feat: parse nested tabular arrays in list items with bare hyphen (spec v2.1)

README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 [![CI](https://github.com/toon-format/toon/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/toon-format/toon/actions)
 [![npm version](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@toon-format/toon.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@toon-format/toon)
-[![SPEC v2.0](https://img.shields.io/badge/spec-v2.0-lightgray)](https://github.com/toon-format/spec)
+[![SPEC v2.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/spec-v2.1-lightgray)](https://github.com/toon-format/spec)
 [![npm downloads (total)](https://img.shields.io/npm/dt/@toon-format/toon.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@toon-format/toon)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](./LICENSE)
 
@@ -872,12 +872,12 @@ Comprehensive guides, references, and resources to help you get the most out of
 
 - [API Reference](https://toonformat.dev/reference/api) – TypeScript/JavaScript encode/decode API
 - [Syntax Cheatsheet](https://toonformat.dev/reference/syntax-cheatsheet) – Quick format lookup
-- [Specification v2.0](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/blob/main/SPEC.md) – Normative rules for implementers
+- [Specification v2.1](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/blob/main/SPEC.md) – Normative rules for implementers
 
 ## Other Implementations
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> When implementing TOON in other languages, please follow the [Specification](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/blob/main/SPEC.md) (currently v2.0) to ensure compatibility across implementations. The [conformance tests](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/tree/main/tests) provide language-agnostic test fixtures that validate your implementations.
+> When implementing TOON in other languages, please follow the [Specification](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/blob/main/SPEC.md) (currently v2.1) to ensure compatibility across implementations. The [conformance tests](https://github.com/toon-format/spec/tree/main/tests) provide language-agnostic test fixtures that validate your implementations.
 
 ### Official Implementations
 

SPEC.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ The TOON specification has moved to a dedicated repository: [github.com/toon-for
 
 ## Current Version
 
-**Version 2.0** (2025-11-10)
+**Version 2.1** (2025-11-23)
 
 ## Quick Links
 

benchmarks/package.json

@@ -8,21 +8,21 @@
     "fetch:github-repos": "tsx scripts/fetch-github-repos.ts"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@ai-sdk/anthropic": "^2.0.44",
+    "@ai-sdk/anthropic": "^2.0.45",
-    "@ai-sdk/google": "^2.0.31",
+    "@ai-sdk/google": "^2.0.42",
-    "@ai-sdk/openai": "^2.0.65",
+    "@ai-sdk/openai": "^2.0.71",
     "@ai-sdk/provider": "^2.0.0",
-    "@ai-sdk/xai": "^2.0.32",
+    "@ai-sdk/xai": "^2.0.35",
     "@clack/prompts": "^0.11.0",
     "@faker-js/faker": "^10.1.0",
-    "ai": "^5.0.92",
+    "ai": "^5.0.101",
     "csv-stringify": "^6.6.0",
-    "fast-xml-parser": "^5.3.1",
+    "fast-xml-parser": "^5.3.2",
     "gpt-tokenizer": "^3.4.0",
     "ofetch": "^1.5.1",
     "p-map": "^7.0.4",
-    "p-queue": "^9.0.0",
+    "p-queue": "^9.0.1",
-    "unstorage": "^1.17.2",
+    "unstorage": "^1.17.3",
     "yaml": "^2.8.1"
   }
 }

docs/.vitepress/theme/index.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const config: Theme = {
   extends: DefaultTheme,
   enhanceApp({ app }) {
     app.config.globalProperties.$spec = {
-      version: '2.0',
+      version: '2.1',
     }
     app.component('CopyOrDownloadAsMarkdownButtons', CopyOrDownloadAsMarkdownButtons)
   },

docs/index.md

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ hero:
       text: CLI
       link: /cli/
     - theme: alt
-      text: Spec v2.0
+      text: Spec v2.1
       link: /reference/spec
 
 features:

docs/package.json

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     "preview": "vitepress preview"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "unocss": "^66.5.6",
+    "unocss": "^66.5.9",
     "vitepress": "^1.6.4",
     "vitepress-plugin-llms": "^1.9.3"
   }

docs/reference/spec.md

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ You don't need this page to *use* TOON. It's mainly for implementers and contrib
 
 ## Current Version
 
-**Spec v{{ $spec.version }}** (2025-11-10) is the current stable version.
+**Spec v{{ $spec.version }}** (2025-11-23) is the current stable version.
 
