I have compared the value of the result of const char* ssid = networks[network]["ssid"]; with const char* _ssid = "MySSID"; using strcmp and it returns 0, so I can't figure out why it's not working. It works if I replace networks[network]["ssid] with my SSID (though I need to replace the password with the string literal as well, otherwise it stays on status code 6, disconnected).

I can't figure out what it is about ArduinoJson, but it seems that the result of grabbing a string doesn't return a string that is formatted correctly for WiFi.begin, but it satisfies strcmp??

#include <ArduinoJson.h>
#include <ESPAsyncWebServer.h>
#include <ESPmDNS.h>
#include <SPIFFS.h>
#include <vector>

#include "config.h"
#include "restserver.h"
#include "scanwifiserver.h"

AsyncWebServer *Server = new AsyncWebServer(80);

ScanWifiServer *scanWifi;
RestServer *restServer;

std::vector<JsonDocument> readAP(fs::FS &fs) {
    //fs.remove("/ap.txt");
    File file = fs.open("/ap.txt");
    std::vector<JsonDocument> networks;
    if (!file) {
#ifdef DEBUG
        Serial.println("Failed to open file for reading");
#endif
        return networks;
    }

    while (file.available()) {
        DynamicJsonDocument network(JSON_CAPACITY);
        deserializeJson(network, file.readString());
        networks.push_back(network);
        Serial.println((const char *)network["ssid"]);
    }

    file.close();
    return networks;
}

void setup() {
#ifdef DEBUG
    Serial.begin(BAUDRATE);
    delay(5000);
#endif

    SPIFFS.begin();
    auto networks = readAP(SPIFFS);
    if (networks.size() > 0) {
        Serial.println("Networks:");
        int network = 0;
        while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED && network < networks.size()) {
            const char* ssid = networks[network]["ssid"];
            const char* password = networks[network]["password"];
            Serial.println(ssid);

            WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

            while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
                delay(500);
                Serial.print(WiFi.status());
                if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECT_FAILED || WiFi.status() == WL_NO_SSID_AVAIL)
                    break;
            }

            network++;
        }   
        if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) Serial.println("Connected");
    }
    if (networks.size() == 0) {
        WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP_STA);

        scanWifi = new ScanWifiServer(Server);

        Server->begin();

        MDNS.begin("grow");
        MDNS.addService("http", "tcp", 80);
    }
}

void loop() {}

I have compared the value of the result of const char* ssid = networks[network]["ssid"]; with const char* _ssid = "MySSID"; using strcmp and it returns 0, so I can't figure out why it's not working. It works if I replace networks[network]["ssid] with my SSID (though I need to replace the password with the string literal as well, otherwise it stays on status code 6, disconnected).

I can't figure out what it is about ArduinoJson, but it seems that the result of grabbing a string doesn't return a string that is formatted correctly for WiFi.begin, but it satisfies strcmp?

Edit: I modified the code quite a bit in an effort to get it to work. I am no longer passing the ArduinoJson object, I'm now passing a struct with the data, and it still doesn't work. Is this the work of some advanced c++ constants/pointers stuff that I don't seem to understand?

#include <ArduinoJson.h>
#include <ESPAsyncWebServer.h>
#include <ESPmDNS.h>
#include <SPIFFS.h>
#include <vector>
#include <elapsedMillis.h>

#include "config.h"
#include "restserver.h"
#include "scanwifiserver.h"

AsyncWebServer *Server = new AsyncWebServer(80);

ScanWifiServer *scanWifi;
RestServer *restServer;

struct Network {
    const char* ssid;
    const char* password;
};

std::vector<Network> readAP(fs::FS &fs) {
    //fs.remove("/ap.txt");
    File file = fs.open("/ap.txt");
    std::vector<Network> networks;
    if (!file) {
#ifdef DEBUG
        Serial.println("Failed to open file for reading");
#endif
        return networks;
    }

    while (file.available()) {
        DynamicJsonDocument n(JSON_CAPACITY);
        auto s = file.readStringUntil('\n');
        deserializeJson(n, s);
        struct Network network = {n["ssid"], n["password"]};
        networks.push_back(network);
        Serial.println(networks.back().ssid);
    }

    file.close();
    return networks;
}

void setup() {
#ifdef DEBUG
    Serial.begin(BAUDRATE);
    delay(2000);
#endif

    SPIFFS.begin();
    auto networks = readAP(SPIFFS);
    if (networks.size() > 0) {
        Serial.println("Networks:");
        int network = 0;
        Serial.println(networks.size());
        while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED && network < networks.size()) {
            const char* ssid = networks[network].ssid;
            const char* password = networks[network].password;
            Serial.printf("%s, %s\n", ssid, password);

            WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

            while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
                if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECT_FAILED || WiFi.status() == WL_NO_SSID_AVAIL)
                    break;
                delay(500);
                Serial.print(WiFi.status());
            }
            Serial.println("");
            network++;
        }   
        if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) Serial.println("Connected");
        else networks.clear();
    }
    if (networks.size() == 0) {
        Serial.println("Starting ScanWifiServer");
        WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP);

        scanWifi = new ScanWifiServer(Server);

        Server->begin();

        MDNS.begin("grow");
        MDNS.addService("http", "tcp", 80);
    }
}

void loop() {}