+1 for using protobufs. I'll go a step further and suggest using textprotos for configuration files. You get validation out of the box for free (making it hard

+1 for using protobufs. I'll go a step further and suggest using textprotos for configuration files. You get validation out of the box for free (making it hard to mis-type your keys), along with a strict contract for your configuration. Comments too. And no quotes on key names. I don't think trailing commas are supported in condensed repeated fields, but since there aren't commas between fields you can use the long format to avoid them. https://protobuf.dev/reference/protobuf/textformat-spec/ https://protobuf.dev/reference/protobuf/textformat-spec/