 The spec defines a provisional media type and file extension in §18.2:
 

package.json

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "type": "module",
   "version": "1.3.0",
   "private": true,
-  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.21.0",
+  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.23.0",
   "scripts": {
     "build": "pnpm -r --filter=./packages/** run build",
     "automd": "automd",
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@antfu/eslint-config": "^6.2.0",
-    "@types/node": "^24.10.0",
+    "@types/node": "^24.10.1",
     "automd": "^0.4.2",
     "bumpp": "^10.3.1",
     "eslint": "^9.39.1",
-    "tsdown": "^0.16.2",
+    "tsdown": "^0.16.6",
     "tsx": "^4.20.6",
     "typescript": "^5.9.3",
-    "vitest": "^4.0.8"
+    "vitest": "^4.0.13"
   }
 }

packages/cli/package.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "@toon-format/cli",
   "type": "module",
   "version": "1.3.0",
-  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.21.0",
+  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.23.0",
   "description": "CLI for JSON ↔ TOON conversion using @toon-format/toon",
   "author": "Johann Schopplich <hello@johannschopplich.com>",
   "license": "MIT",

packages/toon/package.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "@toon-format/toon",
   "type": "module",
   "version": "1.3.0",
-  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.21.0",
+  "packageManager": "pnpm@10.23.0",
   "description": "Token-Oriented Object Notation (TOON) – Compact, human-readable, schema-aware encoding of JSON for LLM prompts",
   "author": "Johann Schopplich <hello@johannschopplich.com>",
   "license": "MIT",
@@ -38,6 +38,6 @@
     "test": "vitest"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@toon-format/spec": "^2.0.1"
+    "@toon-format/spec": "^2.1.0"
   }
 }

packages/toon/src/decode/decoders.ts

@@ -411,10 +411,46 @@ function* decodeListItemSync(
   let afterHyphen: string
 
   if (line.content === LIST_ITEM_MARKER) {
+    // Bare list item marker: either an empty object or fields at depth +1
+    const followDepth = baseDepth + 1
+    const nextLine = cursor.peekSync()
+
+    if (!nextLine || nextLine.depth < followDepth) {
+      // No fields at the next depth: treat as empty object
       yield { type: 'startObject' }
       yield { type: 'endObject' }
       return
     }
+
+    if (nextLine.depth === followDepth && !nextLine.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
+      // Fields at depth +1: parse them as an object
+      yield { type: 'startObject' }
+
+      while (!cursor.atEndSync()) {
+        const fieldLine = cursor.peekSync()
+        if (!fieldLine || fieldLine.depth < followDepth) {
+          break
+        }
+
+        if (fieldLine.depth === followDepth && !fieldLine.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
+          cursor.advanceSync()
+          yield* decodeKeyValueSync(fieldLine.content, cursor, followDepth, options)
+        }
+        else {
+          break
+        }
+      }
+
+      yield { type: 'endObject' }
+      return
+    }
+    else {
+      // Next line is another list item or at a different depth: treat as empty object
+      yield { type: 'startObject' }
+      yield { type: 'endObject' }
+      return
+    }
+  }
   else if (line.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
     afterHyphen = line.content.slice(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX.length)
   }
@@ -509,7 +545,7 @@ export async function* decodeStream(
     // Get first line to determine root form
     const first = await cursor.peek()
     if (!first) {
-      // Empty input decodes to empty object (matches decode('') behavior)
+      // Empty input decodes to empty object
       yield { type: 'startObject' }
       yield { type: 'endObject' }
       return
@@ -770,10 +806,46 @@ async function* decodeListItemAsync(
   let afterHyphen: string
 
   if (line.content === LIST_ITEM_MARKER) {
+    // Bare list item marker: either an empty object or fields at depth +1
+    const followDepth = baseDepth + 1
+    const nextLine = await cursor.peek()
+
+    if (!nextLine || nextLine.depth < followDepth) {
+      // No fields at the next depth: treat as empty object
       yield { type: 'startObject' }
       yield { type: 'endObject' }
       return
     }
+
+    if (nextLine.depth === followDepth && !nextLine.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
+      // Fields at depth +1: parse them as an object
+      yield { type: 'startObject' }
+
+      while (!cursor.atEnd()) {
+        const fieldLine = await cursor.peek()
+        if (!fieldLine || fieldLine.depth < followDepth) {
+          break
+        }
+
+        if (fieldLine.depth === followDepth && !fieldLine.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
+          await cursor.advance()
+          yield* decodeKeyValueAsync(fieldLine.content, cursor, followDepth, options)
+        }
+        else {
+          break
+        }
+      }
+
+      yield { type: 'endObject' }
+      return
+    }
+    else {
+      // Next line is another list item or at a different depth: treat as empty object
+      yield { type: 'startObject' }
+      yield { type: 'endObject' }
+      return
+    }
+  }
   else if (line.content.startsWith(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX)) {
     afterHyphen = line.content.slice(LIST_ITEM_PREFIX.length)
   }

