Manager ContinuationToken not working

Hi@Tommy Tam You're encountering the following error:

“After parsing a value an unexpected character was encountered: t. Path 'continuationToken', line 13, position 28.”

This typically means that the continuationToken is being passed as a string instead of as a native JSON object or array.

You're using:

"continuationToken": "@{json(activity('List All Pipeline Runs').output.continuationToken)}"

Change it to:

"continuationToken": @{activity('List All Pipeline Runs').output.continuationToken}

This ensures the token is passed as structured JSON, not a string.

Token value alone isn’t enough

"continuationToken": "@{activity('List All Pipeline Runs').output.continuationToken[0].token}"

This might succeed but will return the same page of results. That's because the full continuationToken (including min and max range) is required for paging.

How to confirm the continuationToken structure

Check the output of the “List All Pipeline Runs” activity.

Look for a continuationToken property like this:

[
  {
    "token": "abc123...",
    "range": {
      "min": "05C1...",
      "max": "FF"
    }
  }
]

If it's shown as a string with escaped characters (e.g., "[{\"token\":\"...\"}]"), that means it's being passed incorrectly — and will trigger a parsing error.

The error: “unexpected character was encountered: t…”

Suggests the continuationToken was passed as a string (starting with "token"), rather than a JSON object. This matches the issue exactly — removing quotes and passing the array directly should resolve it.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Kindly consider upvoting the comment if the information provided is helpful. This can assist other community members in resolving similar issues.

@Venkat Reddy Navari

Thanks for your suggestion, unfortunately updating the expression builder to

has returned the same results as the initial API run, in fact I've noticed the same behaviour when I put in any value I want in the continuationToken

@Tommy Tam

You’ve inserted the correct dynamic reference using @{activity('List All Pipeline Runs').output.continuationToken}

You’re getting the same results regardless of the continuationToken’s actual value

Manual input like "anyvaluehere" also returns the same initial 100 results

it strongly suggests the API is not utilizing the continuationToken value to fetch subsequent pages.

1. Review the Time Range Filters: Double-check the lastUpdatedAfter and lastUpdatedBefore fields in your request body. Currently, they’re set to a 5-year range (lastUpdatedAfter as 5 years ago and lastUpdatedBefore as now). Ensure this range isn’t causing the API to return the same set of results, potentially overriding the continuationToken logic.
2. Test the API Outside ADF: Try calling the API using Postman or a REST client with the full continuationToken object in the request body. Here’s the structure again:

      [ { "token": "your_token_here", "range": { "min": "05C1EBFB6DDB0C", "max": "FF" } } ]
   

   If this returns the next page, then the issue lies with how the Data Factory pipeline is forming or handling the call. If it doesn’t, it’s likely a backend pagination issue.
3. Debug the Token in ADF: To confirm the continuationToken value being passed, you can add a Set Variable activity after the List All Pipeline Runs activity to capture and log the continuationToken. This will help verify that the token structure matches the expected format.
4. Raise a Support Request: If the API isn’t honoring the continuationToken regardless of usage, please consider raising a support request with Microsoft, as this might be an issue with how pagination is implemented on the server side.
5. Workaround with Manual Pagination: As a workaround, you can implement manual pagination using the lastUpdatedAfter and lastUpdatedBefore fields. After each API call, extract the timestamp of the latest pipeline run from the results (e.g., using the lastUpdated field of the last record), then set lastUpdatedAfter to that timestamp for the next call. This will progressively shift the time window to fetch the next set of records.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Kindly consider upvoting the comment if the information provided is helpful. This can assist other community members in resolving similar issues.

@Tommy Tam We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.