title: Strings sent through Web API's gets wrapped in quotes
body: <p>I've run into a small problem with my Web API's in ASP.NET 4, using C#. I'm trying to create a front-end GUI which sends and receives data through multiple Web API's. The reason for having more than one API has to do with our network, which consists of several secure zones. The servers are placed in different zones, and a simple request may have to pass through as much as 3 different API's.</p>
  
  <p>Specifically, I'm sending a JSON object from the GUI to the first API. The JSON object is supposed to be forwarded to the next API and the next - and from there a new JSON object is created and returned down the same path.</p>
  
  <p>The path itself works fine. The problem is that the JSON object cannot be parsed once it returns to the GUI. I am receiving a JSON string that has been wrapped in quotes, once for each API.</p>
  
  <p>The string may start out like this:</p>
  
  <p><code>Hey! I am a string, or a JSON object of sorts!</code></p>
  
  <p>The first hop between API's gives me this:</p>
  
  <p><code>"Hey! I am a string, or a JSON object of sorts!"</code></p>
  
  <p>After the next hop it looks like this:</p>
  
  <p><code>"\"Hey! I am a string, or a JSON object of sorts!\""</code></p>
  
  <p>And by the time my GUI gets hold of it we have something like this:</p>
  
  <p><code>"\"\\\"Hey! I am a string, or a JSON object of sorts!\\\"\""</code></p>
  
  <p>This is where parsing fails, for obvious reasons. The JSON object itself is properly formatted, but all the quotes are causing problems for the JSON.net parser (all quotes inside the object are also wrapped multiple times).</p>
  
  <p>What I've tried so far is sending the request as a application/json type, and a text/plain type. Both did the same thing. The API's return a HttpResponseMessage, which are read using ReadAsStringAsync(). I've also tried to avoid the string reading and just read directly from the HttpRequestMessage into a HttpResponseMessage and do ReadAsStringAsync() only in the GUI, but the problem still remain. The JSON string is created using JSON.nets Serialize()-method, and put into the HttpContent using StringContent(). This seems to do the job correctly. I believe that the quotes are generated when the API's and the GUI receives the HttpResponseMessage.</p>
  
  <p>Any idea how I can send and receive the JSON string as a raw string, that is not treated in any way?</p>
  
  <p>I can bypass this behaviour by parsing the object to a JToken or JObject at each API, and serializing it again. This isn't a good solution, however - I would rather the API's just forward the message exactly the way they got it, and not do anything with it. I looked into forwards using routing, but there is a lot of authorization-stuff going on, which do require that I use an API action, and not a redirect route.</p>
  
  <p>To clarify (TLDR): The ideal solution would be for the API's to simply pass along the message without parsing or reading anything into it. As long as the source of the message is authorized, the request is encrypted and the requested URL is valid, the message itself doesn't matter much to each of the "proxy" API's.</p>