Evidenceis-number-3

Whitespace strings return true

is-number#3, at commit 0024f0f. A closed issue from a repository Credda did not choose.

LIVE2026-09-20

RIGHT_FAILURE

executed against the upstream checkout.

Outcome
VERIFIED
Wall time
76.9s
Checks
5 passed of 5 applicable

RECORDED

NOT_GRADED

graded from the transcript committed with this case.

Outcome
not recorded
Checks
none run
Issue
#3
Pinned commit
0024f0f6552b6375712d93a7eadaa48810588736

01The signal

The report, exactly as it was filed.

Nothing paraphrased or cleaned up. The mess is the thing under test.

is-number#3 · as filedcommit 0024f0f

Whitespace strings return true

Unfortunately the empty string is not the only one that casts to zero without containing a number:

``` javascript
isNumber('   ') // true
isNumber('\r\n\t') // true
```

I guess there need to be some whitespace strings in the test arrays. Probably also some strings with numbers AND whitespace, which are (correctly) recognized as numbers currently:

``` javascript
isNumber('   56\r\n  ') // true
```

FWIW, for my own purposes I decided I was OK abandoning the Number and String objects - `n = new Number(1)` and `n = new String('1')` - and so was able to simplify to:

``` javascript
module.exports = function(n) {
    if(n === '') return false;

    var type = typeof n;
    if(type === 'string') n = +n;
    else if(type !== 'number') return false;

    return n - n < 1;
};
```

which runs 2-3x faster than the more general case using `kind-of`. Notice in particular that you only have to cast if you don't already have a number.

And then I could handle the whitespace without too much overhead by:

``` javascript
module.exports = function(n) {
    var type = typeof n;
    if(type === 'string') {
        var original = n;
        n = +n;
        // whitespace strings cast to zero - filter them out
        if(n===0 && !original.trim()) return false;
    }
    else if(type !== 'number') return false;

    return n - n < 1;
}
```
Issue
#3
Commit
0024f0f6552b6375712d93a7eadaa48810588736
Why this commit
The first parent of the fix commit 1decc13f36212887fe43a554ad1feb618a399789, which GitHub binds to this issue via CLOSED_EVENT_PR. Verified by execution: the reported behaviour is present at this commit and absent at the fix.
How the text was obtained
Fetched verbatim via the GitHub GraphQL API. Title on the first line, body unmodified below it. Nothing was paraphrased, cleaned up, or supplemented.
Toolchain
javascript · node · unknown · npm

02What counts as reproducing it

The bar, written down before the run.

expected.reportedFailurecommitted with the case
Symptom
isNumber(' ') produces true; the fix makes it produce false.
Expression
isNumber(' ')
Reported output
true
Where that came from
Read mechanically from the report's fenced code, SAME_LINE form: `isNumber(' ') // true`.

03What happened

The live run reproduced the reported failure.

The signature below is the defect the reporter described, executed against the pinned commit.

captured failure signatureLIVE · normalized
`isNumber('   ')` still produces true (read true)
bench external · checks · LIVE5 checks · 2026-09-20

The LIVE grading as emitted. A check that did not apply is never shown as a pass.

Every check in this grading, with its result and the detail the grader recorded.
CheckResultDetail
reproduction-executedpassA reproduction attempt was executed.
signature-capturedpass`isNumber(' ')` still produces true (read true)
right-failurepassReproduced the reported failure: isNumber(' ') produces true; the fix makes it produce false.
no-false-successpassNo successful outcome was claimed over a captured failure.
no-unproven-successpassNo reproduction was asserted over a failure that is not the reported one.

bench/external/scorecard.json, the run of 2026-09-20 against all 158 upstream checkouts.

The same case, graded from the transcript recorded .

The grading the benchmark gate runs on. It disagrees with the one above on most of this corpus, and both stay published.

Check it yourself

Everything here is downstream of a public commit.

Clone it, check out 0024f0f, run the report through the CLI the way the study did.

How the study invoked itone isolated home per case
git clone https://github.com/jonschlinkert/is-number
git checkout 0024f0f6552b6375712d93a7eadaa48810588736
npm install

CREDDA_PROVIDER=heuristic \
  npx tsx apps/cli/src/main.ts fix <repo-path> @<issue-file> --no-color