Error: Unable to determine the current character, it is not a string, number, array, or object in react-native for android

Whenever I run react-native run-android while keeping the emulator running, I get this error. react-native run-ios wroks completely fine.

Error: Command failed: ./gradlew app:installDebug -PreactNativeDevServerPort=8081
:ReactNative:Failed to parse React Native CLI configuration: groovy.json.JsonException: Unable to determine the current character, it is not a string, number, array, or object

The current character read is 'E' with an int value of 69
Unable to determine the current character, it is not a string, number, array, or object
line number 1
index number 0
Error: Invalid attribute nameLine: 16Column: 18Char: .    at error (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:651:10)    at strictFail (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:677:7)    at SAXParser.write (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/sax/lib/sax.js:1313:13)    at new XmlDocument (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/xmldoc/lib/xmldoc.js:261:15)    at readManifest (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/build/config/readManifest.js:38:10)    at Object.projectConfig (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/build/config/index.js:59:46)    at Object.get project [as project] (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/react-native/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli/build/tools/config/index.js:114:50)    at /Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/react-native/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli/build/commands/config/config.js:8:452    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)    at _objectSpread (/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/react-native/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli/build/commands/config/config.js:8:392)
^

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Script '/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze/node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle' line: 201

* What went wrong:
A problem occurred evaluating script.
> Failed to parse React Native CLI configuration. Expected running 'npx --quiet --no-install react-native config' command from '/Users/yashatreya/Desktop/Realyze/Realyze' directory to output valid JSON, but it didn't. This may be caused by npx resolving to a legacy global react-native binary. Please make sure to uninstall any global 'react-native' binaries: 'npm uninstall -g react-native react-native-cli' and try again

* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.

* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org

As indicated in the error message, I tried running npm uninstall -g react-native react-native-cli but it didn’t work.

Info about my environment:

System:
    OS: macOS 10.15
    CPU: (4) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7360U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory: 29.68 MB / 8.00 GB
    Shell: 3.2.57 - /bin/bash
  Binaries:
    Node: 12.13.0 - /usr/local/bin/node
    Yarn: 1.19.1 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
    npm: 6.12.0 - /usr/local/bin/npm
    Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: iOS 13.0, DriverKit 19.0, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13.0, watchOS 6.0
  IDEs:
    Android Studio: 3.5 AI-191.8026.42.35.5977832
    Xcode: 11.0/11A420a - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  npmPackages:
    react: 16.9.0 => 16.9.0 
    react-native: ^0.61.4 => 0.61.4 
  npmGlobalPackages:
    react-native-cli: 2.0.1

android/app/build.gradle below:

apply plugin: "com.android.application"

import com.android.build.OutputFile
project.ext.react = [
    entryFile: "index.js",
    enableHermes: false,  // clean and rebuild if changing
]

apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native/react.gradle"

def enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture = false
def enableProguardInReleaseBuilds = false

def jscFlavor = 'org.webkit:android-jsc:+' 

def enableHermes = project.ext.react.get("enableHermes", false);

android {
    compileSdkVersion rootProject.ext.compileSdkVersion

    compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.realyze"
        minSdkVersion 21 
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.ext.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
        multiDexEnabled true

    }
    // rootProject.ext.minSdkVersion
    splits {
        abi {
            reset()
            enable enableSeparateBuildPerCPUArchitecture
            universalApk false  // If true, also generate a universal APK
            include "armeabi-v7a", "x86", "arm64-v8a", "x86_64"
        }
    }
    signingConfigs {
        debug {
            storeFile file('debug.keystore')
            storePassword 'android'
            keyAlias 'androiddebugkey'
            keyPassword 'android'
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
        debug {
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
        }
        release {
            // Caution! In production, you need to generate your own keystore file.
            // see https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/signed-apk-android.
            signingConfig signingConfigs.debug
            minifyEnabled enableProguardInReleaseBuilds
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro"
        }
    }
    // applicationVariants are e.g. debug, release
    applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        variant.outputs.each { output ->
            // For each separate APK per architecture, set a unique version code as described here:
            // https://developer.android.com/studio/build/configure-apk-splits.html
            def versionCodes = ["armeabi-v7a": 1, "x86": 2, "arm64-v8a": 3, "x86_64": 4]
            def abi = output.getFilter(OutputFile.ABI)
            if (abi != null) {  // null for the universal-debug, universal-release variants
                output.versionCodeOverride =
                        versionCodes.get(abi) * 1048576 + defaultConfig.versionCode
            }

        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation project(':react-native-push-notification')
    implementation project(':react-native-sound')
    implementation project(':react-native-audio')
    implementation 'com.android.support:multidex:2.0.1'
    implementation project(':react-native-gesture-handler')
    implementation fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    implementation "com.facebook.react:react-native:+"  // From node_modules
    implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.1.0-rc01'
    implementation 'androidx.swiperefreshlayout:swiperefreshlayout:1.1.0-alpha02'
    implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-analytics:17.2.0'
    implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-auth:19.1.0'
    implementation project(path: ":@react-native-firebase_auth")
    implementation project(path: ":@react-native-firebase_messaging")
    implementation project(path: ":@react-native-firebase_database")
    implementation project(':react-native-datetimepicker')
    implementation project(path: ":@react-native-firebase_firestore")
    implementation project(path: ":@react-native-firebase_functions")
}

    if (enableHermes) {
        def hermesPath = "../../node_modules/hermes-engine/android/";
        debugImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-debug.aar")
        releaseImplementation files(hermesPath + "hermes-release.aar")
    } else {
        implementation jscFlavor
    }
// }

// Run this once to be able to run the application with BUCK
// puts all compile dependencies into folder libs for BUCK to use
task copyDownloadableDepsToLibs(type: Copy) {
    from configurations.compile
    into 'libs'
}

apply from: file("../../node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle"); applyNativeModulesAppBuildGradle(project)
apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

android/build.gradle below :

buildscript {
    ext {
        buildToolsVersion = "28.0.3"
        minSdkVersion = 16
        compileSdkVersion = 28
        targetSdkVersion = 28
    }
    repositories {
        google()
        jcenter()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath "com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.4.2"
        classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.2'
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        mavenLocal()
        maven {
            // All of React Native (JS, Obj-C sources, Android binaries) is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/react-native/android")
        }
        maven {
            // Android JSC is installed from npm
            url("$rootDir/../node_modules/jsc-android/dist")
        }

        google()
        jcenter()
        maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
    }
}

Initially I was getting this error: react-native build error: Could not find method implementation() for arguments [jscFlavor] on project ‘:app’ of type org.gradle.api.Project but now I am getting the above.

Answer

SOLUTION 1 (worked for me)

The solution for me was removing the following line

apply from: file("../../node_modules/@react-native-community/cli-platform-android/native_modules.gradle"); applyNativeModulesAppBuildGradle(project)

Be sure to remove it everywhere. I had this line in build.gradle (app) and also in settings.gradle.

After that, run again npx react-native run-android the console will display the real error, fix the error and put back the lines you had removed.

In my case the error happened because I have been using an older Node version and the second time It happened I needed to sync my project again

---

SOLUTION 2

Delete the files it was finding error as “The current character read is ‘E’ with an int value of 69”

Deleting

appbuildintermediatessigning_configdebugoutsigning-config.json

worked for others too.

---

SOLUTION 3

Update the @react-native-community/cli to the latest version.

Good coding!