Securing release workflow wip

2026-07-04 11:25:37 +00:00 · 2026-04-13 10:56:23 +10:00
69 changed files with 589 additions and 1235 deletions
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '24 3 * * 1'

-permissions: {}
-
 jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze
@ -40,11 +38,11 @@ jobs:

    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
-      uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+      uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

    # Initializes the CodeQL tools for scanning.
    - name: Initialize CodeQL
-      uses: github/codeql-action/init@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e # v4.36.2
+      uses: github/codeql-action/init@c10b8064de6f491fea524254123dbe5e09572f13 # v4.35.1
      with:
        languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
        # If you wish to specify custom queries, you can do so here or in a config file.
@ -55,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
    # Autobuild attempts to build any compiled languages  (C/C++, C#, or Java).
    # If this step fails, then you should remove it and run the build manually (see below)
    - name: Autobuild
-      uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e # v4.36.2
+      uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@c10b8064de6f491fea524254123dbe5e09572f13 # v4.35.1

    # ℹ️ Command-line programs to run using the OS shell.
    # 📚 See https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idstepsrun
@ -69,4 +67,4 @@ jobs:
    #   make release

    - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
-      uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e # v4.36.2
+      uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@c10b8064de6f491fea524254123dbe5e09572f13 # v4.35.1
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-githubaction.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-githubaction.yml
@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-name: Release Docker GitHub Action
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-
-permissions: {}
-
-jobs:
-  publishGithubActionDocker:
-    environment: dockerhub
-    env:
-      IMAGE_NAME: mikefarah/yq
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      packages: write
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
-
-      - name: Set up QEMU
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@06116385d9baf250c9f4dcb4858b16962ea869c3 # v4.1.0
-        with:
-          platforms: all
-
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        id: buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@d7f5e7f509e45cec5c76c4d5afdd7de93d0b3df5 # v4.1.0
-        with:
-          version: latest
-
-      - name: Verify Dockerfile base image digest matches yq:4
-        run: |
-          PINNED_DIGEST=$(grep -oE 'sha256:[a-f0-9]{64}' github-action/Dockerfile | head -1)
-          if [ -z "${PINNED_DIGEST}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Could not find a sha256 digest in github-action/Dockerfile"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-          LATEST_DIGEST=$(docker buildx imagetools inspect "${IMAGE_NAME}:4" --format '{{printf "%s" .Manifest.Digest}}')
-
-          echo "Dockerfile pins: ${PINNED_DIGEST}"
-          echo "mikefarah/yq:4 is:  ${LATEST_DIGEST}"
-
-          if [ "${PINNED_DIGEST}" != "${LATEST_DIGEST}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::github-action/Dockerfile digest does not match the current mikefarah/yq:4 image"
-            echo "Update the FROM line in github-action/Dockerfile to:"
-            echo "  FROM mikefarah/yq:4@${LATEST_DIGEST}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-      - name: Resolve version from yq:4
-        run: |
-          IMAGE_VERSION=$(docker run --rm "${IMAGE_NAME}:4" --version | awk '{print $NF}' | sed 's/^v//')
-          if [ -z "${IMAGE_VERSION}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Could not determine yq version from ${IMAGE_NAME}:4"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          echo "Resolved yq version: ${IMAGE_VERSION}"
-          echo "IMAGE_VERSION=${IMAGE_VERSION}" >> "${GITHUB_ENV}"
-
-      - name: Login to Docker Hub
-        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
-        with:
-          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
-
-      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
-        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
-        with:
-          registry: ghcr.io
-          username: ${{ github.actor }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Build and push github-action image
-        working-directory: github-action
-        run: |
-          PLATFORMS="linux/amd64,linux/ppc64le,linux/arm64,linux/arm/v7,linux/s390x"
-
-          echo "Building and pushing github-action image for version ${IMAGE_VERSION}"
-          docker buildx build \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.authors=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/graphs/contributors" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.created=$(date --rfc-3339=seconds)" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=yq is a portable command-line data file processor" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.documentation=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.licenses=MIT" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.title=yq" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.url=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.version=${IMAGE_VERSION}" \
-            --platform "${PLATFORMS}" \
-            --pull \
-            --push \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
-            .
-
-      - name: Report action.yml digest to pin
-        run: |
-          GITHUBACTION_DIGEST=$(docker buildx imagetools inspect "${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" --format '{{printf "%s" .Manifest.Digest}}')
-          echo "Published ${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction at ${GITHUBACTION_DIGEST}"
-          echo "Update action.yml image to:"
-          echo "  docker://${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction@${GITHUBACTION_DIGEST}"
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ on:
  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

-permissions: {}
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  packages: write

 jobs:
  publishDocker:
@ -15,20 +17,17 @@ jobs:
    env:
      IMAGE_NAME: mikefarah/yq
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      packages: write
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

      - name: Set up QEMU
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@06116385d9baf250c9f4dcb4858b16962ea869c3 # v4.1.0
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@ce360397dd3f832beb865e1373c09c0e9f86d70a # v4.0.0
        with:
          platforms: all

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        id: buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@d7f5e7f509e45cec5c76c4d5afdd7de93d0b3df5 # v4.1.0
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0
        with:
          version: latest

@ -36,13 +35,13 @@ jobs:
        run: echo ${{ steps.buildx.outputs.platforms }} && docker version

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
-        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
+        uses: docker/login-action@4907a6ddec9925e35a0a9e82d7399ccc52663121 # v4.1.0
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}

      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
-        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
+        uses: docker/login-action@4907a6ddec9925e35a0a9e82d7399ccc52663121 # v4.1.0
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
@ -80,3 +79,26 @@ jobs:
            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4" \
            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest" \
            .
+
+          cd github-action
+          docker buildx build \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.authors=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/graphs/contributors" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.created=$(date --rfc-3339=seconds)" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=yq is a portable command-line data file processor" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.documentation=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.licenses=MIT" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.title=yq" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.url=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.version=${IMAGE_VERSION}" \
+            --platform "${PLATFORMS}" \
+            --pull \
+            --push \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
+            .
--- a/.github/workflows/go.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go.yml
@ -5,53 +5,23 @@ permissions:

 jobs:

-  verify-action-digest:
-    name: Verify action.yml image digest
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
-
-      - name: Verify action.yml digest matches published image
-        run: |
-          PINNED_DIGEST=$(grep -oE 'sha256:[a-f0-9]{64}' action.yml | head -1)
-          if [ -z "${PINNED_DIGEST}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::action.yml does not pin the runtime image by digest"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-          LATEST_DIGEST=$(docker buildx imagetools inspect docker.io/mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction --format '{{printf "%s" .Manifest.Digest}}')
-
-          echo "action.yml pins:              ${PINNED_DIGEST}"
-          echo "mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction: ${LATEST_DIGEST}"
-
-          if [ "${PINNED_DIGEST}" != "${LATEST_DIGEST}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::action.yml digest does not match the current mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction image"
-            echo "Update the image line in action.yml to:"
-            echo "  docker://mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction@${LATEST_DIGEST}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:

    - name: Set up Go
-      uses: actions/setup-go@924ae3a1cded613372ab5595356fb5720e22ba16 # v6.5.0
+      uses: actions/setup-go@4a3601121dd01d1626a1e23e37211e3254c1c06c # v6.4.0
      with:
        go-version: '^1.20'
      id: go

    - name: Check out code into the Go module directory
-      uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+      uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

    - name: Get dependencies
      run: |
        go get -v -t -d ./...
-        if [ -f Gopkg.toml ]; then
-            curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golang/dep/1f7c19e5f52f49ffb9f956f64c010be14683468b/install.sh | env DEP_RELEASE_TAG=v0.5.4 sh
-            dep ensure
-        fi

    - name: Check the build
      shell: bash -l {0}
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ on:
      - 'v4.*'
      - 'draft-*'

-permissions: {}
-
 jobs:
  publishGitRelease:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@ -14,8 +12,8 @@ jobs:
      contents: write
      id-token: write
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@924ae3a1cded613372ab5595356fb5720e22ba16 # v6.5.0
+      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@4a3601121dd01d1626a1e23e37211e3254c1c06c # v6.4.0
        with:
          go-version: '^1.20'
          check-latest: true
@ -29,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
        run: echo "VERSION=${GITHUB_REF##*/}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"

      - name: Generate man page
-        uses: docker://pandoc/core:2.14.2@sha256:04e127c6642a2b9d447c26fe0ac6a5932efa8f508eda9f07da51b6e621dd7c19
+        uses: docker://pandoc/core:2.14.2
        id: gen-man-page
        with:
          args: >-
@ -43,12 +41,12 @@ jobs:
            man.md

      - name: Install cosign
-        uses: sigstore/cosign-installer@6f9f17788090df1f26f669e9d70d6ae9567deba6 # v4.1.2
+        uses: sigstore/cosign-installer@cad07c2e89fa2edd6e2d7bab4c1aa38e53f76003 # v4.1.1

      - name: Cross compile
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install rhash -y
-          go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/v2@v2.16.0
+          go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/v2@v2.15.2
          ./scripts/xcompile.sh

      - name: Sign checksums
@ -57,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
          cosign sign-blob --yes --bundle build/checksums-bsd.bundle build/checksums-bsd

      - name: Release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@b4309332981a82ec1c5618f44dd2e27cc8bfbfda # v3.0.0
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@3bb12739c298aeb8a4eeaf626c5b8d85266b0e65 # v2.6.2
        with:
          files: build/*
          draft: true
--- a/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub. They are provided
-# by a third-party and are governed by separate terms of service, privacy
-# policy, and support documentation.
-
-name: Scorecard supply-chain security
-on:
-  # For Branch-Protection check. Only the default branch is supported. See
-  # https://github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#branch-protection
-  branch_protection_rule:
-  # To guarantee Maintained check is occasionally updated. See
-  # https://github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#maintained
-  schedule:
-    - cron: '39 7 * * 2'
-  push:
-    branches: [ "master" ]
-
-# Declare default permissions as read only.
-permissions: read-all
-
-jobs:
-  analysis:
-    name: Scorecard analysis
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # `publish_results: true` only works when run from the default branch. conditional can be removed if disabled.
-    if: github.event.repository.default_branch == github.ref_name || github.event_name == 'pull_request'
-    permissions:
-      # Needed to upload the results to code-scanning dashboard.
-      security-events: write
-      # Needed to publish results and get a badge (see publish_results below).
-      id-token: write
-      # Uncomment the permissions below if installing in a private repository.
-      # contents: read
-      # actions: read
-
-    steps:
-      - name: "Checkout code"
-        uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-
-      - name: "Run analysis"
-        uses: ossf/scorecard-action@4eaacf0543bb3f2c246792bd56e8cdeffafb205a # v2.4.3
-        with:
-          results_file: results.sarif
-          results_format: sarif
-          # (Optional) "write" PAT token. Uncomment the `repo_token` line below if:
-          # - you want to enable the Branch-Protection check on a *public* repository, or
-          # - you are installing Scorecard on a *private* repository
-          # To create the PAT, follow the steps in https://github.com/ossf/scorecard-action?tab=readme-ov-file#authentication-with-fine-grained-pat-optional.
-          # repo_token: ${{ secrets.SCORECARD_TOKEN }}
-
-          # Public repositories:
-          #   - Publish results to OpenSSF REST API for easy access by consumers
-          #   - Allows the repository to include the Scorecard badge.
-          #   - See https://github.com/ossf/scorecard-action#publishing-results.
-          # For private repositories:
-          #   - `publish_results` will always be set to `false`, regardless
-          #     of the value entered here.
-          publish_results: true
-
-          # (Optional) Uncomment file_mode if you have a .gitattributes with files marked export-ignore
-          # file_mode: git
-
-      # Upload the results as artifacts (optional). Commenting out will disable uploads of run results in SARIF
-      # format to the repository Actions tab.
-      - name: "Upload artifact"
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
-        with:
-          name: SARIF file
-          path: results.sarif
-          retention-days: 5
-
-      # Upload the results to GitHub's code scanning dashboard (optional).
-      # Commenting out will disable upload of results to your repo's Code Scanning dashboard
-      - name: "Upload to code-scanning"
-        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e # v4.36.2
-        with:
-          sarif_file: results.sarif
--- a/.github/workflows/snap-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/snap-release.yml
@ -7,16 +7,15 @@ on:
  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

