From 853307006799c798798a2f569ef779522d66a60b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Vladimir Avtsenov <vladimir.lsk.cool@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 14:32:23 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] "ignore struct length" flag

---
 decode.go     | 10 ++++++++++
 decode_map.go |  9 ++++++++-
 types_test.go | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/decode.go b/decode.go
index 6e40351..01d4ab2 100644
--- a/decode.go
+++ b/decode.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ const (
 	disallowUnknownFieldsFlag
 	usePreallocateValues
 	disableAllocLimitFlag
+	ignoreStructLength
 )
 
 type bufReader interface {
@@ -261,6 +262,15 @@ func (d *Decoder) DisableAllocLimit(on bool) {
 	}
 }
 
+// IgnoreStructLength disables field count verification during parsing
+func (d *Decoder) IgnoreStructLength(on bool) {
+	if on {
+		d.flags |= ignoreStructLength
+	} else {
+		d.flags &= ^ignoreStructLength
+	}
+}
+
 // Buffered returns a reader of the data remaining in the Decoder's buffer.
 // The reader is valid until the next call to Decode.
 func (d *Decoder) Buffered() io.Reader {
diff --git a/decode_map.go b/decode_map.go
index 7ba8e10..cd12d88 100644
--- a/decode_map.go
+++ b/decode_map.go
@@ -368,15 +368,22 @@ func decodeStructValue(d *Decoder, v reflect.Value) error {
 	}
 
 	fields := structs.Fields(v.Type(), d.structTag)
-	if n != len(fields.List) {
+	if d.flags&ignoreStructLength == 0 && n != len(fields.List) {
 		return errArrayStruct
 	}
 
 	for _, f := range fields.List {
+		n--
+		if n < 0 {
+			break
+		}
 		if err := f.DecodeValue(d, v); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
+	if n > 0 {
+		d.skipNext(n)
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/types_test.go b/types_test.go
index 91faff6..ae6a03d 100644
--- a/types_test.go
+++ b/types_test.go
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ func (o *Object) UnmarshalMsgpack(b []byte) error {
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+const (
+	ignoreStructLength uint32 = 1 << iota
+)
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 type CustomTime time.Time
 
 func (t CustomTime) EncodeMsgpack(enc *msgpack.Encoder) error {
@@ -451,6 +457,7 @@ type typeTest struct {
 	out      interface{}
 	encErr   string
 	decErr   string
+	decFlags uint32
 	wantnil  bool
 	wantzero bool
 	wanted   interface{}
@@ -631,6 +638,18 @@ var (
 			out:    new(unexported),
 			decErr: "msgpack: number of fields in array-encoded struct has changed",
 		},
+		{
+			in:       OmitEmptyTest{"foo", "bar"},
+			out:      new(unexported),
+			wanted:   unexported{Foo: "foo"},
+			decFlags: ignoreStructLength,
+		},
+		{
+			in:       unexported{Foo: "foo"},
+			out:      new(OmitEmptyTest),
+			wanted:   OmitEmptyTest{"foo", ""},
+			decFlags: ignoreStructLength,
+		},
 
 		{in: (*EventTime)(nil), out: new(*EventTime)},
 		{in: &EventTime{time.Unix(0, 0)}, out: new(*EventTime)},
@@ -690,6 +709,9 @@ func TestTypes(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		dec := msgpack.NewDecoder(&buf)
+		if test.decFlags&ignoreStructLength != 0 {
+			dec.IgnoreStructLength(true)
+		}
 		err = dec.Decode(test.out)
 		if test.decErr != "" {
 			test.requireErr(err, test.decErr)
@@ -737,6 +759,9 @@ func TestTypes(t *testing.T) {
 
 		var dst interface{}
 		dec := msgpack.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(b))
+		if test.decFlags&ignoreStructLength != 0 {
+			dec.IgnoreStructLength(true)
+		}
 		dec.SetMapDecoder(func(dec *msgpack.Decoder) (interface{}, error) {
 			return dec.DecodeUntypedMap()
 		})