$ref in response example - swagger

Question

The response example I would like to put in the yaml file is something like:
{
"name": "Element",
"schema": {
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string"
},
"extension": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"$ref": "#/definitions/Extension"
}
}
}
}
}
And the ymal of this example will be:
responses:
200:
description: "successful operation, return the definition of the resource type in the body"
examples:
application/json:
name: Element
schema:
properties:
id:
type: string
extension:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/definitions/Extension'
As you can see the last line is "$ref: '#/definitions/Extension'", thus Swagger thinks it is a reference which it can not find anywhere in the ymal file.
Is it possible to escape this to get way from being a reference?

Answer 1

This is a bug in Swagger Editor and UI.
As a workaround, define a schema for your response and use a schema example instead. Schema examples are displayed fine in Swagger Editor 3.6.6 and Swagger UI 3.17.5. You might still see a $ref resolution error in the editor, but at least the example is displayed correctly.
responses:
200:
description: "successful operation, return the definition of the resource type in the body"
schema:
$ref: '#/definitions/MyResponseSchema'
definitions:
MyResponseSchema:
type: object
properties:
name:
type: string
schema:
type: object
properties:
...
example: # <------------
name: Element
schema:
properties:
id:
type: string
extension:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/definitions/Extension'