-permissions: {}
+permissions:
+  contents: read

 jobs:
    buildSnap:
      environment: snap
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-      permissions:
-        contents: read
      steps:
-        - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+        - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        - uses: snapcore/action-build@3bdaa03e1ba6bf59a65f84a751d943d549a54e79 # v1.3.0
          id: build
          env:
--- a/.github/workflows/test-yq.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-yq.yml
@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
      - name: Get test
        id: get_value
        uses: mikefarah/yq@master
--- a/4
+++ b/4
@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM golang:1.26.4@sha256:792443b89f65105abba56b9bd5e97f680a80074ac62fc844a584212f8c8102c3 AS builder
+FROM golang:1.26.2@sha256:2a2b4b5791cea8ae09caecba7bad0bd9631def96e5fe362e4a5e67009fe4ae61 AS builder

 WORKDIR /go/src/mikefarah/yq

@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ RUN ./scripts/acceptance.sh

 # Choose alpine as a base image to make this useful for CI, as many
 # CI tools expect an interactive shell inside the container
-FROM alpine:3@sha256:28bd5fe8b56d1bd048e5babf5b10710ebe0bae67db86916198a6eec434943f8b AS production
+FROM alpine:3@sha256:25109184c71bdad752c8312a8623239686a9a2071e8825f20acb8f2198c3f659 AS production
 LABEL maintainer="Mike Farah <mikefarah@users.noreply.github.com>"

 COPY --from=builder /go/src/mikefarah/yq/yq /usr/bin/yq
--- a/Dockerfile.dev
+++ b/Dockerfile.dev
@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-FROM golang:1.26.4@sha256:792443b89f65105abba56b9bd5e97f680a80074ac62fc844a584212f8c8102c3
+FROM golang:1.26.2@sha256:2a2b4b5791cea8ae09caecba7bad0bd9631def96e5fe362e4a5e67009fe4ae61
+
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y npm && \
+    npm install -g npx cspell@latest

 COPY scripts/devtools.sh /opt/devtools.sh

--- a/2
+++ b/2
@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ quiet: # this is silly but shuts up 'Nothing to be done for `local`'
 	@:

 prepare: tmp/dev_image_id
-tmp/dev_image_id: Dockerfile.dev scripts/devtools.sh _typos.toml
+tmp/dev_image_id: Dockerfile.dev scripts/devtools.sh
 	@mkdir -p tmp
 	@${ENGINE} rmi -f ${DEV_IMAGE} > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
 	@${ENGINE} build -t ${DEV_IMAGE} -f Dockerfile.dev .
--- a/_typos.toml
+++ b/_typos.toml
@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-[files]
-extend-exclude = ["vendor", "bin"]
-
-[default]
-locale = "en"
-extend-ignore-identifiers-re = [
-  "NdJson",
-]
-
-[default.extend-identifiers]
-AttributeIDSupressMenu = "AttributeIDSupressMenu"
-
-[default.extend-words]
-Teh = "Teh"
-teh = "teh"
-Supress = "Supress"
-HashiCorp = "HashiCorp"
-Hashi = "Hashi"
-fot = "fot"
-nd = "nd"
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@ -12,6 +12,6 @@ outputs:
    description: "The complete result from the yq command being run"
 runs:
  using: 'docker'
-  image: 'docker://mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction@sha256:e1b8c865f299ea6b02910a7ddf147d5d431244d4cc116f89c2148c9f53822906'
+  image: 'docker://mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction'
  args:
    - ${{ inputs.cmd }}
--- a/agents.md
+++ b/agents.md
@ -1,79 +1,3 @@
-# yq — agent instructions
-
-## ⚠️ MANDATORY: GitHub agent disclosure
-
-**Always required. No exceptions.**
-
-Whenever you perform **any** GitHub action on behalf of the user, you **must** disclose that an AI agent (Cursor) wrote the content and is acting on the user's behalf — **not the user personally**. Do this **before** submitting; never post first and add the disclosure later.
-
-Applies to **all** GitHub interactions, including:
-
- Pull requests (titles, descriptions, and reviews)
- PR comments and inline review comments
- Issues (new issues, comments, and updates)
- Any other post or reply on GitHub
-
-**How to disclose:** Put it prominently at the **top** of every PR description, review body, comment, or issue. Use wording like:
-
-
-Inline review comments must include a short disclosure too (e.g. `> Generated by Cursor acting on the user's behalf, not the user personally.`).
-
-**Never** submit a GitHub action without this disclosure.
-
---
-
-Always run the spellcheck before raising a PR:
-
-```bash
-bash scripts/spelling.sh
-```
-
-This is also included in the full CI pipeline via `make local test`.
-
-## Cursor Cloud specific instructions
-
-### Overview
-
-**yq** is a Go CLI for querying and transforming YAML, JSON, XML, INI, and other structured formats. There are no long-running services — development is build-and-test against a local `./yq` binary.
-
-### Prerequisites
-
- **Go ≥ 1.25** (see `go.mod`)
- **Bash** (acceptance tests)
- **Docker/Podman** is optional; use `make local <target>` to run natively when containers are unavailable
-
-### PATH
-
-After `scripts/devtools.sh`, add Go tool binaries to PATH:
-
-```bash
-export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"
-```
-
-`golangci-lint` and `typos` install to `$HOME/go/bin`; `gosec` installs to `./bin/gosec` in the repo root.
-
-### Common commands (local, no Docker)
-
-| Task | Command |
-|------|---------|
-| Install dev tools | `bash scripts/devtools.sh` |
-| Vendor dependencies | `make local vendor` |
-| Build binary | `go build -o yq .` or `make local build` |
-| Format | `make local format` |
-| Lint | `make local check` |
-| Unit tests | `make local test` or `bash scripts/test.sh` |
-| Acceptance (E2E) | `bash scripts/acceptance.sh` (requires `./yq` built first) |
-
-`make local build` runs the full CI chain (format → spelling → gosec → lint → unit tests → build → acceptance). For a faster loop, build with `go build -o yq .` and run `bash scripts/acceptance.sh`.
-
-### Caveats
-
- **`make` without `local`** tries Docker/Podman (`Dockerfile.dev`). In Cloud Agent VMs without Docker, always prefix with `make local`.
- **Spelling step** uses `typos` (installed by `scripts/devtools.sh`).
- **`make local test` / `scripts/check.sh`** require `golangci-lint` on PATH (`devtools.sh`).
-
---
-
 # General rules
 ✅ **DO:**
 - You can use ./yq with the `--debug-node-info` flag to get a deeper understanding of the ast.
@ -81,12 +5,10 @@ export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"
 - Add comprehensive tests to cover the changes
 - Run test suite to ensure there is no regression
 - Use UK english spelling
- **Follow the mandatory GitHub agent disclosure rule above** on every GitHub action — no exceptions

 ❌ **DON'T:**
 - Git add or commit
 - Add comments to functions that are self-explanatory
- **Post to GitHub without the mandatory agent disclosure** (PRs, reviews, comments, issues, or any other GitHub interaction)



--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@ -156,8 +156,6 @@ yq -P -oy sample.json
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&yqlib.ConfiguredLuaPreferences.UnquotedKeys, "lua-unquoted", yqlib.ConfiguredLuaPreferences.UnquotedKeys, "output unquoted string keys (e.g. {foo=\"bar\"})")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&yqlib.ConfiguredLuaPreferences.Globals, "lua-globals", yqlib.ConfiguredLuaPreferences.Globals, "output keys as top-level global variables")

-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&yqlib.ConfiguredINIPreferences.PreserveSurroundedQuote, "ini-preserve-quotes", yqlib.ConfiguredINIPreferences.PreserveSurroundedQuote, "preserve surrounding quotes on INI values during round-trip")
-
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&yqlib.ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.KeyValueSeparator, "properties-separator", yqlib.ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.KeyValueSeparator, "separator to use between keys and values")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&yqlib.ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.UseArrayBrackets, "properties-array-brackets", yqlib.ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.UseArrayBrackets, "use [x] in array paths (e.g. for SpringBoot)")

--- a/cmd/version.go
+++ b/cmd/version.go
@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ var (
 	GitDescribe string

 	// Version is main version number that is being run at the moment.
-	Version = "v4.53.3"
+	Version = "v4.52.5"

 	// VersionPrerelease is a pre-release marker for the version. If this is "" (empty string)
 	// then it means that it is a final release. Otherwise, this is a pre-release
--- a/cspell.config.yaml
+++ b/cspell.config.yaml
@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+$schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/streetsidesoftware/cspell/main/cspell.schema.json
+version: '0.2'
+language: en-GB
+dictionaryDefinitions:
+  - name: project-words
+    path: './project-words.txt'
+    addWords: true
+dictionaries:
+  - project-words
+ignorePaths:
+  - 'vendor'
+  - 'bin'
+  - '/project-words.txt'
--- a/github-action/Dockerfile
+++ b/github-action/Dockerfile
@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM mikefarah/yq:4@sha256:11a1f0b604b13dbbdc662260d8db6f644b22d8553122a25c1b5b2e8713ca6977
+FROM mikefarah/yq:4@sha256:603ebff15eb308a05f1c5b8b7613179cad859aed3ec9fdd04f2ef5d32345950e

 COPY entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh

--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@ -13,16 +13,16 @@ require (
 	github.com/hashicorp/hcl/v2 v2.24.0
 	github.com/jinzhu/copier v0.4.0
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.10
-	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.4.2
+	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.3.0
 	github.com/pkg/diff v0.0.0-20210226163009-20ebb0f2a09e
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10
 	github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.2
-	github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.1
-	go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.6
-	golang.org/x/mod v0.37.0
-	golang.org/x/net v0.56.0
-	golang.org/x/text v0.38.0
+	github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.0
+	go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.4
+	golang.org/x/mod v0.34.0
+	golang.org/x/net v0.52.0
+	golang.org/x/text v0.35.0
 )

 require (
@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
 	github.com/mitchellh/go-wordwrap v1.0.1 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sync v0.21.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.46.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/tools v0.45.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.42.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/tools v0.42.0 // indirect
 )

