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Evidencequery-string-49

in arrays passed to stringify, `null` the same as string `"null"`

query-string#49, at commit 71bc3ed. A closed issue from a repository Credda did not choose.

LIVE2026-09-20

RIGHT_FAILURE

executed against the upstream checkout.

Outcome
PATCH_REJECTED
Wall time
124.5s
Checks
5 passed of 5 applicable

RECORDED

NOT_GRADED

graded from the transcript committed with this case.

Outcome
not recorded
Checks
none run
Repository
sindresorhus/query-string
Issue
#49
Pinned commit
71bc3ed002a25def027174da9f3651b6d3c26db4

01The signal

The report, exactly as it was filed.

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

query-string#49 · as filedcommit 71bc3ed

in arrays passed to stringify, `null` the same as string `"null"`

I'm not sure if this is a bug; maybe it's intended or unspecified behavior.  Within an array, `null` is the same as the string `"null"`.

```
var params = {'a': null, 'b': [null, 123]};
require('querystring').stringify(params);
// Node core: "a=&b=&b=123"
require('query-string').stringify(params);
// query-string: "a&b=123&b=null"
```

Here's my rationale:

```
var qs = require('query-string');
// If these are equivalent:
qs.stringify({a: 123}) === qs.stringify({a: [123]});
// These should be as well?
qs.stringify({a: null}) === qs.stringify({a: [null]});
```
Issue
#49
Commit
71bc3ed002a25def027174da9f3651b6d3c26db4
Why this commit
The fix commit's parent where the closing commit was identifiable in the repository, otherwise the commit that was HEAD of the default branch at the moment the issue was filed.
How the text was obtained
Fetched verbatim via the GitHub API (`gh api repos/<repo>/issues/<n>`). Title on the first line, body unmodified below it. Nothing was paraphrased, cleaned up, or supplemented.
Toolchain
javascript · node · ava · npm

02What counts as reproducing it

The bar, written down before the run.

expected.reportedFailurecommitted with the case
Symptom
query-string.stringify({'a': null, 'b': [null, 123]}) produces "a&b=123&b=null": a null inside an array is serialised as the literal string "null", while a top-level null is serialised as a bare key.
Expression
require('query-string').stringify(params)
Reported output
"a&b=123&b=null"
Where that came from
The first code block: `require('query-string').stringify(params);` followed by `// query-string: "a&b=123&b=null"`, with `params` bound three lines above as `var params = {'a': null, 'b': [null, 123]};`. The line immediately above it, `// Node core: "a=&b=&b=123"`, is the comparison the reporter drew, not the pinned value.

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
`require('query-string').stringify(params)` still produces "a&b=123&b=null" (read a&b=123&b=null)
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.

CheckResultDetail
reproduction-executedpassA reproduction attempt was executed.
signature-capturedpass`require('query-string').stringify(params)` still produces "a&b=123&b=null" (read a&b=123&b=null)
right-failurepassReproduced the reported failure: query-string.stringify({'a': null, 'b': [null, 123]}) produces "a&b=123&b=null": a null inside an array is serialised as the literal string "null", while a top-level null is serialised as a bare key.
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 71bc3ed, 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/sindresorhus/query-string
git checkout 71bc3ed002a25def027174da9f3651b6d3c26db4
npm install

CREDDA_PROVIDER=heuristic \
  npx tsx apps/cli/src/main.ts fix <repo-path> @<issue-file> --no-color
Read the full studyAll 158 cases