Rails Serialize: From YAML to JSON - Getting "unexpected token" error -

i used have following code save array of "friends" ids (the facebook user ids imported via graph api , omniauth) user model:

class user < activerecord::base     ...     serialize :friends       def self.from_omniauth(auth)      require 'net/http'     require 'json'      where(auth.slice(:provider, :uid, :email, :image)).first_or_initialize.tap |user|      user.provider = auth.provider      user.uid = auth.uid      user.oauth_token = auth.credentials.token      friendsinfo = net::http.get(uri("https://graph.facebook.com/" + auth.uid + "/friends?fields=installed&access_token=" + user.oauth_token))      unless friendsinfo == nil        friendsdata = (json.parse(friendsinfo))["data"]        farr = []        friendsdata.each |fd|         if fd["installed"] == true          farr.push(fd["id"])         end        end      end     user.friends = farr     user.save!    end end 

this code saves user ids of facebook friends have app installed array, i.e. ["3232344", "2342434", "8738453"].

however, decided change serialize :friends serialize :friends, json security issues, per codeclimate's advice, either:

a) saves 1 json string (if there multiple "friends"), or

b) gives 795: unexpected token @ ''[user id here]' - ---' error if there 1 "friend" has app installed.

this answer has comment asking how make work in rails 4, i'm guessing adding json worked in rails 3.1 doesn't more? i've tried variations of to_json, activesupport::json.decode, etc., , writing custom serializer, guess error serializing after creating array in current code? callback answer?

i found think think converting serialized yaml serialized json in rails models

i not seeing calling yaml or getting 1 code.

but here magic line yaml.load(medium.send(:attribute, :payload)).to_json

i hope help.