 go 1.25.0
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 h1:xfD0iDuEKnDkl03q4limB+vH+GxLEtL/jb4xVJSWWE
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-wordwrap v1.0.1 h1:TLuKupo69TCn6TQSyGxwI1EblZZEsQ0vMlAFQflz0v0=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-wordwrap v1.0.1/go.mod h1:R62XHJLzvMFRBbcrT7m7WgmE1eOyTSsCt+hzestvNj0=
-github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.4.2 h1:M2fKKbmyvI+hGId/D0W64qDBMVhJnNR10O5gIbMc//Q=
-github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.4.2/go.mod h1:2gIqNv+qfxSVS7cM2xJQKtLSTLUE9V8t9Stt+h56mCY=
+github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.3.0 h1:k59bC/lIZREW0/iVaQR8nDHxVq8OVlIzYCOJf421CaM=
+github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.3.0/go.mod h1:2gIqNv+qfxSVS7cM2xJQKtLSTLUE9V8t9Stt+h56mCY=
 github.com/pkg/diff v0.0.0-20210226163009-20ebb0f2a09e h1:aoZm08cpOy4WuID//EZDgcC4zIxODThtZNPirFr42+A=
 github.com/pkg/diff v0.0.0-20210226163009-20ebb0f2a09e/go.mod h1:pJLUxLENpZxwdsKMEsNbx1VGcRFpLqf3715MtcvvzbA=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
@ -63,26 +63,26 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0 h1:nwc3DEeHmmLAfoZucVR881uASk0Mfjw8xYJ99tb5Cc
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.2 h1:yF/FjE3hD65tBbt0VXLE13HWS9h34fdzJmrWRXwobGA=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.2/go.mod h1:7aRmXIWl37SqRf0koeyylBEzJ+aPt8A+mmkQ4f1ntR8=
-github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.1 h1:yEGE8M4iIZlyKQURZNb2SnEyZlZHUcBCnx6KF81KuwM=
-github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.1/go.mod h1:qpnV6EDNgC1sns/AleL1fvatHw72j+S+nS+MJ+T2CSg=
+github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.0 h1:pJ8+HNI4gFoyRNqVE37wWbJWVw43BZczFo7KUoRczaA=
+github.com/zclconf/go-cty v1.18.0/go.mod h1:qpnV6EDNgC1sns/AleL1fvatHw72j+S+nS+MJ+T2CSg=
 github.com/zclconf/go-cty-debug v0.0.0-20240509010212-0d6042c53940 h1:4r45xpDWB6ZMSMNJFMOjqrGHynW3DIBuR2H9j0ug+Mo=
 github.com/zclconf/go-cty-debug v0.0.0-20240509010212-0d6042c53940/go.mod h1:CmBdvvj3nqzfzJ6nTCIwDTPZ56aVGvDrmztiO5g3qrM=
 go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4/go.mod h1:DhzuOOF2ATzADvBadXxruRBLzYTpT36CKvDb3+aBEFg=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.6 h1:1h7H1ohdUh93/FyE4YaDa1Zh64K6VVbjF4K6WUxMtH4=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.6/go.mod h1:aZqd9kCMsGL7AuUv/m/PvWLdg5sjJsZ4oHDEnfPPfY0=
-golang.org/x/mod v0.37.0 h1:vF1DjpVEshcIqoEaauuHebaLk1O1forxjxBaVn884JQ=
-golang.org/x/mod v0.37.0/go.mod h1:m8S8VeM9r4dzDwjrKO0a1sZP3YjeMamRRlD+fmR2Q/0=
-golang.org/x/net v0.56.0 h1:Rw8j/hFzGvJUZwNBXnAtf5sVDVt+65SK2C7IxCxZt5o=
-golang.org/x/net v0.56.0/go.mod h1:D3Ku6r+V6JROoZK144D2XfMHFcMq/0zSfLelVTCFKec=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.21.0 h1:HLII4xRRTtCRkxYp4HNFF0Js/Og6q2i++KXbg0gHCwM=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.21.0/go.mod h1:9xrNwdLfx4jkKbNva9FpL6vEN7evnE43NNNJQ2LF3+0=
+go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.4 h1:UP4+v6fFrBIb1l934bDl//mmnoIZEDK0idg1+AIvX5U=
+go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.4/go.mod h1:aZqd9kCMsGL7AuUv/m/PvWLdg5sjJsZ4oHDEnfPPfY0=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.34.0 h1:xIHgNUUnW6sYkcM5Jleh05DvLOtwc6RitGHbDk4akRI=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.34.0/go.mod h1:ykgH52iCZe79kzLLMhyCUzhMci+nQj+0XkbXpNYtVjY=
+golang.org/x/net v0.52.0 h1:He/TN1l0e4mmR3QqHMT2Xab3Aj3L9qjbhRm78/6jrW0=
+golang.org/x/net v0.52.0/go.mod h1:R1MAz7uMZxVMualyPXb+VaqGSa3LIaUqk0eEt3w36Sw=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0 h1:e0PTpb7pjO8GAtTs2dQ6jYa5BWYlMuX047Dco/pItO4=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0/go.mod h1:9xrNwdLfx4jkKbNva9FpL6vEN7evnE43NNNJQ2LF3+0=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.46.0 h1:noSf2Fq6F8DBgS+LysIkx7rIExoNHJsxOAtPp4rthXw=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.46.0/go.mod h1:4GL1E5IUh+htKOUEOaiffhrAeqysfVGipDYzABqnCmw=
-golang.org/x/text v0.38.0 h1:sXmwo9DwP3OK9EZ7PqAdaooSGozfl/3a6/xJcbzPRhE=
-golang.org/x/text v0.38.0/go.mod h1:YXZt3QhHUKYT53r2lLKFIVi6Ao1jdzrTR/KQ09qyxF4=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.45.0 h1:18qN3FAooORvApf5XjCXgsuayZOEtXf6JK18I3+ONa8=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.45.0/go.mod h1:LuUGqqaXcXMEFEruIVJVm5mgDD8vww/z/SR1gQ4uE/0=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.42.0 h1:omrd2nAlyT5ESRdCLYdm3+fMfNFE/+Rf4bDIQImRJeo=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.42.0/go.mod h1:4GL1E5IUh+htKOUEOaiffhrAeqysfVGipDYzABqnCmw=
+golang.org/x/text v0.35.0 h1:JOVx6vVDFokkpaq1AEptVzLTpDe9KGpj5tR4/X+ybL8=
+golang.org/x/text v0.35.0/go.mod h1:khi/HExzZJ2pGnjenulevKNX1W67CUy0AsXcNubPGCA=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.42.0 h1:uNgphsn75Tdz5Ji2q36v/nsFSfR/9BRFvqhGBaJGd5k=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.42.0/go.mod h1:Ma6lCIwGZvHK6XtgbswSoWroEkhugApmsXyrUmBhfr0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c h1:dUUwHk2QECo/6vqA44rthZ8ie2QXMNeKRTHCNY2nXvo=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
--- a/go_install_test.go
+++ b/go_install_test.go
@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-//go:build goinstall
-
 package main

 import (
@ -13,10 +11,6 @@ import (
 // TestGoInstallCompatibility ensures the module can be zipped for go install.
 // This is an integration test that uses the same zip.CreateFromDir function
 // that go install uses internally. If this test fails, go install will fail.
-//
-// Built with the goinstall tag and run after the main test suite (see scripts/test.sh)
-// so it does not race with pkg/yqlib tests that rewrite doc/*.md during execution.
-//
 // See: https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/issues/2587
 func TestGoInstallCompatibility(t *testing.T) {
 	mod := module.Version{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node.go
@ -46,11 +46,7 @@ const (
 func createStringScalarNode(stringValue string) *CandidateNode {
 	var node = &CandidateNode{Kind: ScalarNode}
 	node.Value = stringValue
-	if stringValue == "<<" {
-		node.Tag = "!!merge"
-	} else {
-		node.Tag = "!!str"
-	}
+	node.Tag = "!!str"
 	return node
 }

--- a/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_json.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_json.go
@ -7,9 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"math"
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"

 	"github.com/goccy/go-json"
 )
@ -143,12 +140,6 @@ func (o *CandidateNode) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 		return buf.Bytes(), err
 	case ScalarNode:
 		log.Debugf("MarshalJSON ScalarNode")
-		if o.guessTagFromCustomType() == "!!float" {
-			if raw, ok := jsonFloatLiteral(o.Value); ok {
-				buf.WriteString(raw)
-				return buf.Bytes(), nil
-			}
-		}
 		value, err := o.GetValueRep()
 		if err != nil {
 			return buf.Bytes(), err
@ -186,85 +177,3 @@ func (o *CandidateNode) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 		return buf.Bytes(), err
 	}
 }
-
-// jsonFloatLiteral returns a JSON-shaped representation of a YAML !!float scalar
-// value, preserving the original textual form (e.g. "50.0" stays "50.0") whenever
-// possible. The second return value is false when the value cannot be safely
-// rendered as a JSON number (e.g. ".inf", ".nan", or anything that parses to a
-// non-finite float); callers should fall back to the normal encoding path in
-// that case, which preserves the existing behaviour for those inputs.
-func jsonFloatLiteral(raw string) (string, bool) {
-	if raw == "" {
-		return "", false
-	}
-	f, err := strconv.ParseFloat(raw, 64)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", false
-	}
-	if math.IsInf(f, 0) || math.IsNaN(f) {
-		return "", false
-	}
-	if isJSONNumberLiteral(raw) {
-		return raw, true
-	}
-	formatted := strconv.FormatFloat(f, 'f', -1, 64)
-	if !strings.ContainsAny(formatted, ".eE") {
-		formatted += ".0"
-	}
-	return formatted, true
-}
-
-// isJSONNumberLiteral reports whether s is already a valid JSON number literal
-// representing a fractional value (i.e. contains a "." or an exponent), so it
-// can be emitted verbatim without round-tripping through a float64.
-func isJSONNumberLiteral(s string) bool {
-	if s == "" {
-		return false
-	}
-	i := 0
-	if s[i] == '-' {
-		i++
-		if i == len(s) {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	// integer part: 0 or [1-9][0-9]*
-	if s[i] == '0' {
-		i++
-	} else if s[i] >= '1' && s[i] <= '9' {
-		for i < len(s) && s[i] >= '0' && s[i] <= '9' {
-			i++
-		}
-	} else {
-		return false
-	}
-	hasFraction := false
-	if i < len(s) && s[i] == '.' {
-		hasFraction = true
-		i++
-		if i == len(s) || s[i] < '0' || s[i] > '9' {
-			return false
-		}
-		for i < len(s) && s[i] >= '0' && s[i] <= '9' {
-			i++
-		}
-	}
-	hasExponent := false
-	if i < len(s) && (s[i] == 'e' || s[i] == 'E') {
-		hasExponent = true
-		i++
-		if i < len(s) && (s[i] == '+' || s[i] == '-') {
-			i++
-		}
-		if i == len(s) || s[i] < '0' || s[i] > '9' {
-			return false
-		}
-		for i < len(s) && s[i] >= '0' && s[i] <= '9' {
-			i++
-		}
-	}
-	if i != len(s) {
-		return false
-	}
-	return hasFraction || hasExponent
-}
--- a/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_test.go
@ -106,31 +106,6 @@ func TestCreateScalarNodeScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

-type createStringScalarNodeScenario struct {
-	stringValue string
-	expectedTag string
-}
-
-var createStringScalarNodeScenarios = []createStringScalarNodeScenario{
-	{
-		stringValue: "yourKey",
-		expectedTag: "!!str",
-	},
-	{
-		stringValue: "<<",
-		expectedTag: "!!merge",
-	},
-}
-
-func TestCreateStringScalarNodeScenarios(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, tt := range createStringScalarNodeScenarios {
-		actual := createStringScalarNode(tt.stringValue)
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, tt.stringValue, actual.Value, fmt.Sprintf("Value for: %v", tt.stringValue))
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, tt.expectedTag, actual.Tag, fmt.Sprintf("Tag for: %v", tt.stringValue))
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, ScalarNode, actual.Kind, fmt.Sprintf("Kind for: %v", tt.stringValue))
-	}
-}
-
 func TestGetKeyForMapValue(t *testing.T) {
 	key := createStringScalarNode("yourKey")
 	n := CandidateNode{Key: key, Value: "meow", document: 3}
--- a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_ini.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_ini.go
@ -12,20 +12,17 @@ import (
 type iniDecoder struct {
 	reader   io.Reader
 	finished bool // Flag to signal completion of processing
-	prefs    INIPreferences
 }

-func NewINIDecoder(prefs INIPreferences) Decoder {
+func NewINIDecoder() Decoder {
 	return &iniDecoder{
 		finished: false, // Initialise the flag as false
-		prefs:    prefs,
 	}
 }

 func (dec *iniDecoder) Init(reader io.Reader) error {
 	// Store the reader for use in Decode
 	dec.reader = reader
-	dec.finished = false
 	return nil
 }

@ -42,10 +39,7 @@ func (dec *iniDecoder) Decode() (*CandidateNode, error) {
 	}

 	// Parse the INI content
-	loadOpts := ini.LoadOptions{
-		PreserveSurroundedQuote: dec.prefs.PreserveSurroundedQuote,
-	}
-	cfg, err := ini.LoadSources(loadOpts, content)
+	cfg, err := ini.Load(content)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse INI content: %w", err)
 	}
--- a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_properties.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_properties.go
@ -16,11 +16,10 @@ type propertiesDecoder struct {
 	reader   io.Reader
 	finished bool
 	d        DataTreeNavigator
-	prefs    PropertiesPreferences
 }

 func NewPropertiesDecoder() Decoder {
-	return &propertiesDecoder{d: NewDataTreeNavigator(), finished: false, prefs: ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.Copy()}
+	return &propertiesDecoder{d: NewDataTreeNavigator(), finished: false}
 }

 func (dec *propertiesDecoder) Init(reader io.Reader) error {
@ -29,56 +28,20 @@ func (dec *propertiesDecoder) Init(reader io.Reader) error {
 	return nil
 }

