Fix boolean-like dictionary keys being converted to booleans

[P6rguVyrst]

Changes:

• encoder.py: Quote keys matching t|f|true|false|null|none|nil
• utils.py: Added parse_key() that preserves string keys
• decoder.py: Use parse_key() for dictionary keys
• tests/unit/test_boolean_keys.py: 12 regression tests

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The encoder now quotes keys that match boolean/null keywords (t, f, true, false, null, none, nil) to prevent the decoder from misinterpreting them.

The decoder now uses a new parse_key() function for dictionary keys that preserves them as strings, unlike parse_value() which converts keywords.

This fixes a critical round-trip bug where {"f": 1} would decode as
{False: 1}.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes

  • Fixed handling of dictionary keys that resemble boolean or null keywords (e.g., "true", "false", "null", "nil") to ensure they are properly preserved as strings during encoding and decoding.

• Tests

  • Added comprehensive test suite covering boolean-like key scenarios, including nested dictionaries, case-insensitive variants, and interactions with actual boolean/null values.

[coderabbitai]

Caution

Review failed

Pull request was closed or merged during review

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The changes introduce specialized handling for dictionary keys that resemble boolean or null literals. A new parse_key() function treats keys as strings without converting boolean/null keywords, while the decoder uses this function for key parsing and the encoder JSON-quotes boolean-like keys to preserve their string nature.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Key Parsing Implementation zon/core/utils.py, zon/core/decoder.py	Added parse_key() utility function that parses quoted keys via json.loads() without converting boolean/null keywords to their literal values. Updated decoder to use parse_key() instead of parse_value() for dictionary key parsing.
Key Encoding zon/core/encoder.py	Extended dictionary key JSON-quoting logic to include boolean-like keywords (true|false|t|f|null|none|nil, case-insensitive), not just special characters, ensuring such keys remain strings during encoding.
Test Coverage tests/unit/test_boolean_keys.py	Added comprehensive test suite covering single-character and multi-character boolean-like keys, nested dictionaries, case-insensitive variants, interaction with actual boolean/null values, and list/table contexts with round-trip equality validation.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~25 minutes

Poem

🐰 Keys that look like booleans, oh what a sight,
We parse them as strings—no true/false to ignite!
With parse_key() helpers, we keep them pristine,
The cleanest key-handling you've ever seen! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title directly and clearly describes the main bug being fixed: boolean-like dictionary keys being converted to booleans instead of remaining as string keys.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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[P6rguVyrst]

sorry-- meant to do this to my own copy first & validate.

[ronibhakta1]

@P6rguVyrst Please make sure you are running tests on your machine. There are multiple edge cases. A single black space can lead to a token increase.

Thanks for looking into internal bugs ❤️
Would like to connect you over X or LinkedIn.

[P6rguVyrst]

@P6rguVyrst Please make sure you are running tests on your machine. There are multiple edge cases. A single black space can lead to a token increase.

Thanks for looking into internal bugs ❤️ Would like to connect you over X or LinkedIn.

The tests that failed on me on accuracy: #9
The 2 individual (separate commits) fixes Claude found for me: #10