Boto3 Test State sending a different response than test state in AWS Console with JSONata

[dylanmccormick]

Describe the bug

When comparing the response from the test state api in the aws console vs the response of test state in boto3, there is an issue where boto3 will return the jsonata definition of the variable, but the console version of test state will return the evaluated variables as strings.

Regression Issue

• [ ] Select this option if this issue appears to be a regression.

Expected Behavior

Test state call in boto3. definition assigns variable "example" to $foo. { % $states.input.foo % }. input: {"input": "{foo:bar}"}

{
  "output": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
  "inspectionData": {
    "input": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterInputPath": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterParameters": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterResultSelector": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterResultPath": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "variables": "{\"example\":\"bar\"}"
  },
  "nextState": "baz",
  "status": "SUCCEEDED",
  "ResponseMetadata": {
    "RequestId": "1234",
    "HTTPStatusCode": 200,
    "HTTPHeaders": {
      "x-amzn-requestid": "1234",
      "date": "Tue, 20 May 2025 17:02:41 GMT",
      "content-type": "application/x-amz-json-1.0",
      "content-length": "342",
      "connection": "keep-alive"
    },
    "RetryAttempts": 0
  }
}

Current Behavior

Test state call in boto3. definition assigns variable "example" to $foo. { % $states.input.foo % }. input: {"input": "{foo:bar}"}

state definition:

{
  "Assign": {
    "example": "{% $states.input.foo %}",
  },
 "Next": "baz",
 "Type": "Pass",
}

{
  "output": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
  "inspectionData": {
    "input": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterInputPath": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterParameters": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterResultSelector": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "afterResultPath": "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
    "variables": "{\"example\":\"{% $states.input.foo %}\"}"
  },
  "nextState": "baz",
  "status": "SUCCEEDED",
  "ResponseMetadata": {
    "RequestId": "1234",
    "HTTPStatusCode": 200,
    "HTTPHeaders": {
      "x-amzn-requestid": "1234",
      "date": "Tue, 20 May 2025 17:02:41 GMT",
      "content-type": "application/x-amz-json-1.0",
      "content-length": "342",
      "connection": "keep-alive"
    },
    "RetryAttempts": 0
  }
}

Reproduction Steps

    def foo(self) -> None:
        state_def = {
            "Assign": {
                "example": "{% $states.input.foo %}",
            },
            "Next": "baz",
            "Type": "Pass",
        }

        i = {
            "foo": "bar",
        }

        response = client.test_state(
            definition=json.dumps(state_def),
            roleArn="arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/myRole",
            input=json.dumps(i),
            inspectionLevel="TRACE",
        )

        j = json.dumps(response)
        print(j)
        variables = json.loads(response["inspectionData"]["variables"])
        print(json.dumps(variables))

Possible Solution

No response

Additional Information/Context

No response

SDK version used

1.38.19

Environment details (OS name and version, etc.)

Linux 5.15.167.4-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[adev-code]

Hello @dylanmccormick, thanks for reaching out. I have replicated wit test_state API and have received the same result: {"example":"{% $states.input.foo %}"}. I have reached out to the Step Functions team and will update if there are any updates. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

For Internal Tracking: P248922317

[adev-code]

Hello @dylanmccormick, the Service Team has mentioned that JSONata should be added as QueryLanguage e.g.

state_def = {
        "QueryLanguage": "JSONata"
...

[github-actions[bot]]

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