-func parsePropKey(key string, prefs PropertiesPreferences) []interface{} {
+func parsePropKey(key string) []interface{} {
 	pathStrArray := strings.Split(key, ".")
-	path := make([]interface{}, 0, len(pathStrArray))
-	for _, pathStr := range pathStrArray {
-		path = appendPropKeySegment(path, pathStr, prefs.UseArrayBrackets)
+	path := make([]interface{}, len(pathStrArray))
+	for i, pathStr := range pathStrArray {
+		num, err := strconv.ParseInt(pathStr, 10, 32)
+		if err == nil {
+			path[i] = num
+		} else {
+			path[i] = pathStr
+		}
 	}
 	return path
 }

-func appendPropKeySegment(path []interface{}, segment string, useArrayBrackets bool) []interface{} {
-	if useArrayBrackets && strings.Contains(segment, "[") {
-		bracketPath, ok := parsePropKeyArrayBracketSegment(segment)
-		if ok {
-			return append(path, bracketPath...)
-		}
-	}
-
-	num, err := strconv.ParseInt(segment, 10, 32)
-	if err == nil {
-		return append(path, num)
-	}
-	return append(path, segment)
-}
-
-func parsePropKeyArrayBracketSegment(segment string) ([]interface{}, bool) {
-	path := []interface{}{}
-	bracketIndex := strings.Index(segment, "[")
-	if bracketIndex > 0 {
-		path = append(path, segment[:bracketIndex])
-	}
-
-	remaining := segment[bracketIndex:]
-	for remaining != "" {
-		if !strings.HasPrefix(remaining, "[") {
-			return nil, false
-		}
-		closingBracket := strings.Index(remaining, "]")
-		if closingBracket < 0 {
-			return nil, false
-		}
-		arrayIndex, err := strconv.ParseInt(remaining[1:closingBracket], 10, 32)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, false
-		}
-		path = append(path, arrayIndex)
-		remaining = remaining[closingBracket+1:]
-	}
-	return path, true
-}
-
 func (dec *propertiesDecoder) processComment(c string) string {
 	if c == "" {
 		return ""
@ -112,7 +75,7 @@ func (dec *propertiesDecoder) applyPropertyComments(context Context, path []inte

 func (dec *propertiesDecoder) applyProperty(context Context, properties *properties.Properties, key string) error {
 	value, _ := properties.Get(key)
-	path := parsePropKey(key, dec.prefs)
+	path := parsePropKey(key)

 	propertyComments := properties.GetComments(key)
 	if len(propertyComments) > 0 {
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

 Use the `alias` and `anchor` operators to read and write yaml aliases and anchors. The `explode` operator normalises a yaml file (dereference (or expands) aliases and remove anchor names).

-`yq` supports merge keys (like `<<: *blah`) from YAML 1.1. These are no longer part of the YAML 1.2 standard, but remain common in practice. Plain `<<:` keys are recognised as merge keys and round-trip as `<<:` without an explicit `!!merge` tag. When the source uses an explicit `!!merge` tag, that is preserved on output. Internally, when `yq` synthesises a `<<` map key (for example during merge operations), it tags the key as `!!merge` rather than `!!str`.
+`yq` supports merge aliases (like `<<: *blah`) however this is no longer in the standard yaml spec (1.2) and so `yq` will automatically add the `!!merge` tag to these nodes as it is effectively a custom tag.


 ## NOTE --yaml-fix-merge-anchor-to-spec flag
@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
  r: 10
 - &SMALL
  r: 1
- <<: *CENTRE
+- !!merge <<: *CENTRE
  r: 10
 ```
 then
@ -213,10 +213,10 @@ item_value: &item_value
  value: true
 thingOne:
  name: item_1
-  <<: *item_value
+  !!merge <<: *item_value
 thingTwo:
  name: item_2
-  <<: *item_value
+  !!merge <<: *item_value
 ```
 then
 ```bash
@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ thingOne:
  value: false
 thingTwo:
  name: item_2
-  <<: *item_value
+  !!merge <<: *item_value
 ```

 ## LEGACY: Explode with merge anchors
@ -249,13 +249,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
  r: 10
 - &SMALL
  r: 1
- <<:
+- !!merge <<:
    - *CENTRE
    - *BIG
 ```
@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
  r: 10
 - &SMALL
  r: 1
- <<:
+- !!merge <<:
    - *BIG
    - *LEFT
    - *SMALL
@ -361,13 +361,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
  r: 10
 - &SMALL
  r: 1
- <<:
+- !!merge <<:
    - *CENTRE
    - *BIG
 ```
@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
  r: 10
 - &SMALL
  r: 1
- <<:
+- !!merge <<:
    - *BIG
    - *LEFT
    - *SMALL
@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
 ```yaml
 a:
  b: &b 42
-<<:
+!!merge <<:
  c: *b
 ```
 then
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/divide.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/divide.md
@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ yq '.a = .a / 0 | .b = .b / 0' sample.yml
 ```
 will output
 ```yaml
-a: +Inf
-b: -Inf
+a: !!float +Inf
+b: !!float -Inf
 ```

--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/headers/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/headers/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

 Use the `alias` and `anchor` operators to read and write yaml aliases and anchors. The `explode` operator normalises a yaml file (dereference (or expands) aliases and remove anchor names).

-`yq` supports merge keys (like `<<: *blah`) from YAML 1.1. These are no longer part of the YAML 1.2 standard, but remain common in practice. Plain `<<:` keys are recognised as merge keys and round-trip as `<<:` without an explicit `!!merge` tag. When the source uses an explicit `!!merge` tag, that is preserved on output. Internally, when `yq` synthesises a `<<` map key (for example during merge operations), it tags the key as `!!merge` rather than `!!str`.
+`yq` supports merge aliases (like `<<: *blah`) however this is no longer in the standard yaml spec (1.2) and so `yq` will automatically add the `!!merge` tag to these nodes as it is effectively a custom tag.


 ## NOTE --yaml-fix-merge-anchor-to-spec flag
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/modulo.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/modulo.md
@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ yq '.a = .a % .b' sample.yml
 ```
 will output
 ```yaml
-a: 2
+a: !!float 2
 b: 2.5
 ```

@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ yq '.a = .a % .b' sample.yml
 ```
 will output
 ```yaml
-a: NaN
+a: !!float NaN
 b: 0
 ```

--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/multiply-merge.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/multiply-merge.md
@ -471,13 +471,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ yq '.foobar * .foobarList' sample.yml
 will output
 ```yaml
 c: foobarList_c
-<<:
+!!merge <<:
  - *foo
  - *bar
 thing: foobar_thing
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/recursive-descent-glob.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/recursive-descent-glob.md
@ -131,13 +131,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ yq '.foobar | [..]' sample.yml
 will output
 ```yaml
 - c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 - foobar_c
 - *foo
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/system-operators.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/system-operators.md
@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ country: Australia
 ```
 then
 ```bash
-yq --security-enable-system-operator '.country = system("/bin/echo"; "test")' sample.yml
+yq --security-enable-system-operator '.country = system("/usr/bin/echo"; "test")' sample.yml
 ```
 will output
 ```yaml
@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ a: hello
 ```
 then
 ```bash
-yq --security-enable-system-operator '.a = system("/bin/echo")' sample.yml
+yq --security-enable-system-operator '.a = system("/usr/bin/echo")' sample.yml
 ```
 will output
 ```yaml
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/traverse-read.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/traverse-read.md
@ -294,13 +294,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -325,13 +325,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -376,13 +376,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -409,13 +409,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -442,13 +442,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -477,13 +477,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -513,13 +513,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -546,13 +546,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -579,13 +579,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
@ -614,13 +614,13 @@ bar: &bar
  c: bar_c
 foobarList:
  b: foobarList_b
-  <<:
+  !!merge <<:
    - *foo
    - *bar
  c: foobarList_c
 foobar:
  c: foobar_c
-  <<: *foo
+  !!merge <<: *foo
  thing: foobar_thing
 ```
 then
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/convert.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/convert.md
@ -125,22 +125,6 @@ will output
 {"whatever":"cat"}
 ```

-## Encode json: preserve floats with trailing zero
-Whole-number floats keep their decimal point so downstream consumers see a JSON number with a fractional part (matches Go's encoding/json, Python's json, and jq).
-
-Given a sample.yml file of:
-```yaml
-percentiles: [50.0, 95.0, 99.0, 99.9]
-```
-then
-```bash
-yq -o=json -I=0 '.' sample.yml
-```
-will output
-```json
-{"percentiles":[50.0,95.0,99.0,99.9]}
-```
-
 ## Roundtrip JSON Lines / NDJSON
 Given a sample.json file of:
 ```json
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/toml.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/toml.md
@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # TOML

-Encode and decode to and from TOML.
+Decode from TOML. Note that `yq` does not yet support outputting in TOML format (and therefore it cannot roundtrip)

--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/toml.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/toml.md
@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # TOML

-Encode and decode to and from TOML.
+Decode from TOML. Note that `yq` does not yet support outputting in TOML format (and therefore it cannot roundtrip)


 ## Parse: Simple
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_toml.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_toml.go
@ -132,23 +132,12 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeRootMapping(w io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error
 		}
 	}

+	// Preserve existing order by iterating Content
 	for i := 0; i < len(node.Content); i += 2 {
 		keyNode := node.Content[i]
 		valNode := node.Content[i+1]
-		if isTomlAttribute(valNode) {
-			if err := te.encodeTopLevelEntry(w, []string{keyNode.Value}, valNode); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	for i := 0; i < len(node.Content); i += 2 {
-		keyNode := node.Content[i]
-		valNode := node.Content[i+1]
-		if !isTomlAttribute(valNode) {
-			if err := te.encodeTopLevelEntry(w, []string{keyNode.Value}, valNode); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
+		if err := te.encodeTopLevelEntry(w, []string{keyNode.Value}, valNode); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
@ -181,13 +170,8 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeTopLevelEntry(w io.Writer, path []string, node *Can
 		if allMaps {
 			key := path[len(path)-1]
 			quotedKey := tomlKey(key)
-			if te.wroteRootAttr {
-				if _, err := w.Write([]byte("\n")); err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-				te.wroteRootAttr = false
-			}
 			for _, it := range node.Content {
+				// [[key]] then body
 				if _, err := w.Write([]byte("[[" + quotedKey + "]]\n")); err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
@ -200,12 +184,9 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeTopLevelEntry(w io.Writer, path []string, node *Can
 		// Regular array attribute
 		return te.writeArrayAttribute(w, path[len(path)-1], node)
 	case MappingNode:
-		// Use inline table syntax only for nodes explicitly marked as TOML inline tables.
-		// YAML flow-style mappings are not treated as inline tables; the FlowStyle attribute
-		// is a YAML-specific rendering hint and should not affect TOML output. This ensures
-		// that auto-detected JSON input (parsed as YAML flow style) produces readable table
-		// sections, consistent with explicitly parsed JSON input.
-		if node.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline {
+		// Use inline table syntax for nodes explicitly marked as TOML inline tables
+		// or YAML flow mappings. All other mappings become readable TOML table sections.
+		if node.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline || node.Style&FlowStyle != 0 {
 			return te.writeInlineTableAttribute(w, path[len(path)-1], node)
 		}
 		return te.encodeSeparateMapping(w, path, node)
@ -214,30 +195,7 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeTopLevelEntry(w io.Writer, path []string, node *Can
 	}
 }

-func isTomlArrayOfTables(seq *CandidateNode) bool {
-	if len(seq.Content) == 0 {
-		return false
-	}
-	for _, it := range seq.Content {
-		if it.Kind != MappingNode || it.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}
-
-func isTomlAttribute(node *CandidateNode) bool {
-	if node.Kind == ScalarNode {
-		return true
-	}
-	return node.Kind == SequenceNode && !isTomlArrayOfTables(node)
-}
-
 func (te *tomlEncoder) writeAttribute(w io.Writer, key string, value *CandidateNode) error {
-	if value.Tag == "!!null" {
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	te.wroteRootAttr = true // Mark that we wrote a root attribute