packages/toon/src/encode/encoders.ts

@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ export function* encodeKeyValuePairLines(
     }
   }
 
-  // No folding applied - use standard encoding
   const encodedKey = encodeKey(key)
 
   if (isJsonPrimitive(value)) {
@@ -190,10 +189,10 @@ export function* encodeArrayOfArraysAsListItemsLines(
 export function encodeInlineArrayLine(values: readonly JsonPrimitive[], delimiter: string, prefix?: string): string {
   const header = formatHeader(values.length, { key: prefix, delimiter })
   const joinedValue = encodeAndJoinPrimitives(values, delimiter)
-  // Only add space if there are values
+
-  if (values.length === 0) {
+  if (values.length === 0)
     return header
-  }
+
   return `${header} ${joinedValue}`
 }
 
@@ -296,57 +295,25 @@ export function* encodeObjectAsListItemLines(
   }
 
   const entries = Object.entries(obj)
-  const [firstKey, firstValue] = entries[0]!
-  const encodedKey = encodeKey(firstKey)
 
-  if (isJsonPrimitive(firstValue)) {
+  // Compact form only when the list-item object has a single tabular array field
-    yield indentedListItem(depth, `${encodedKey}: ${encodePrimitive(firstValue, options.delimiter)}`, options.indent)
+  if (entries.length === 1) {
-  }
+    const [key, value] = entries[0]!
-  else if (isJsonArray(firstValue)) {
+
-    if (isArrayOfPrimitives(firstValue)) {
+    if (isJsonArray(value) && isArrayOfObjects(value)) {
-      // Inline format for primitive arrays
+      const header = extractTabularHeader(value)
-      const arrayPropertyLine = encodeInlineArrayLine(firstValue, options.delimiter, firstKey)
-      yield indentedListItem(depth, arrayPropertyLine, options.indent)
-    }
-    else if (isArrayOfObjects(firstValue)) {
-      // Check if array of objects can use tabular format
-      const header = extractTabularHeader(firstValue)
       if (header) {
-        // Tabular format for uniform arrays of objects
+        const formattedHeader = formatHeader(value.length, { key, fields: header, delimiter: options.delimiter })
-        const formattedHeader = formatHeader(firstValue.length, { key: firstKey, fields: header, delimiter: options.delimiter })
         yield indentedListItem(depth, formattedHeader, options.indent)
-        yield* writeTabularRowsLines(firstValue, header, depth + 1, options)
+        yield* writeTabularRowsLines(value, header, depth + 1, options)
+        return
       }
-      else {
-        // Fall back to list format for non-uniform arrays of objects
-        yield indentedListItem(depth, `${encodedKey}[${firstValue.length}]:`, options.indent)
-        for (const item of firstValue) {
-          yield* encodeObjectAsListItemLines(item, depth + 1, options)
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    else {
-      // Complex arrays on separate lines (array of arrays, etc.)
-      yield indentedListItem(depth, `${encodedKey}[${firstValue.length}]:`, options.indent)
-
-      // Encode array contents at depth + 1
-      for (const item of firstValue) {
-        yield* encodeListItemValueLines(item, depth + 1, options)
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  else if (isJsonObject(firstValue)) {
-    yield indentedListItem(depth, `${encodedKey}:`, options.indent)
-    if (!isEmptyObject(firstValue)) {
-      yield* encodeObjectLines(firstValue, depth + 2, options)
     }
   }
 
-  // Remaining entries on indented lines
+  // All other cases: emit a bare list item marker and all fields at depth + 1
-  for (let i = 1; i < entries.length; i++) {
+  yield indentedLine(depth, LIST_ITEM_MARKER, options.indent)
-    const [key, value] = entries[i]!
+  yield* encodeObjectLines(obj, depth + 1, options)
-    yield* encodeKeyValuePairLines(key, value, depth + 1, options)
-  }
 }
 
 // #endregion