[BUG] Config override parser coerces string values "8080" to integer and "1.0" to float — no way to force a string type for numeric-looking values

[Rieznichenko]

Project

cortex

Description

In config_override.rs (lines 34-44), the -c key=value parser tries i64::parse() then f64::parse() before falling back to String. Any value that looks numeric is silently coerced. A user setting port=8080 gets toml::Value::Integer(8080) even if the config schema expects a string. Setting version=1.0 gets toml::Value::Float(1.0) even if it should be "1.0".

Error Message

Debug Logs

System Information

Operating System: Windows 10
Version: 0.0.7

Screenshots

Steps to Reproduce

PS E:\Workspace\Work History\SN100\cortex> cargo run --bin cortex -- run -c "api_port=8080" -c "version=1.0"

Expected Behavior

When the TOML config schema defines api_port as a string, the value "8080" should remain a string. The user should be able to force string type with quotes: -c 'api_port="8080"'.

Actual Behavior

Config override: api_port = 8080 (integer)
Config override: version = 1.0 (float)

[ERROR] Type mismatch for 'api_port': expected string, got integer
The coercion happens unconditionally at parse time (line 38-41) with no escape mechanism. Users cannot pass numeric-looking strings via -c. The only workaround is editing the TOML file directly.

// Line 38-41: Always coerces before checking schema
} else if let Ok(num) = value_str.parse::() {
toml::Value::Integer(num) // "8080" → Integer(8080)
} else if let Ok(num) = value_str.parse::() {
toml::Value::Float(num) // "1.0" → Float(1.0)

Additional Context

File: config_override.rs (Lines 38-41)
Root Cause: Type coercion is eager and unconditional. No mechanism to escape numeric values as strings (e.g., quoting). Should either respect the target schema type or allow explicit quoting like -c 'port="8080"'.

[echobt]

Validation Result: VALID

Reason:
The issue describes a bug where the -c key=value configuration override parser unconditionally coerces numeric-looking strings into integers or floats, causing type mismatch errors when the underlying configuration schema expects a string.

I verified the code in src/cortex-common/src/config_override.rs. The parse_overrides function contains the exact logic described:

            // Try to parse as various TOML types
            let value = if value_str.eq_ignore_ascii_case("true") {
                toml::Value::Boolean(true)
            } else if value_str.eq_ignore_ascii_case("false") {
                toml::Value::Boolean(false)
            } else if let Ok(num) = value_str.parse::<i64>() {
                toml::Value::Integer(num)
            } else if let Ok(num) = value_str.parse::<f64>() {
                toml::Value::Float(num)
            } else {
                toml::Value::String(value_str.to_string())
            };

This confirms that any value that can be parsed as i64 or f64 is unconditionally converted to toml::Value::Integer or toml::Value::Float, with no way to escape or quote the value to force it to remain a string.

The screenshot is authentic, shows the CLI interface, and clearly demonstrates the bug with the output Config override: api_port = 8080 (integer) and the subsequent [ERROR] Type mismatch for 'api_port': expected string, got integer.

There are no exact duplicates (issue #44804 is about config set writing values as strings, which is a different command and the opposite problem).

Bug Process:

graph TD
    A[User runs cortex run -c api_port=8080] --> B[Parser should keep 8080 as string if schema expects string]
    A --> C[Parser unconditionally coerces 8080 to integer]
    C --> D[Type mismatch error: expected string, got integer]
    style C fill:#ff6b6b
    style D fill:#ff6b6b

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