 	// Write head comment before the attribute
@ -433,9 +391,6 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) mappingToInlineTable(m *CandidateNode) (string, error) {
 		v := m.Content[i+1]
 		switch v.Kind {
 		case ScalarNode:
-			if v.Tag == "!!null" {
-				continue
-			}
 			parts = append(parts, fmt.Sprintf("%s = %s", tomlKey(k), te.formatScalar(v)))
 		case SequenceNode:
 			// inline array in inline table
@ -498,16 +453,24 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeSeparateMapping(w io.Writer, path []string, m *Cand
 	hasAttrs := false
 	for i := 0; i < len(m.Content); i += 2 {
 		v := m.Content[i+1]
-		if v.Kind == ScalarNode && v.Tag != "!!null" {
+		if v.Kind == ScalarNode {
 			hasAttrs = true
 			break
 		}
-		if v.Kind == MappingNode && v.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline {
+		if v.Kind == MappingNode && (v.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline || v.Style&FlowStyle != 0) {
 			hasAttrs = true
 			break
 		}
 		if v.Kind == SequenceNode {
-			if !isTomlArrayOfTables(v) {
+			// Check if it's NOT an array of tables
+			allMaps := true
+			for _, it := range v.Content {
+				if it.Kind != MappingNode {
+					allMaps = false
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if !allMaps {
 				hasAttrs = true
 				break
 			}
@ -537,14 +500,15 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeSeparateMapping(w io.Writer, path []string, m *Cand
 			}
 		case SequenceNode:
 			// If sequence of maps, emit [[path.k]] per element
-			if isTomlArrayOfTables(v) {
-				key := tomlDottedKey(append(append([]string{}, path...), k))
-				if te.wroteRootAttr {
-					if _, err := w.Write([]byte("\n")); err != nil {
-						return err
-					}
-					te.wroteRootAttr = false
+			allMaps := true
+			for _, it := range v.Content {
+				if it.Kind != MappingNode {
+					allMaps = false
+					break
 				}
+			}
+			if allMaps {
+				key := tomlDottedKey(append(append([]string{}, path...), k))
 				for _, it := range v.Content {
 					if _, err := w.Write([]byte("[[" + key + "]]\n")); err != nil {
 						return err
@ -571,7 +535,7 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeSeparateMapping(w io.Writer, path []string, m *Cand

 // encodeMappingBodyWithPath encodes attributes and nested arrays of tables using full dotted path context
 func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeMappingBodyWithPath(w io.Writer, path []string, m *CandidateNode) error {
-	// First, attributes (scalars, inline mappings, and non-map arrays)
+	// First, attributes (scalars and non-map arrays)
 	for i := 0; i < len(m.Content); i += 2 {
 		k := m.Content[i].Value
 		v := m.Content[i+1]
@ -580,14 +544,15 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeMappingBodyWithPath(w io.Writer, path []string, m *
 			if err := te.writeAttribute(w, k, v); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-		case MappingNode:
-			if v.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline {
-				if err := te.writeInlineTableAttribute(w, k, v); err != nil {
-					return err
+		case SequenceNode:
+			allMaps := true
+			for _, it := range v.Content {
+				if it.Kind != MappingNode {
+					allMaps = false
+					break
 				}
 			}
-		case SequenceNode:
-			if !isTomlArrayOfTables(v) {
+			if !allMaps {
 				if err := te.writeArrayAttribute(w, k, v); err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
@ -600,7 +565,14 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeMappingBodyWithPath(w io.Writer, path []string, m *
 		k := m.Content[i].Value
 		v := m.Content[i+1]
 		if v.Kind == SequenceNode {
-			if isTomlArrayOfTables(v) {
+			allMaps := true
+			for _, it := range v.Content {
+				if it.Kind != MappingNode {
+					allMaps = false
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if allMaps {
 				dotted := tomlDottedKey(append(append([]string{}, path...), k))
 				for _, it := range v.Content {
 					if _, err := w.Write([]byte("[[" + dotted + "]]\n")); err != nil {
@ -614,15 +586,21 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) encodeMappingBodyWithPath(w io.Writer, path []string, m *
 		}
 	}

-	// Finally, child mappings: inline-hint ones were emitted above as attributes,
+	// Finally, child mappings: inline-hint or flow-style ones become inline table attributes,
 	// while all others are emitted as separate sub-table sections.
 	for i := 0; i < len(m.Content); i += 2 {
 		k := m.Content[i].Value
 		v := m.Content[i+1]
-		if v.Kind == MappingNode && v.EncodeHint != EncodeHintInline {
-			subPath := append(append([]string{}, path...), k)
-			if err := te.encodeSeparateMapping(w, subPath, v); err != nil {
-				return err
+		if v.Kind == MappingNode {
+			if v.EncodeHint == EncodeHintInline || v.Style&FlowStyle != 0 {
+				if err := te.writeInlineTableAttribute(w, k, v); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+			} else {
+				subPath := append(append([]string{}, path...), k)
+				if err := te.encodeSeparateMapping(w, subPath, v); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
@ -677,7 +655,7 @@ func (te *tomlEncoder) colorizeToml(input []byte) []byte {

 		// Table sections - [section] or [[array]]
 		// Only treat '[' as a table section if it appears at the start of the line
-        // (possibly after whitespace). This avoids incorrectly colouring inline arrays like
+		// (possibly after whitespace). This avoids mis-colouring inline arrays like
 		// "ports = [8000, 8001]" as table sections.
 		if ch == '[' {
 			isSectionHeader := true
--- a/pkg/yqlib/file_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/file_utils.go
@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func tryRemoveTempFile(filename string) {
 // thanks https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21060945/simple-way-to-copy-a-file-in-golang
 func copyFileContents(src, dst string) (err error) {
 	// ignore CWE-22 gosec issue - that's more targeted for http based apps that run in a public directory,
-	// and ensuring that it's not possible to give a path to a file outside that directory.
+	// and ensuring that it's not possible to give a path to a file outside thar directory.

 	in, err := os.Open(src) // #nosec
 	if err != nil {
--- a/pkg/yqlib/format.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/format.go
@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ var LuaFormat = &Format{"lua", []string{"l"},

 var INIFormat = &Format{"ini", []string{"i"},
 	func() Encoder { return NewINIEncoder() },
-	func() Decoder { return NewINIDecoder(ConfiguredINIPreferences) },
+	func() Decoder { return NewINIDecoder() },
 }

 var Formats = []*Format{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/goccy_yaml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/goccy_yaml_test.go
@ -230,7 +230,8 @@ var goccyYamlFormatScenarios = []formatScenario{
 		description: "merge anchor",
 		skipDoc:     true,
 		input:       "a: &remember\n  c: mike\nb:\n  <<: *remember",
-		expected:    "a: &remember\n  c: mike\nb:\n  <<: *remember\n",
+		// fine to have !!merge as that's what the current impl does
+		expected: "a: &remember\n  c: mike\nb:\n  !!merge <<: *remember\n",
 	},
 	{
 		description: "custom tag",
--- a/pkg/yqlib/ini.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/ini.go
@ -1,21 +1,18 @@
 package yqlib

 type INIPreferences struct {
-	ColorsEnabled           bool
-	PreserveSurroundedQuote bool
+	ColorsEnabled bool
 }

 func NewDefaultINIPreferences() INIPreferences {
 	return INIPreferences{
-		ColorsEnabled:           false,
-		PreserveSurroundedQuote: false,
+		ColorsEnabled: false,
 	}
 }

 func (p *INIPreferences) Copy() INIPreferences {
 	return INIPreferences{
-		ColorsEnabled:           p.ColorsEnabled,
-		PreserveSurroundedQuote: p.PreserveSurroundedQuote,
+		ColorsEnabled: p.ColorsEnabled,
 	}
 }

--- a/pkg/yqlib/ini_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/ini_test.go
@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ package yqlib
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"

 	"github.com/mikefarah/yq/v4/test"
@ -23,16 +22,6 @@ const expectedSimpleINIYaml = `section:
  key: value
 `

-const quotedINIInput = `[section]
-color_theme = "Default"
-theme_background = "False"
-`
-
-const expectedQuotedINIOutput = `[section]
-color_theme      = "Default"
-theme_background = "False"
-`
-
 var iniScenarios = []formatScenario{
 	{
 		description:  "Parse INI: simple",
@ -60,22 +49,6 @@ var iniScenarios = []formatScenario{
 	},
 }

-// iniPreserveQuotesPrefs returns INIPreferences with PreserveSurroundedQuote enabled.
-func iniPreserveQuotesPrefs() INIPreferences {
-	prefs := NewDefaultINIPreferences()
-	prefs.PreserveSurroundedQuote = true
-	return prefs
-}
-
-var iniPreserveQuotesScenarios = []formatScenario{
-	{
-		description:  "Roundtrip INI: preserve quotes",
-		input:        quotedINIInput,
-		expected:     expectedQuotedINIOutput,
-		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
-	},
-}
-
 func documentRoundtripINIScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
 	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("## %v\n", s.description))

@ -97,7 +70,7 @@ func documentRoundtripINIScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
 	}

 	writeOrPanic(w, "will output\n")
-	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```ini\n%v```\n\n", mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences()), NewINIEncoder())))
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```ini\n%v```\n\n", mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(), NewINIEncoder())))
 }

 func documentDecodeINIScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
@ -121,7 +94,7 @@ func documentDecodeINIScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
 	}

 	writeOrPanic(w, "will output\n")
-	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```yaml\n%v```\n\n", mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences()), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences))))
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```yaml\n%v```\n\n", mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences))))
 }

 func testINIScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {
@ -129,11 +102,11 @@ func testINIScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {
 	case "encode":
 		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences), NewINIEncoder()), s.description)
 	case "decode":
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences()), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences)), s.description)
+		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences)), s.description)
 	case "roundtrip":
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences()), NewINIEncoder()), s.description)
+		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(), NewINIEncoder()), s.description)
 	case "decode-error":
-		result, err := processFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences()), NewINIEncoder())
+		result, err := processFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(), NewINIEncoder())
 		if err == nil {
 			t.Errorf("Expected error '%v' but it worked: %v", s.expectedError, result)
 		} else {
@ -202,21 +175,6 @@ func documentDecodeErrorINIScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
 	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```\n%v\n```\n\n", s.expectedError))
 }

-func TestINIDecoderInitResetsFinished(t *testing.T) {
-	decoder := NewINIDecoder(NewDefaultINIPreferences())
-	firstDocuments, err := readDocuments(strings.NewReader("[first]\nkey = value\n"), "first.ini", 0, decoder)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	test.AssertResult(t, 1, firstDocuments.Len())
-
-	secondDocuments, err := readDocuments(strings.NewReader("[second]\nkey = value\n"), "second.ini", 1, decoder)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	test.AssertResult(t, 1, secondDocuments.Len())
-}
-
 func TestINIScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range iniScenarios {
 		testINIScenario(t, tt)
@ -227,19 +185,3 @@ func TestINIScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	documentScenarios(t, "usage", "convert", genericScenarios, documentINIScenario)
 }
-
-func testINIPreserveQuotesScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {
-	prefs := iniPreserveQuotesPrefs()
-	switch s.scenarioType {
-	case "roundtrip":
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewINIDecoder(prefs), NewINIEncoder()), s.description)
-	default:
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("unhandled scenario type %q", s.scenarioType))
-	}
-}
-
-func TestINIPreserveQuotesScenarios(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, tt := range iniPreserveQuotesScenarios {
-		testINIPreserveQuotesScenario(t, tt)
-	}
-}
--- a/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go
@ -220,54 +220,6 @@ var jsonScenarios = []formatScenario{
 		expected:       "{\"stuff\":\"cool\"}\n{\"whatever\":\"cat\"}\n",
 		scenarioType:   "encode",
 	},
-	{
-		description:    "Encode json: preserve floats with trailing zero",
-		subdescription: "Whole-number floats keep their decimal point so downstream consumers see a JSON number with a fractional part (matches Go's encoding/json, Python's json, and jq).",
-		input:          `percentiles: [50.0, 95.0, 99.0, 99.9]`,
-		indent:         0,
-		expected:       "{\"percentiles\":[50.0,95.0,99.0,99.9]}\n",
-		scenarioType:   "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		description:  "Encode json: ints stay ints",
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		input:        `a: 50`,
-		indent:       0,
-		expected:     "{\"a\":50}\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		description:  "Encode json: !!float tagged whole number gets .0",
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		input:        `a: !!float 5`,
-		indent:       0,
-		expected:     "{\"a\":5.0}\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		description:  "Encode json: scientific notation float preserved",
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		input:        `a: 1.5e-3`,
-		indent:       0,
-		expected:     "{\"a\":1.5e-3}\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		description:  "Encode json: negative float preserved",
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		input:        `a: -7.0`,
-		indent:       0,
-		expected:     "{\"a\":-7.0}\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		description:  "Encode json: mixed int and float array",
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		input:        `a: [1, 2.0, 3, 4.5]`,
-		indent:       0,
-		expected:     "{\"a\":[1,2.0,3,4.5]}\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
 	{
 		description:  "Roundtrip JSON Lines / NDJSON",
 		input:        sampleNdJson,
--- a/pkg/yqlib/lib_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/lib_test.go
@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ type parseSnippetScenario struct {
 var parseSnippetScenarios = []parseSnippetScenario{
 	{
 		snippet:       ":",
-		expectedError: "go-yaml load error in parser (while parsing a block mapping) at L1.C1: did not find expected key",
+		expectedError: "yaml: while parsing a block mapping at <unknown position>: did not find expected key",
 	},
 	{
 		snippet: "",
--- a/pkg/yqlib/no_ini.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/no_ini.go
@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

 package yqlib

-func NewINIDecoder(prefs INIPreferences) Decoder {
+func NewINIDecoder() Decoder {
 	return nil
 }

