Getting "Invalid answer" Error While Submitting Access Request
Jan 27, 2026
Identity Governance
Okta Classic Engine
Okta Identity Engine
Overview
This article addresses the issue where users receive the following error when responding to access request questions.
Invalid answer
For example:
Applies To
- Okta Identity Governance (OIG)
- Access Request (Request Types)
Cause
For request types, questions involving multi-select dropdowns use a comma in the dropdown options. However, the backend interprets commas as delimiters separating multiple selected items.
In the example below, the user selected a single item containing embedded commas. The backend assumes this as a comma-separated list of multiple values and splits the string. Because the resulting fragments do not match any valid options, the system returns an error Invalid answer.
Solution
To resolve the issue, consider the following solutions:
- Disable Multi-select: Deactivate the multi-select feature for the impacted question.
- Remove Commas: Ensure no answer choices contain commas.
