From b729841db22d1acf22430feb23d5dbe71c71f406 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Felipe Gasper <felipe@felipegasper.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:51:13 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Stringify arrays, slices, and maps in greater detail; quote
 strings.

---
 encoding.go      |  47 +++++++++++++++++++++-
 encoding_test.go | 102 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 148 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 encoding_test.go

diff --git a/encoding.go b/encoding.go
index 6088e65..4ec0cc6 100644
--- a/encoding.go
+++ b/encoding.go
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 package console
 
 import (
+	"cmp"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
+	"slices"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -154,10 +159,50 @@ func (e encoder) writeValue(buf *buffer, value slog.Value) {
 	case slog.KindString:
 		fallthrough
 	default:
-		e.writeColoredString(buf, value.String(), attrValue)
+		e.writeColoredString(buf, stringifyValue(value), attrValue)
 	}
 }
 
+func stringifyValue(val slog.Value) string {
+	refVal := reflect.ValueOf(val.Any())
+
+	if refVal.Kind() == reflect.Map {
+		keys := refVal.MapKeys()
+
+		// Sort keys lexicographically by their string representation
+		slices.SortFunc(keys, func(i, j reflect.Value) int {
+			return cmp.Compare(i.String(), j.String())
+		})
+
+		pieces := make([]string, len(keys))
+		for i, keyVal := range keys {
+			key := keyVal.String()
+			mapVal := refVal.MapIndex(keyVal)
+			pieces[i] = key + "=" + stringifyValue(slog.AnyValue(mapVal.Interface()))
+		}
+
+		return `{` + strings.Join(pieces, ", ") + `}`
+	}
+
+	if refVal.Kind() == reflect.Slice || refVal.Kind() == reflect.Array {
+		pieces := make([]string, refVal.Len())
+		for i := 0; i < refVal.Len(); i++ {
+			pieces[i] = stringifyValue(slog.AnyValue(refVal.Index(i).Interface()))
+		}
+
+		return `[` + strings.Join(pieces, ", ") + `]`
+	}
+
+	valStr := val.String()
+
+	// Quote string values to disambiguate spaces
+	if val.Kind() == slog.KindString {
+		valStr = strconv.Quote(valStr)
+	}
+
+	return valStr
+}
+
 func (e encoder) writeLevel(buf *buffer, l slog.Level) {
 	var style ANSIMod
 	var str string
diff --git a/encoding_test.go b/encoding_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3ef906
--- /dev/null
+++ b/encoding_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package console
+
+import (
+	"log/slog"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestStringifyValue_Maps(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    any
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "simple map",
+			input:    map[string]int{"b": 2, "a": 1},
+			expected: "a=1, b=2", // Should be sorted by key
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "nested map",
+			input:    map[string]interface{}{"key": map[string]int{"inner": 42}},
+			expected: "key={inner=42}",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			val := slog.AnyValue(tt.input)
+			result := stringifyValue(val)
+
+			if !strings.Contains(result, tt.expected) {
+				t.Errorf("expected %q to contain %q", result, tt.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStringifyValue_Slices(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    any
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "int slice",
+			input:    []int{1, 2, 3},
+			expected: "[1, 2, 3]",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "string slice",
+			input:    []string{"a", "b", "c"},
+			expected: `["a", "b", "c"]`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty slice",
+			input:    []int{},
+			expected: "[]",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			val := slog.AnyValue(tt.input)
+			result := stringifyValue(val)
+
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("expected %q, got %q", tt.expected, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStringifyValue_Strings(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    any
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "plain string",
+			input:    "hello",
+			expected: `"hello"`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "string with spaces",
+			input:    "hello world",
+			expected: `"hello world"`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			val := slog.StringValue(tt.input.(string))
+			result := stringifyValue(val)
+
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("expected %q, got %q", tt.expected, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}