--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_anchors_aliases.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_anchors_aliases.go
@ -170,10 +170,6 @@ func fixedReconstructAliasedMap(node *CandidateNode) error {
 				if mergeNodeSeq.Kind == AliasNode {
 					mergeNodeSeq = mergeNodeSeq.Alias
 				}
-				mergeNodeSeq = mergeNodeSeq.Copy()
-				if err := explodeNode(mergeNodeSeq, Context{}); err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
 				if mergeNodeSeq.Kind != MappingNode {
 					return fmt.Errorf("can only use merge anchors with maps (!!map) or sequences (!!seq) of maps, but got sequence containing %v", mergeNodeSeq.Tag)
 				}
@ -183,7 +179,12 @@ func fixedReconstructAliasedMap(node *CandidateNode) error {
 				})

 				for _, item := range itemsToAdd {
-					newContent = append(newContent, item.Copy())
+					// copy to ensure exploding doesn't modify the original node
+					itemCopy := item.Copy()
+					if err := explodeNode(itemCopy, Context{}); err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					newContent = append(newContent, itemCopy)
 				}
 			}
 		}
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_anchors_aliases_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_anchors_aliases_test.go
@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ thingOne:
    value: false
 thingTwo:
    name: item_2
-    <<: *item_value
+    !!merge <<: *item_value
 `

 var explodeMergeAnchorsFixedExpected = `D0, P[], (!!map)::foo:
@ -198,15 +198,6 @@ var fixedAnchorOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: 42}\n",
 		},
 	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "Nested merge anchor with inline map",
-		document:    `{<<: {<<: {a: 42}}}`,
-		expression:  `explode(.)`,
-		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: 42}\n",
-		},
-	},
 	{
 		skipDoc:     true,
 		description: "Merge anchor with sequence with inline map",
@ -288,63 +279,7 @@ var badAnchorOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 	},
 }

-var mixedMergeTagStyleDocument = `
-constants:
-    errorResponse: &errorResponse
-        status: 200
-endpoints:
-    - condition: true
-      !!merge <<: *errorResponse
-    - condition: false
-      <<: *errorResponse
-other:
-    !!merge <<: *errorResponse
-somethingElse:
-    <<: *errorResponse
-`
-
-var mixedMergeTagStyleExplodedDocument = `
-constants:
-    errorResponse:
-        status: 200
-endpoints:
-    - condition: true
-      status: 200
-    - condition: false
-      status: 200
-other:
-    status: 200
-somethingElse:
-    status: 200
-`
-
 var anchorOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
-	{
-		// mergeObjects previously skipped all !!merge-tagged nodes. Since !!merge only appears on
-		// << map keys, this meant applyAssignment was never called for the << key. It was later
-		// autocreated by createStringScalarNode("<<") with tag !!str, silently dropping !!merge.
-		// DontFollowAlias:true already prevents aliases being followed, so the skip was redundant.
-		// Old (buggy) output: "D0, P[], (!!map)::base: &base\n    x: 1\ndest:\n    <<: *base\n"
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "direct *+ preserves explicit !!merge tag on << key (regression for issue 2677)",
-		document:    "base: &base\n    x: 1\ndest:\n    !!merge <<: *base\n",
-		expression:  `. as $d | {} *+ $d`,
-		expected:    []string{"D0, P[], (!!map)::base: &base\n    x: 1\ndest:\n    !!merge <<: *base\n"},
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "explicit !!merge tag on << key is preserved through ireduce merge",
-		document:    mixedMergeTagStyleDocument,
-		expression:  `. as $item ireduce ({}; . *+ $item)`,
-		expected:    []string{"D0, P[], (!!map)::" + mixedMergeTagStyleDocument},
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "explode expands << merge keys regardless of explicit tag style (!!merge or plain)",
-		document:    mixedMergeTagStyleDocument,
-		expression:  `explode(.)`,
-		expected:    []string{"D0, P[], (!!map)::" + mixedMergeTagStyleExplodedDocument},
-	},
 	{
 		skipDoc:     true,
 		description: "merge anchor to alias alias",
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_divide_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_divide_test.go
@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ var divideOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:       `{a: 1, b: -1}`,
 		expression:     `.a = .a / 0 | .b = .b / 0`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: +Inf, b: -Inf}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: !!float +Inf, b: !!float -Inf}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_load_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_load_test.go
@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ var loadScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:       `{something: {file: "thing.yml"}, over: {here: [{file: "thing.yml"}]}}`,
 		expression:     `(.. | select(has("file"))) |= load("../../examples/" + .file)`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{something: {a: apple is included, b: cool.}, over: {here: [{a: apple is included,\n                b: cool.}]}}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{something: {a: apple is included, b: cool.}, over: {here: [{a: apple is included, b: cool.}]}}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_modulo_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_modulo_test.go
@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ var moduloOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:       `{a: 12, b: 2.5}`,
 		expression:     `.a = .a % .b`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: 2, b: 2.5}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: !!float 2, b: 2.5}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var moduloOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:       `{a: 1.1, b: 0}`,
 		expression:     `.a = .a % .b`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: NaN, b: 0}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{a: !!float NaN, b: 0}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ var moduloOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   "a: 2\nb: !goat 2.3",
 		expression: `.a = .a % .b`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::a: 2\nb: !goat 2.3\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::a: !!float 2\nb: !goat 2.3\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_multiply.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_multiply.go
@ -189,6 +189,10 @@ func mergeObjects(d *dataTreeNavigator, context Context, lhs *CandidateNode, rhs

 		log.Debugf("going to applied assignment to LHS: %v with RHS: %v", NodeToString(lhs), NodeToString(candidate))

+		if candidate.Tag == "!!merge" {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		err := applyAssignment(d, context, pathIndexToStartFrom, lhs, candidate, preferences)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_multiply_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_multiply_test.go
@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package yqlib

 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"math/bits"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeArrayWithAnchors,
 		expression: `. * .`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::sample:\n    - &a\n    - <<: *a\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::sample:\n    - &a\n    - !!merge <<: *a\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -514,7 +513,7 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		environmentVariables: map[string]string{"originalPath": ".myArray", "otherPath": ".newArray", "idPath": ".a"},
 		expression:           mergeExpression,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{myArray: [{a: apple, b: appleB2}, {a: kiwi, b: kiwiB}, {a: banana, b: bananaB, c: bananaC},\n        {a: dingo, c: dingoC}], something: else}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{myArray: [{a: apple, b: appleB2}, {a: kiwi, b: kiwiB}, {a: banana, b: bananaB, c: bananaC}, {a: dingo, c: dingoC}], something: else}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -546,7 +545,7 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:    mergeDocSample,
 		expression:  `.foobar * .foobarList`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobar], (!!map)::c: foobarList_c\n<<: [*foo, *bar]\nthing: foobar_thing\nb: foobarList_b\n",
+			"D0, P[foobar], (!!map)::c: foobarList_c\n!!merge <<: [*foo, *bar]\nthing: foobar_thing\nb: foobarList_b\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -554,7 +553,7 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   document,
 		expression: `.b * .c`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[b], (!!map)::{name: dog, <<: *cat}\n",
+			"D0, P[b], (!!map)::{name: dog, \"<<\": *cat}\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -581,7 +580,7 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:    "a: 2\nb: !goat 3.5",
 		expression:  ".a = .a * .b",
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::a: 7\nb: !goat 3.5\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::a: !!float 7\nb: !goat 3.5\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -708,13 +707,11 @@ var multiplyOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		expectedError: "result of repeating string (1 bytes) by 99999999 would exceed 10485760 bytes",
 	},
 	{
-		// Pick a count whose product with len("ab") overflows int on
-		// any architecture: 2^30 on 32-bit, 2^62 on 64-bit. Doubling
-		// either yields MaxInt+1, which wraps to MinInt and bypasses
-		// a naive len*count guard.
+		// The size guard must not overflow: len * count can wrap to
+		// a negative or small value on 64-bit, bypassing the check.
 		skipDoc:       true,
-		expression:    fmt.Sprintf(`"ab" * %d`, 1<<(bits.UintSize-2)),
-		expectedError: fmt.Sprintf("result of repeating string (2 bytes) by %d would exceed 10485760 bytes", 1<<(bits.UintSize-2)),
+		expression:    `"ab" * 4611686018427387904`,
+		expectedError: "result of repeating string (2 bytes) by 4611686018427387904 would exceed 10485760 bytes",
 	},
 }

--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_recursive_descent_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_recursive_descent_test.go
@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ var recursiveDescentOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:    mergeDocSample,
 		expression:  `.foobar | [..]`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobar], (!!seq)::- c: foobar_c\n  <<: *foo\n  thing: foobar_thing\n- foobar_c\n- *foo\n- foobar_thing\n",
+			"D0, P[foobar], (!!seq)::- c: foobar_c\n  !!merge <<: *foo\n  thing: foobar_thing\n- foobar_c\n- *foo\n- foobar_thing\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ var recursiveDescentOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeDocSample,
 		expression: `.foobar | [...]`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobar], (!!seq)::- c: foobar_c\n  <<: *foo\n  thing: foobar_thing\n- c\n- foobar_c\n- <<\n- *foo\n- thing\n- foobar_thing\n",
+			"D0, P[foobar], (!!seq)::- c: foobar_c\n  !!merge <<: *foo\n  thing: foobar_thing\n- c\n- foobar_c\n- !!merge <<\n- *foo\n- thing\n- foobar_thing\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ var recursiveDescentOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeDocSample,
 		expression: `.foobarList | ..`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n<<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
+			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n!!merge <<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList b], (!!str)::foobarList_b\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList <<], (!!seq)::[*foo, *bar]\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList << 0], (alias)::*foo\n",
@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ var recursiveDescentOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeDocSample,
 		expression: `.foobarList | ...`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n<<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
+			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n!!merge <<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList b], (!!str)::b\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList b], (!!str)::foobarList_b\n",
 			"D0, P[foobarList <<], (!!merge)::<<\n",
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_select_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_select_test.go
@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ var selectOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:    `[{animal: cat, legs: {cool: true}}, {animal: fish}]`,
 		expression:  `(.[] | select(.legs.cool == true).canWalk) = true | (.[] | .alive.things) = "yes"`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!seq)::[{animal: cat, legs: {cool: true}, canWalk: true, alive: {things: yes}}, {animal: fish,\n        alive: {things: yes}}]\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!seq)::[{animal: cat, legs: {cool: true}, canWalk: true, alive: {things: yes}}, {animal: fish, alive: {things: yes}}]\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_sort_keys_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_sort_keys_test.go
@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ var sortKeysOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:       `{bParent: {c: dog, array: [3,1,2]}, aParent: {z: donkey, x: [{c: yum, b: delish}, {b: ew, a: apple}]}}`,
 		expression:     `sort_keys(..)`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{aParent: {x: [{b: delish, c: yum}, {a: apple, b: ew}], z: donkey}, bParent: {array: [\n            3, 1, 2], c: dog}}\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::{aParent: {x: [{b: delish, c: yum}, {a: apple, b: ew}], z: donkey}, bParent: {array: [3, 1, 2], c: dog}}\n",
 		},
 	},
 }
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_style_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_style_test.go
@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ var styleOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   "bing: &foo {x: z}\na:\n  c: cat\n  <<: [*foo]",
 		expression: `(... | select(tag=="!!str")) style="single"`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[], (!!map)::'bing': &foo {'x': 'z'}\n'a':\n    'c': 'cat'\n    <<: [*foo]\n",
+			"D0, P[], (!!map)::'bing': &foo {'x': 'z'}\n'a':\n    'c': 'cat'\n    !!merge <<: [*foo]\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path_test.go
@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ var traversePathOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeDocSample,
 		expression: `.foobar`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobar], (!!map)::c: foobar_c\n<<: *foo\nthing: foobar_thing\n",
+			"D0, P[foobar], (!!map)::c: foobar_c\n!!merge <<: *foo\nthing: foobar_thing\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ var traversePathOperatorScenarios = []expressionScenario{
 		document:   mergeDocSample,
 		expression: `.foobarList`,
 		expected: []string{
-			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n<<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
+			"D0, P[foobarList], (!!map)::b: foobarList_b\n!!merge <<: [*foo, *bar]\nc: foobarList_c\n",
 		},
 	},
 	{
--- a/pkg/yqlib/properties_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/properties_test.go
@ -202,37 +202,6 @@ var propertyScenarios = []formatScenario{
 		expected:     expectedDecodedYaml,
 		scenarioType: "decode",
 	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "Decode properties with array brackets",
-		input: `user.credentials[0].username=user1
-user.credentials[0].password=$2b$08$...
-user.credentials[1].username=user2
-user.credentials[1].password=$2b$08$...
-user.credentials[2].username=user3
-user.credentials[2].password=$2b$10$...`,
-		expected: `user:
-  credentials:
-    - username: user1
-      password: $2b$08$...
-    - username: user2
-      password: $2b$08$...
-    - username: user3
-      password: $2b$10$...
-`,
-		scenarioType: "decode-array-brackets",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:     true,
-		description: "Decode properties with nested array brackets",
-		input:       `user.clowns[0][1] = "cool"`,
-		expected: `user:
-  clowns:
-    - - null
-      - '"cool"'
-`,
-		scenarioType: "decode-array-brackets",
-	},

