Avro Schema Definition Throwing Invalid Value Type Error When Passing Two Possible Types Node.JS

Question

I am trying to allow for either type string or type null for a field in an Avro schema. Below is a simplification of the schema which throws the same error when executed. I am told the same schema works in Python without error so I am led to believe this issue is pertaining to Node.JS. I am using SWC to compile the code. Please let me know if any more information would be of use, thanks.

testSchema.js

export default {
    name: 'Pet',
    type: 'record',
    fields: [
        {name: 'name', type: 'string'},
        {name: 'animal', type: ['null', 'string']}
    ]
}

index.js

import avro from 'avro-js'
import testSchema from './testSchema.js'

const testSchemaAvro = avro.parse(testSchema)

const testObject = {"name": "Val", "animal": "cat"}

testSchemaAvro.isValid(testObject, {
    errorHook(path, any, type) {
        console.error(`'${any}' is not a valid value (of type ${type}) for '${path.join(".")}'`)
    }
})

Output

'cat' is not a valid value (of type ["null","string"]) for 'animal'

package.json (Abbreviated)

"scripts": {
    "build": "swc src -d dist",
    "build-dev": "npm run build && node --inspect dist/index.js",
    "dev": "nodemon --exec \"npm run build-dev\"",
    "start": "npm run build && node dist/index.js"
},
"devDependencies": {
    "@swc/cli": "^0.1.57",
    "@swc/core": "^1.2.181"
},
"dependencies": {
    "avro-js": "^1.11.0",
    "aws-sdk": "^2.1131.0",
    "axios": "^0.27.2",
    "kafkajs": "^2.1.0",
    "pg": "^8.7.3"
}

Answer 1

It seems that avro-js is barely maintained. There's an open issue related exactly to the problem you encountered.

I ended up using avsc instead, it works fine.