# Cannot open project after upgrade to 8.1.0 Build 208 (ParseKeywordException)

**URL:** <https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867>\
**Category:** Bug Report\
**Tags:** tracked, katalon-studio, bugs-report\
**Created:** [August 31, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867 "2021-08-31T13:40:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lefak.fakiy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/lefak.fakiy/32/16104_2.png) [@lefak.fakiy](https://forum.katalon.com/u/lefak.fakiy)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/1 "2021-08-31T13:40:11Z")

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#### Please let us know what you are using Katalon Studio for?

1. I have currently applied Katalon Studio in my project

#### How would your work be affected if this issue has not been resolved?

1. I cannot continue my job and have to work on something else while awaiting your response

#### Operating System

- For example: Windows 10

#### Katalon Studio Version

Version 8.1.0 Build 208

#### Katalon Studio logs

- Windows logs folder: \config.metadata.log

#### Screenshots / Videos

- Please attach screenshots or videos if necessary to reproduce the issue

I have been unable to open my project since I upgraded to Version 8.1.0. Katalon attempts to load the project and ends up with the following error:

Unable to open project.  
Reason: ParseKeywordException

Details:  
com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ParseKeywordException: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid JSON syntax. Root cause: com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException: Expected ‘:’ at line 2 column 10 path $.\<\<\<\<\<\<\<  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.parseAllKeywordFilesInProject(ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.java:84)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ImprovedCustomKeywordParser.parseProjectCustomKeywords(ImprovedCustomKeywordParser.java:138)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ImprovedCustomKeywordParser.parseCustomKeywords(ImprovedCustomKeywordParser.java:57)  
at com.kms.katalon.controller.ImprovedKeywordControllerDelegate.parseAllCustomKeywords(ImprovedKeywordControllerDelegate.java:41)  
at com.kms.katalon.controller.KeywordController.parseAllCustomKeywords(KeywordController.java:165)  
at com.kms.katalon.controller.ProjectController.openProjectForUI(ProjectController.java:129)  
at com.kms.katalon.composer.project.handlers.OpenProjectHandler$1.run(OpenProjectHandler.java:166)  
at org.eclipse.jface.operation.ModalContext$ModalContextThread.run(ModalContext.java:122)  
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid JSON syntax. Root cause: com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException: Expected ‘:’ at line 2 column 10 path $.\<\<\<\<\<\<\<  
at com.kms.katalon.core.util.internal.JsonUtil.fromJson(JsonUtil.java:94)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.cache.ParseKeywordCacheContent.fromFile(ParseKeywordCacheContent.java:54)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.cache.ParseKeywordCacheFile.loadContent(ParseKeywordCacheFile.java:35)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.cache.ParseKeywordCacheFile.getOrCreate(ParseKeywordCacheFile.java:64)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.internallyParseKeywordFile(ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.java:92)  
at com.kms.katalon.custom.improvement.parser.ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.parseAllKeywordFilesInProject(ProjectCustomKeywordsParser.java:78)  
… 7 more

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kazurayam](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/kazurayam/32/333_2.png) [@kazurayam](https://forum.katalon.com/u/kazurayam)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 7:50am UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/2 "2021-09-01T07:50:59Z")

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At first, please make a zip of your project as backup.

* * *

I think that somethiing is wrong in some file in the `<projectdir>/.cache` folder.

1. You want to stop Katalon Studio.
2. You want to delete `<projectDir>/.cache` directory somehow. On mac, use Finder. On Windows, use Explorer. Or you may want to " rm -rf .cache" in the commandline.
3. Then restart Katalon Studio, reopen the project.

* * *

Do you use git? In the `.gitignore` file, are you ignoring the `.cache/` directory? If not, you should ignore it.

* * *

In the backup zip, do you find any file in the `.cache` directory containing any `<<<<<<` String? To me, this character sequence seems to be the marker of Merge conflicts inserted by Git.

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**Author:** ![chrisstu](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/chrisstu/32/18464_2.png) [@chrisstu](https://forum.katalon.com/u/chrisstu)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/3 "2021-09-06T07:01:58Z")

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Assigned @duyluong on September 6, 2021, 7:01am UTC



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**Author:** ![duyluong](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/duyluong/32/1116_2.png) [@duyluong](https://forum.katalon.com/u/duyluong)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/4 "2021-09-10T10:57:40Z")

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Hi @lefak.fakiy,

Please share the **Customs** keyword folder with us

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lefak.fakiy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/lefak.fakiy/32/16104_2.png) [@lefak.fakiy](https://forum.katalon.com/u/lefak.fakiy)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/5 "2021-09-15T16:19:30Z")

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Initially I renamed the Keyword file and was able to continue working. But this morning, the issue came up again. I have followed your suggestions and was able to successfully get back into Katalon.

This issue has only happened since the upgrade. I wonder what has changed.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lefak.fakiy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/lefak.fakiy/32/16104_2.png) [@lefak.fakiy](https://forum.katalon.com/u/lefak.fakiy)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/6 "2021-09-15T16:19:36Z")

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we are not ignoring .cache/ in our gitignore file. I’ll be adding that to see if there are any improvements in our load time (which has progressively gotten slower as our project grows).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lefak.fakiy](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/lefak.fakiy/32/16104_2.png) [@lefak.fakiy](https://forum.katalon.com/u/lefak.fakiy)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/7 "2021-09-15T18:32:39Z")

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Please find file attached.

[Keywords.zip](https://forum.katalon.com/uploads/short-url/zGE6fmwFJCiclLV0ZgJiwoH1mqj.zip) (14.2 KB)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shameer1](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/user_avatar/forum.katalon.com/shameer1/32/16104_2.png) [@shameer1](https://forum.katalon.com/u/shameer1)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/8 "2021-09-24T08:08:50Z")

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Any latest update guys? I am also facing the same issue

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/katalon/original/3X/d/5/d55596ab02785a255798e87ede769734747b30c4.svg) [@system](https://forum.katalon.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 8:09am UTC](https://forum.katalon.com/t/cannot-open-project-after-upgrade-to-8-1-0-build-208-parsekeywordexception/57867/9 "2022-09-24T08:09:13Z")

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Closed on September 24, 2022, 8:09am UTC

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