Differs from Official Docs

Every SSJS function, object, and property whose runtime behavior in the SFMC engine differs from the official Salesforce documentation — return types, required arguments, null vs empty-string results, and more. Each entry is runtime-verified on a live CloudPage.

Verification pending

The official Salesforce SSJS documentation contains a number of inaccuracies: wrong return types, arguments listed as optional that are actually required, properties that exist but are undocumented, and members that behave differently than described. Every entry below has been runtime-verified on a live CloudPage and is flagged in the reference pages with a

Differs from official Salesforce docs

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note.

This page is the single, growing catalog of those discrepancies. Each row links to the method’s main reference page, where the same discrepancy is documented inline.

This differs from Known Bugs: entries here are cases where the docs are simply inaccurate about how a working feature behaves. Known Bugs covers features that are outright broken or that do not exist at runtime despite being documented.

Globals

Request (bare-name global) — more reliable than Platform.Request

Reference: Request

The bare-name global Request works after Platform.Load("core", "1.1.5") and is more reliable than Platform.Request for .URL(): Request.URL() returns the full request URL as a string, whereas Platform.Request.URL() throws “Unable to retrieve security descriptor for this frame.” in CloudPages. Other members (PagePath, Method, ApplicationID, PackageID, ApplicationBaseURL) return CLR values (empty in a plain CloudPage GET, with Method = "GET"). Prefer the bare-name Request in CloudPages.

Error — new Error(“msg”) does not expose .message

Reference: Error

Unlike standard JavaScript, a JS-constructed new Error("msg") in the SFMC Jint engine does not expose the message via .message — err.message reads back undefined, and Stringify(err) surfaces only a hidden {jintException} (the .NET stack), not the message. Recover the message with String(err) or ("" + err) (both yield the constructor argument), or err.toString() (yields "Error: undefined"). This differs from engine-raised errors, which DO carry .message + .description. Do not rely on new Error(...).message.

HTTPHeader (bare-name global) — separate inbound/outbound collections

Reference: HTTPHeader

Available after Platform.Load("core", ...). GetValue reads inbound request headers and returns null for a header you set via SetValue (separate inbound vs outbound collections). Remove returns undefined, not the "OK" string implied by some docs.

Redirect (bare-name global) — does not exist at runtime

Reference: Redirect

The bare-name global Redirect is undefined under every Core version tested ("1", "1.1.1", "1.1.5") — Platform.Load does not inject it at all, contrary to the official example. Calling it throws a ReferenceError. Use Platform.Response.Redirect(url, movedPermanently) instead, which is always available. (Also listed in Known Bugs.)

ErrorUtil (bare-name global) — only in Core “1”

Reference: ErrorUtil

ErrorUtil is provided only by Platform.Load("Core", "1"). Under newer Core versions ("1.1.1", "1.1.5", …) it is undefined. Effectively deprecated in Core > 1. Prefer checking result.Status and throwing new Error(...) instead of ErrorUtil.ThrowWSProxyError.

Global Functions

Attribute.GetValue — works in CloudPages, returns “” when no recipient

Reference: Attribute

After Platform.Load("Core", ...) the Attribute object exists and Attribute.GetValue(name) executes and returns a string — it is not unavailable in CloudPages, contrary to what the docs imply. When no subscriber/attribute is in context (e.g. an anonymous CloudPage GET) it returns an empty string rather than throwing. In email/triggered-send/personalized contexts it returns the actual attribute value.

Platform Functions

Platform.Function.HTTPGet — returns the body, and all 6 args are required

Reference: Platform.Function.HTTPGet

The official docs are wrong on two counts:

1. They state this returns a numeric status, but it actually returns the response body as a string; the numeric status is written to the statusVariable out-parameter (statusVariable[0]).
2. They list emptyContentHandling, headerNames, headerValues, and statusVariable as optional, but runtime testing shows all six arguments are required — the call throws a security-descriptor error otherwise. Pass null for unused header arrays.

Platform Objects

Platform.Request.GetQueryStringParameter — returns null (not “”) when absent

Reference: Platform.Request

For an absent parameter this returns null (typeof "object"), not an empty string — the docs give no indication of the empty-vs-null behavior. A present parameter returns its string value. Guard reads with a truthiness / != null check.

Platform.Request.GetFormField — returns null (not “”) when absent

Reference: Platform.Request

For an absent field this returns null (typeof "object"), not an empty string.

Platform.Request.GetCookieValue — returns null (not “”) when absent

Reference: Platform.Request

For an absent cookie this returns null (typeof "object"), not an empty string.

Platform.Request.GetUserLanguages — throws in a plain CloudPage GET

Reference: Platform.Request

Throws “Unable to retrieve security descriptor for this frame.” in a plain CloudPage GET context. Wrap in try/catch or avoid; may only work in specific contexts.

Platform.Variable.GetValue — returns null (not “”) when never set

Reference: Platform.Variable

When the variable was never set this returns null (typeof "object"), not an empty string. A variable explicitly set to "" returns "". The leading @ is optional — GetValue("v") and GetValue("@v") return the same value. (The bare-name Variable alias only exists after Platform.Load("core", ...).)

Platform.Recipient.GetAttributeValue — returns “” outside a send, does not throw

Reference: Platform.Recipient

Does not throw outside a send context — in a plain CloudPage it returns "" (empty string, typeof "string") for any attribute because no recipient is bound. The bare-name Recipient alias is not available even after Platform.Load; use Platform.Recipient.GetAttributeValue(...) (or Attribute.GetValue(...) after load).

HTTP Functions

Script.Util.HttpRequest.timeout — undocumented but works

Reference: Script.Util.HttpRequest

Not listed as a configuration property in the official docs (which only mention that send() times out after 30 seconds), but the property exists and is applied at runtime.

Script.Util.HttpRequest.emptyContentHandling — numeric, not boolean

Reference: Script.Util.HttpRequest

The official docs type this as a boolean, but the runtime accepts only a numeric value (0/1/2) and rejects true/false — identical to Script.Util.HttpGet.

Script.Util.HttpRequest response headers — not indexable

Reference: Script.Util.HttpRequest

The official example reads a single header via headers["..."], but that access throws “Use of CLR is not allowed” at runtime. Individual values are only readable by parsing the for..in enumeration keys (shaped "[Name, Value]"), not by indexing.

Script.Util.HttpGet.timeout — undocumented but works

Reference: Script.Util.HttpGet

Not listed in the official docs, but the property exists and is applied end-to-end at runtime (same behavior as on Script.Util.HttpRequest).