 	{
 		skipDoc:      true,
@ -473,12 +442,6 @@ func TestPropertyScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 			test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences), NewPropertiesEncoder(ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences)), s.description)
 		case "decode":
 			test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewPropertiesDecoder(), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences)), s.description)
-		case "decode-array-brackets":
-			previousPreferences := ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.Copy()
-			ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.UseArrayBrackets = true
-			actual := mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewPropertiesDecoder(), NewYamlEncoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences))
-			ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences = previousPreferences
-			test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, actual, s.description)
 		case "encode-wrapped":
 			prefs := ConfiguredPropertiesPreferences.Copy()
 			prefs.UnwrapScalar = false
--- a/pkg/yqlib/toml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/toml_test.go
@ -209,50 +209,6 @@ address = "12 cat st"
 var rtEmptyArray = `A = []
 `

-var rtEmptyArrayInTable = `[features]
-my-feature = []
-`
-
-var rtMixedEmptyArraysInTable = `[features]
-my-other-feature = []
-my-feature = ["my-other-feature"]
-`
-
-var yamlEmptyArrayInTable = `features:
-  my-feature: []
-`
-
-var expectedTomlEmptyArrayInTable = `[features]
-my-feature = []
-`
-
-var yamlMixedEmptyArraysInTable = `features:
-  my-other-feature: []
-  my-feature:
-    - my-other-feature
-`
-
-var expectedTomlMixedEmptyArraysInTable = `[features]
-my-other-feature = []
-my-feature = ["my-other-feature"]
-`
-
-var issue2688SampleToml = `[project]
-name = "some-project"
-version = "0.5.1"
-authors = [{name = "Author", email = "author@example.com"}]
-license = { file = "LICENSE" }
-readme = "README.md"
-`
-
-var issue2688SampleExpected = `[project]
-name = "some-project"
-version = "0.5.2"
-authors = [{ name = "Author", email = "author@example.com" }]
-license = { file = "LICENSE" }
-readme = "README.md"
-`
-
 var rtSampleTable = `var = "x"

 [owner.contact]
@ -607,36 +563,6 @@ var tomlScenarios = []formatScenario{
 		expected:     rtEmptyArray,
 		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
 	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue #2674: roundtrip empty array in table",
-		input:        rtEmptyArrayInTable,
-		expression:   ".",
-		expected:     rtEmptyArrayInTable,
-		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue #2674: roundtrip mixed empty and non-empty arrays in table",
-		input:        rtMixedEmptyArraysInTable,
-		expression:   ".",
-		expected:     rtMixedEmptyArraysInTable,
-		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue #2674: encode empty array in table",
-		input:        yamlEmptyArrayInTable,
-		expected:     expectedTomlEmptyArrayInTable,
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue #2674: encode mixed empty and non-empty arrays in table",
-		input:        yamlMixedEmptyArraysInTable,
-		expected:     expectedTomlMixedEmptyArraysInTable,
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
 	{
 		description:  "Roundtrip: sample table",
 		input:        rtSampleTable,
@ -723,33 +649,11 @@ var tomlScenarios = []formatScenario{
 	},
 	{
 		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Encode: YAML flow mapping produces table section (same as block mapping)",
+		description:  "Encode: YAML flow mapping stays inline",
 		input:        "arg: {hello: foo}\n",
-		expected:     "[arg]\nhello = \"foo\"\n",
+		expected:     "arg = { hello = \"foo\" }\n",
 		scenarioType: "encode",
 	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue: JSON auto-detected via YAML decoder produces table sections",
-		input:        `{"arg":{"hello": "foo"}}`,
-		expected:     "[arg]\nhello = \"foo\"\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue: JSON via JSON decoder produces table sections",
-		input:        `{"arg":{"hello": "foo"}}`,
-		expected:     "[arg]\nhello = \"foo\"\n",
-		scenarioType: "encode-json",
-	},
-	{
-		skipDoc:      true,
-		description:  "Issue 2688: inline table arrays do not change following table scope",
-		input:        issue2688SampleToml,
-		expression:   `.project.version = "0.5.2"`,
-		expected:     issue2688SampleExpected,
-		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
-	},
 	{
 		skipDoc:      true,
 		description:  "Roundtrip: key with special characters in inline table",
@ -791,8 +695,6 @@ func testTomlScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {
 		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewTomlDecoder(), NewTomlEncoder()), s.description)
 	case "encode":
 		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(ConfiguredYamlPreferences), NewTomlEncoder()), s.description)
-	case "encode-json":
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(s, NewJSONDecoder(), NewTomlEncoder()), s.description)
 	}
 }

@ -873,7 +775,7 @@ func documentTomlScenario(_ *testing.T, w *bufio.Writer, i interface{}) {
 		documentTomlDecodeScenario(w, s)
 	case "roundtrip":
 		documentTomlRoundtripScenario(w, s)
-	case "encode", "encode-json":
+	case "encode":
 		documentTomlEncodeScenario(w, s)

 	default:
@ -892,60 +794,6 @@ func TestTomlScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 	documentScenarios(t, "usage", "toml", genericScenarios, documentTomlScenario)
 }

-func TestTomlEncodeJsonKeepsRootArrayBeforeTables(t *testing.T) {
-	scenario := formatScenario{
-		description: "Encode: JSON root array stays outside later tables",
-		input: `{
-  "_source": {
-    "cookie": [
-      {
-        "Domain": "",
-        "Expires": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
-        "HttpOnly": false,
-        "MaxAge": 0,
-        "Name": "name",
-        "Path": "",
-        "Raw": "",
-        "RawExpires": "",
-        "SameSite": 0,
-        "Secure": false,
-        "Unparsed": null,
-        "Value": "value"
-      }
-    ]
-  },
-  "highlight": {
-    "did": [
-      "did"
-    ]
-  },
-  "sort": [
-    1
-  ]
-}`,
-		expected: `sort = [1]
-
-[[_source.cookie]]
-Domain = ""
-Expires = "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
-HttpOnly = false
-MaxAge = 0
-Name = "name"
-Path = ""
-Raw = ""
-RawExpires = ""
-SameSite = 0
-Secure = false
-Value = "value"
-
-[highlight]
-did = ["did"]
-`,
-	}
-
-	test.AssertResultWithContext(t, scenario.expected, mustProcessFormatScenario(scenario, NewJSONDecoder(), NewTomlEncoder()), scenario.description)
-}
-
 // TestTomlColourization tests that colourization correctly distinguishes
 // between table section headers and inline arrays
 func TestTomlColourization(t *testing.T) {
--- a/project-words.txt
+++ b/project-words.txt
@ -0,0 +1,306 @@
+abxbbxdbxebxczzx
+abxbbxdbxebxczzy
+accum
+Accum
+adithyasunil
+AEDT
+água
+ÁGUA
+alecthomas
+appleapple
+Astuff
+autocreating
+autoparse
+AWST
+axbxcxdxe
+axbxcxdxexxx
+bananabanana
+barp
+nbaz
+bitnami
+blarp
+blddir
+Bobo
+BODMAS
+bonapite
+Brien
+Bstuff
+BUILDKIT
+buildpackage
+catmeow
+CATYPE
+CBVVE
+chardata
+chillum
+choco
+chomper
+cleanup
+cmlu
+colorise
+colors
+Colors
+colourize
+compinit
+coolioo
+coverprofile
+createmap
+csvd
+CSVUTF
+currentlabel
+cygpath
+czvf
+datestring
+datetime
+Datetime
+datetimes
+DEBEMAIL
+debhelper
+Debugf
+debuild
+delish
+delpaths
+DELPATHS
+devorbitus
+devscripts
+dimchansky
+Dont
+dput
+elliotchance
+endhint
+endofname
+Entriesfrom
+envsubst
+errorlevel
+Escandón
+Evalall
+fakefilename
+fakeroot
+Farah
+fatih
+Fifi
+filebytes
+Fileish
+foobar
+foobaz
+foof
+frood
+fullpath
+gitbook
+githubactions
+gnupg
+goccy
+gofmt
+gogo
+golangci
+goreleaser
+GORELEASER
+GOMODCACHE
+GOPATH
+gosec
+gota
+goversion
+GOVERSION
+haha
+hellno
+herbygillot
+hexdump
+Hoang
+hostpath
+hotdog
+howdy
+incase
+Infof
+inlinetables
+inplace
+ints
+ireduce
+iwatch
+jinzhu
+jq's
+jsond
+keygrip
+Keygrip
+KEYGRIP
+KEYID
+keyvalue
+kwak
+lalilu
+ldflags
+LDFLAGS
+lexer
+Lexer
+libdistro
+lindex
+linecomment
+LVAs
+magiconair
+mapvalues
+Mier
+mikefarah
+minideb
+minishift
+mipsle
+mitchellh
+mktemp
+Mult
+multidoc
+multimaint
+myenv
+myenvnonexisting
+myfile
+myformat
+ndjson
+NDJSON
+NFKD
+nixpkgs
+nojson
+nonascii
+nonempty
+noninteractive
+Nonquoting
+nosec
+notoml
+noxml
+nolua
+nullinput
+onea
+Oneshot
+opencollect
+opstack
+orderedmap
+osarch
+overridign
+pacman
+Padder
+pandoc
+parsechangelog
+pcsv
+pelletier
+pflag
+prechecking
+Prerelease
+proc
+propsd
+qylib
+readline
+realnames
+realpath
+repr
+rhash
+rindex
+risentveber
+rmescandon
+Rosey
+roundtrip
+roundtrips
+Roundtrip
+roundtripping
+Interp
+interp
+runningvms
+sadface
+selfupdate
+setpath
+sharedfolder
+Sharedfolder
+shellvariables
+shellvars
+shortfunc
+shortpipe
+shunit
+snapcraft
+somevalue
+splt
+srcdir
+stackoverflow
+stiched
+Strc
+strenv
+strload
+stylig
+subarray
+subchild
+subdescription
+submatch
+submatches
+SUBSTR
+tempfile
+tfstate
+Tfstate
+thar
+timezone
+Timezone
+timezones
+Timezones
+tojson
+Tokenvalue
+tsvd
+Tuan
+tzdata
+Uhoh
+updateassign
+urid
+utfbom
+Warningf
+Wazowski
+webi
+Webi
+wherever
+winget
+withdots
+wizz
+woop
+workdir
+Writable
+xmld
+xyzzy
+yamld
+yqlib
+yuin
+zabbix
+tonumber
+noyaml
+nolint
+shortfile
+Unmarshalling
+noini
+nocsv
+nobase64
+nouri
+noprops
+nosh
+noshell
+tinygo
+nonexistent
+hclsyntax
+hclwrite
+nohcl
+zclconf
+cty
+go-cty
+Colorisation
+goimports
+errorlint
+RDBMS
+expeñded
+bananabananabananabanana
+edwinjhlee
+flox
+unlabelled
+kyaml
+KYAML
+nokyaml
+buildvcs
+behaviour
+GOFLAGS
+gocache
+subsubarray
+Ffile
+Fquery
+coverpkg
+gsub
+ralia
+Austr
+ustrali
+héllo
+alia
--- a/release_instructions.txt
+++ b/release_instructions.txt
@ -8,22 +8,15 @@
 - git push --tags
 - use github actions to publish docker and make github release
 - check github updated yq action in marketplace
- update github-action/Dockerfile to pin the newly published docker image digest (must match the mikefarah/yq:4 manifest digest):
-    docker buildx imagetools inspect docker.io/mikefarah/yq:4 --format '{{printf "%s" .Manifest.Digest}}'
+- update github-action/Dockerfile to pin the newly published docker image digest:
+    skopeo inspect docker://docker.io/mikefarah/yq:4 | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['Digest'])"
  then update the FROM line in github-action/Dockerfile with the new digest:
-    FROM mikefarah/yq:4@<digest-from-above>
- commit the Dockerfile change, then manually run the "Release Docker GitHub Action" workflow
-  (Actions -> Release Docker GitHub Action -> Run workflow)
- update action.yml to pin the newly published github-action image digest (must match the mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction manifest digest):
-    docker buildx imagetools inspect docker.io/mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction --format '{{printf "%s" .Manifest.Digest}}'
-  then update the image line in action.yml with the new digest:
-    image: 'docker://mikefarah/yq:4-githubaction@<digest-from-above>'
- commit the action.yml change and push
+    FROM mikefarah/yq:4@sha256:<new-digest>

