How to define a mixed-type array (with different element types) in OpenAPI 2.0?

Question

I trying to map the following JSON to an OpenAPI 2.0 (Swagger 2.0) YAML definition, and I am not sure how to set mixed array types into my schema:

{
  "obj1": [
     "string data",
     1
    ]
}

Now, my OpenAPI definition has:

schema:
  object1:
    type: array
    items:
      type: string

but this doesn't allow integers inside the array.

Is there a way to define a mixed type array?

Answer 1

The answer depends on which version of the OpenAPI Specification you use.

OpenAPI 3.1

type can be a list of types, so you can write your schema as:

# openapi: 3.1.0

obj1:
  type: array
  items:
    type: [string, integer]
    # or if nulls are allowed:
    # type: [string, integer, 'null']

OpenAPI 3.0.x

Mixed types are supported in OpenAPI 3.0 using oneOf / anyOf and optionally nullable: true to also allow nulls.

# openapi: 3.0.1

obj1:
  type: array
  items:
    oneOf:
      - type: string
        nullable: true  # If nulls are allowed
      - type: integer

OpenAPI 2.0

OpenAPI 2.0 (Swagger 2.0) does not really support mixed-type array and parameters. The most you can do is to use a typeless schema {} for items, which means the items can be anything (except null) – numbers, objects, strings, etc. You cannot specify the exact types for items, but you can add an example of an array with different item types.

# swagger: '2.0'

obj1:
  type: array
  items: {}  # <--- means "any type" (except null)
  example:
    - string data
    - 1

Note: Typeless schema {} can only be used in body parameters and response schemas. Path, header and form parameters require a primitive type for array items.