From 1a796b6680cf2c092d3c16d9bf883ba60346f275 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ehab Younes <ehab.alyounes@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:16 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Normalize "empty" string values for comparison in the
 config watcher

---
 src/configWatcher.ts            | 16 +++++++++++++-
 test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/configWatcher.ts b/src/configWatcher.ts
index 562668ec..3a68e257 100644
--- a/src/configWatcher.ts
+++ b/src/configWatcher.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export function watchConfigurationChanges(
 
 			const newValue = getValue();
 
-			if (!isDeepStrictEqual(newValue, appliedValues.get(setting))) {
+			if (!configValuesEqual(newValue, appliedValues.get(setting))) {
 				changedSettings.push(setting);
 				appliedValues.set(setting, newValue);
 			}
@@ -37,3 +37,17 @@ export function watchConfigurationChanges(
 		}
 	});
 }
+
+function configValuesEqual(a: unknown, b: unknown): boolean {
+	return isDeepStrictEqual(normalizeEmptyValue(a), normalizeEmptyValue(b));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Normalize "empty" string values to a canonical form for comparison.
+ */
+function normalizeEmptyValue(value: unknown): unknown {
+	if (value === undefined || value === null || value === "") {
+		return undefined;
+	}
+	return value;
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts b/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
index 0ce6862c..76f524de 100644
--- a/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
@@ -94,4 +94,43 @@ describe("watchConfigurationChanges", () => {
 		expect(changes).toEqual([["test.setting"]]);
 		dispose();
 	});
+
+	it("treats undefined, null, and empty string as equivalent", () => {
+		const config = new MockConfigurationProvider();
+		config.set("test.setting", undefined);
+		const { changes, dispose } = createWatcher("test.setting");
+
+		config.set("test.setting", null);
+		config.set("test.setting", "");
+		config.set("test.setting", undefined);
+
+		expect(changes).toEqual([]);
+		dispose();
+	});
+
+	interface ValueChangeTestCase {
+		name: string;
+		from: unknown;
+		to: unknown;
+	}
+
+	it.each<ValueChangeTestCase>([
+		{ name: "undefined to value", from: undefined, to: "value" },
+		{ name: "value to empty string", from: "value", to: "" },
+		{ name: "undefined to false", from: undefined, to: false },
+		{ name: "undefined to zero", from: undefined, to: 0 },
+		{ name: "undefined to empty array", from: undefined, to: [] },
+		{ name: "null to value", from: null, to: "value" },
+		{ name: "empty string to value", from: "", to: "value" },
+		{ name: "value to different value", from: "old", to: "new" },
+	])("detects change: $name", ({ from, to }) => {
+		const config = new MockConfigurationProvider();
+		config.set("test.setting", from);
+		const { changes, dispose } = createWatcher("test.setting");
+
+		config.set("test.setting", to);
+
+		expect(changes).toEqual([["test.setting"]]);
+		dispose();
+	});
 });

From 39958cacff3c839ed8918aaf2a17624bbcfbae46 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ehab Younes <ehab.alyounes@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 17:18:07 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Handle empty arrays

---
 src/configWatcher.ts            | 9 +++++++--
 test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts | 5 +++--
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/configWatcher.ts b/src/configWatcher.ts
index 3a68e257..ee63f448 100644
--- a/src/configWatcher.ts
+++ b/src/configWatcher.ts
@@ -43,10 +43,15 @@ function configValuesEqual(a: unknown, b: unknown): boolean {
 }
 
 /**
- * Normalize "empty" string values to a canonical form for comparison.
+ * Normalize empty values (undefined, null, "", []) to a canonical form for comparison.
  */
 function normalizeEmptyValue(value: unknown): unknown {
-	if (value === undefined || value === null || value === "") {
+	if (
+		value === undefined ||
+		value === null ||
+		value === "" ||
+		(Array.isArray(value) && value.length === 0)
+	) {
 		return undefined;
 	}
 	return value;
diff --git a/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts b/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
index 76f524de..2327b2df 100644
--- a/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/configWatcher.test.ts
@@ -95,13 +95,14 @@ describe("watchConfigurationChanges", () => {
 		dispose();
 	});
 
-	it("treats undefined, null, and empty string as equivalent", () => {
+	it("treats undefined, null, empty string, and empty array as equivalent", () => {
 		const config = new MockConfigurationProvider();
 		config.set("test.setting", undefined);
 		const { changes, dispose } = createWatcher("test.setting");
 
 		config.set("test.setting", null);
 		config.set("test.setting", "");
+		config.set("test.setting", []);
 		config.set("test.setting", undefined);
 
 		expect(changes).toEqual([]);
@@ -119,9 +120,9 @@ describe("watchConfigurationChanges", () => {
 		{ name: "value to empty string", from: "value", to: "" },
 		{ name: "undefined to false", from: undefined, to: false },
 		{ name: "undefined to zero", from: undefined, to: 0 },
-		{ name: "undefined to empty array", from: undefined, to: [] },
 		{ name: "null to value", from: null, to: "value" },
 		{ name: "empty string to value", from: "", to: "value" },
+		{ name: "empty array to non-empty array", from: [], to: ["item"] },
 		{ name: "value to different value", from: "old", to: "new" },
 	])("detects change: $name", ({ from, to }) => {
 		const config = new MockConfigurationProvider();