 // release artifacts are signed with cosign keyless signing (Sigstore)
 // users can verify with:
 //   cosign verify-blob --bundle checksums.bundle checksums
-// install cosign: brew install cosign  OR  go install github.com/sigstore/cosign/v2/cmd/cosign@v2.6.1
+// install cosign: brew install cosign  OR  go install github.com/sigstore/cosign/v2/cmd/cosign@latest


 - snapcraft
--- a/release_notes.txt
+++ b/release_notes.txt
@ -1,34 +1,3 @@
-4.53.3:
-  - Add `--ini-preserve-quotes` flag for INI round-trip quote preservation (#2728) Thanks @toller892!
-  - Fix: reset INI decoder state on init (#2719) Thanks @xieby1!
-  - Fix: decode properties array bracket paths (#2693) Thanks @cyphercodes!
-  - Fix: preserve floats with trailing zero when encoding YAML to JSON (#2701) Thanks @ChrisJr404!
-  - Fix: JSON to TOML root scope and null handling (#2689) Thanks @LovesAsuna!
-  - Fix: reset TOML decoder finished flag on Init for multi-doc evaluation (#2704) Thanks @terminalchai!
-  - Fix: reset TOML decoder between files when evaluating all at once (#2685) Thanks @terminalchai!
-  - Fix: preserve TOML inline table array scope (#2694) Thanks @cyphercodes!
-  - Fix: preserve empty TOML arrays in tables (#2686) Thanks @cyphercodes!
-  - Fix: TOML encoder uses inline tables for YAML FlowStyle mappings (#2687)
-  - Fix nested inline YAML merge explode (#2699) Thanks @cyphercodes!
-  - Fix repeatString overflow test on 32-bit platforms (#2680) Thanks @jandubois!
-  - Bumped dependencies
-
-4.53.2:
-  - Fixing release process
-  
-4.53.1:
-  - Releases and tags now signed and immutable!
-  - Add system(command; args) operator (disabled by default) (#2640)
-  - TOML encoder: prefer readable table sections over inline tables (#2649)
-  - Fix TOML encoder to quote keys containing special characters (#2648)
-  - Add string slicing support (#2639)
-  - Fix findInArray misuse on MappingNodes in equality and contains (#2645) Thanks @jandubois!
-  - Fix panic on negative slice indices that underflow after adjustment (#2646) Thanks @jandubois!
-  - Fix stack overflow from circular alias in traverse (#2647) Thanks @jandubois!
-  - Fix panic and OOM in repeatString for large repeat counts (#2644) Thanks @jandubois!
-  - Bumped dependencies
-
-
 4.52.5:
  - Fix: reset TOML decoder state between files (#2634) thanks @terminalchai
  - Fix: preserve original filename when using --front-matter (#2613) thanks @cobyfrombrooklyn-bot
--- a/scripts/bump-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-version.sh
@ -8,17 +8,14 @@ fi

 version=$1

-# validate version is in the right format (bash regex — portable; GNU sed's q1 is not on macOS)
-if [[ ! $version =~ ^v4\.[0-9][0-9]\.[0-9][0-9]?$ ]]; then
-  echo "Please specify a valid version (e.g. v4.53.3)"
-  exit 1
-fi
+# validate version is in the right format
+echo $version | sed -r '/v4\.[0-9][0-9]\.[0-9][0-9]?$/!{q1}'

 previousVersion=$(cat cmd/version.go| sed -n 's/.*Version = "\([^"]*\)"/\1/p')

 echo "Updating from $previousVersion to $version"

-sed "s/\(.*Version =\).*/\1 \"$version\"/" cmd/version.go > cmd/version.go.tmp && mv cmd/version.go.tmp cmd/version.go
+sed -i "s/\(.*Version =\).*/\1 \"$version\"/" cmd/version.go

 go build .
 actualVersion=$(./yq --version)
@ -52,5 +49,5 @@ fi

 git add cmd/version.go snap/snapcraft.yaml
 git commit -m 'Bumping version'
-git tag $version -m "releasing"
-git tag -f v4 -m "releasing $version"
+git tag $version
+git tag -f v4
--- a/scripts/devtools.sh
+++ b/scripts/devtools.sh
@ -1,50 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -ex
-go mod download golang.org/x/tools@v0.44.0
-curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/6008b81b81c690c046ffc3fd5bce896da715d5fd/install.sh | sh -s -- -b $(go env GOPATH)/bin v2.11.3
-curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/securego/gosec/424fc4cd9c82ea0fd6bee9cd49c2db2c3cc0c93f/install.sh | sh -s v2.22.11
-
-TYPOS_VERSION=v1.47.2
-TYPOS_OS=$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
-TYPOS_ARCH=$(uname -m)
-case "${TYPOS_ARCH}" in
-  x86_64) TYPOS_ARCH=x86_64 ;;
-  aarch64|arm64) TYPOS_ARCH=aarch64 ;;
-  *)
-    echo "unsupported architecture for typos: ${TYPOS_ARCH}"
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-case "${TYPOS_OS}" in
-  linux) TYPOS_TARGET="${TYPOS_ARCH}-unknown-linux-musl" ;;
-  darwin) TYPOS_TARGET="${TYPOS_ARCH}-apple-darwin" ;;
-  *)
-    echo "unsupported OS for typos: ${TYPOS_OS}"
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-TYPOS_ARCHIVE="typos-${TYPOS_VERSION}-${TYPOS_TARGET}.tar.gz"
-TYPOS_URL="https://github.com/crate-ci/typos/releases/download/${TYPOS_VERSION}/${TYPOS_ARCHIVE}"
-case "${TYPOS_TARGET}" in
-  aarch64-apple-darwin) TYPOS_SHA256=23ca24a9186b5cb395b5f6c8eea8cdb02911c8980833e016454b56e90c3bd474 ;;
-  aarch64-unknown-linux-musl) TYPOS_SHA256=596d5c6b9ecf34307f68bea649178c5b45a4398fe3a1fcef9598e85aa2ccb742 ;;
-  x86_64-apple-darwin) TYPOS_SHA256=469a2d9fc894b0cdcec6e4fa3719b4c4638e195feee6517d4845450f8e8985c6 ;;
-  x86_64-unknown-linux-musl) TYPOS_SHA256=7aef58932fc123b4cf4b40d86468e89a3297d80169051d7cfd13a235e05fc426 ;;
-  *)
-    echo "unsupported typos target: ${TYPOS_TARGET}"
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-TYPOS_TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
-curl -sSfL "${TYPOS_URL}" -o "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}/${TYPOS_ARCHIVE}"
-TYPOS_ACTUAL_SHA256=$(sha256sum "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}/${TYPOS_ARCHIVE}" 2>/dev/null | cut -d' ' -f1)
-if [ -z "${TYPOS_ACTUAL_SHA256}" ]; then
-  TYPOS_ACTUAL_SHA256=$(shasum -a 256 "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}/${TYPOS_ARCHIVE}" | cut -d' ' -f1)
-fi
-if [ "${TYPOS_ACTUAL_SHA256}" != "${TYPOS_SHA256}" ]; then
-  echo "typos archive checksum mismatch: expected ${TYPOS_SHA256}, got ${TYPOS_ACTUAL_SHA256}"
-  exit 1
-fi
-tar xzf "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}/${TYPOS_ARCHIVE}" -C "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}"
-install -m 755 "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}/typos" "$(go env GOPATH)/bin/typos"
-rm -rf "${TYPOS_TMPDIR}"
+go mod download golang.org/x/tools@latest
+curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh | sh -s -- -b $(go env GOPATH)/bin v2.11.3
+curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/securego/gosec/master/install.sh | sh -s v2.22.11
--- a/scripts/spelling.sh
+++ b/scripts/spelling.sh
@ -1,18 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/bash

-set -euo pipefail
-
-GOPATH_TYPOS="$(go env GOPATH)/bin/typos"
-TYPOS_CMD=""
-
-if [ -f "${GOPATH_TYPOS}" ]; then
-  TYPOS_CMD="${GOPATH_TYPOS}"
-elif command -v typos >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  TYPOS_CMD="typos"
-else
-  echo "Error: typos not found in $(go env GOPATH)/bin or PATH."
-  echo "Please run scripts/devtools.sh or ensure typos is installed correctly."
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-git ls-files '*.go' '*.sh' '*.md' | "${TYPOS_CMD}" --file-list -
+npx cspell --no-progress "**/*.{sh,go,md}"
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/bash

 go test $(go list ./... | grep -v -E 'examples' | grep -v -E 'test')
-
-# Run after the main test suite: TestGoInstallCompatibility zips the module tree and
-# must not run in parallel with pkg/yqlib tests that rewrite doc/*.md files.
-go test -tags goinstall -run TestGoInstallCompatibility .
--- a/scripts/xcompile.sh
+++ b/scripts/xcompile.sh
@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

 set -eo pipefail

-# You may need to go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/v2@v2.16.0 first
+# You may need to go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/v2@latest first
 GORELEASER="goreleaser build --clean"
 if [ -z "$CI" ] || [[ "${GITHUB_REF_NAME:-}" == draft-* ]]; then
  GORELEASER+=" --snapshot"
--- a/snap/snapcraft.yaml
+++ b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: yq
-version: 'v4.53.3'
+version: 'v4.52.5'
 summary: A lightweight and portable command-line data file processor
 description: |
  `yq` uses [jq](https://github.com/stedolan/jq) like syntax but works with yaml, json, xml, csv, properties and TOML files.
@ -32,6 +32,6 @@ parts:
    build-environment:
      - CGO_ENABLED: 0
    source: https://github.com/mikefarah/yq.git
-    source-tag: v4.53.3
+    source-tag: v4.52.5
    build-snaps:
      - go/latest/stable