How to decode a nested JSON struct with Swift Decodable protocol?

Another approach is to create an intermediate model that closely matches the JSON (with the help of a tool like quicktype.io), let Swift generate the methods to decode it, and then pick off the pieces that you want in your final data model:

// snake_case to match the JSON and hence no need to write CodingKey enums / struct
fileprivate struct RawServerResponse: Decodable {
    struct User: Decodable {
        var user_name: String
        var real_info: UserRealInfo
    }

    struct UserRealInfo: Decodable {
        var full_name: String
    }

    struct Review: Decodable {
        var count: Int
    }

    var id: Int
    var user: User
    var reviews_count: [Review]
}

struct ServerResponse: Decodable {
    var id: String
    var username: String
    var fullName: String
    var reviewCount: Int

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        let rawResponse = try RawServerResponse(from: decoder)

        // Now you can pick items that are important to your data model,
        // conveniently decoded into a Swift structure
        id = String(rawResponse.id)
        username = rawResponse.user.user_name
        fullName = rawResponse.user.real_info.full_name
        reviewCount = rawResponse.reviews_count.first!.count
    }
}

This also allows you to easily iterate through reviews_count, should it contain more than 1 value in the future.


In order to solve your problem, you can split your RawServerResponse implementation into several logic parts (using Swift 5).


#1. Implement the properties and required coding keys

import Foundation

struct RawServerResponse {

    enum RootKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case id, user, reviewCount = "reviews_count"
    }

    enum UserKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case userName = "user_name", realInfo = "real_info"
    }

    enum RealInfoKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case fullName = "full_name"
    }

    enum ReviewCountKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case count
    }

    let id: Int
    let userName: String
    let fullName: String
    let reviewCount: Int

}

#2. Set the decoding strategy for id property

extension RawServerResponse: Decodable {

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        // id
        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: RootKeys.self)
        id = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: .id)

        /* ... */                 
    }

}

#3. Set the decoding strategy for userName property

extension RawServerResponse: Decodable {

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        /* ... */

        // userName
        let userContainer = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: UserKeys.self, forKey: .user)
        userName = try userContainer.decode(String.self, forKey: .userName)

        /* ... */
    }

}

#4. Set the decoding strategy for fullName property

extension RawServerResponse: Decodable {

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        /* ... */

        // fullName
        let realInfoKeysContainer = try userContainer.nestedContainer(keyedBy: RealInfoKeys.self, forKey: .realInfo)
        fullName = try realInfoKeysContainer.decode(String.self, forKey: .fullName)

        /* ... */
    }

}

#5. Set the decoding strategy for reviewCount property

extension RawServerResponse: Decodable {

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        /* ...*/        

        // reviewCount
        var reviewUnkeyedContainer = try container.nestedUnkeyedContainer(forKey: .reviewCount)
        var reviewCountArray = [Int]()
        while !reviewUnkeyedContainer.isAtEnd {
            let reviewCountContainer = try reviewUnkeyedContainer.nestedContainer(keyedBy: ReviewCountKeys.self)
            reviewCountArray.append(try reviewCountContainer.decode(Int.self, forKey: .count))
        }
        guard let reviewCount = reviewCountArray.first else {
            throw DecodingError.dataCorrupted(DecodingError.Context(codingPath: container.codingPath + [RootKeys.reviewCount], debugDescription: "reviews_count cannot be empty"))
        }
        self.reviewCount = reviewCount
    }

}

Complete implementation

import Foundation

struct RawServerResponse {

    enum RootKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case id, user, reviewCount = "reviews_count"
    }

    enum UserKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case userName = "user_name", realInfo = "real_info"
    }

    enum RealInfoKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case fullName = "full_name"
    }

    enum ReviewCountKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case count
    }

    let id: Int
    let userName: String
    let fullName: String
    let reviewCount: Int

}
extension RawServerResponse: Decodable {

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        // id
        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: RootKeys.self)
        id = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: .id)

        // userName
        let userContainer = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: UserKeys.self, forKey: .user)
        userName = try userContainer.decode(String.self, forKey: .userName)

        // fullName
        let realInfoKeysContainer = try userContainer.nestedContainer(keyedBy: RealInfoKeys.self, forKey: .realInfo)
        fullName = try realInfoKeysContainer.decode(String.self, forKey: .fullName)

        // reviewCount
        var reviewUnkeyedContainer = try container.nestedUnkeyedContainer(forKey: .reviewCount)
        var reviewCountArray = [Int]()
        while !reviewUnkeyedContainer.isAtEnd {
            let reviewCountContainer = try reviewUnkeyedContainer.nestedContainer(keyedBy: ReviewCountKeys.self)
            reviewCountArray.append(try reviewCountContainer.decode(Int.self, forKey: .count))
        }
        guard let reviewCount = reviewCountArray.first else {
            throw DecodingError.dataCorrupted(DecodingError.Context(codingPath: container.codingPath + [RootKeys.reviewCount], debugDescription: "reviews_count cannot be empty"))
        }
        self.reviewCount = reviewCount
    }

}

Usage

let jsonString = """
{
    "id": 1,
    "user": {
        "user_name": "Tester",
        "real_info": {
            "full_name":"Jon Doe"
        }
    },
    "reviews_count": [
    {
    "count": 4
    }
    ]
}
"""

let jsonData = jsonString.data(using: .utf8)!
let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let serverResponse = try! decoder.decode(RawServerResponse.self, from: jsonData)
dump(serverResponse)

/*
prints:
▿ RawServerResponse #1 in __lldb_expr_389
  - id: 1
  - user: "Tester"
  - fullName: "Jon Doe"
  - reviewCount: 4
*/