diff --git a/internal/serialization/serialization.go b/internal/serialization/serialization.go
index 5dd777a8..f2881fde 100644
--- a/internal/serialization/serialization.go
+++ b/internal/serialization/serialization.go
@@ -449,51 +449,58 @@ func Convert(src reflect.Value, dst reflect.Value, checkValidateTag bool) gperr.
 		}
 		return mapUnmarshalValidate(obj, dst.Addr(), checkValidateTag)
 	case srcKind == reflect.Slice: // slice to slice
-		srcLen := src.Len()
-		if srcLen == 0 {
-			dst.SetZero()
-			return nil
-		}
-		if dstT.Kind() != reflect.Slice {
-			return ErrUnsupportedConversion.Subject(dstT.String() + " to " + srcT.String())
-		}
-		var sliceErrs gperr.Builder
-		i := 0
-		gi.ReflectInitSlice(dst, srcLen, srcLen)
-		for j, v := range src.Seq2() {
-			err := Convert(v, dst.Index(i), checkValidateTag)
-			if err != nil {
-				sliceErrs.Add(err.Subjectf("[%d]", j))
-				continue
-			}
-			i++
-		}
-		if err := sliceErrs.Error(); err != nil {
-			dst.SetLen(i) // shrink to number of elements that were successfully converted
-			return err
-		}
-		return nil
+		return ConvertSlice(src, dst, checkValidateTag)
 	}
 
-	return ErrUnsupportedConversion.Subjectf("%s to %s", srcT.String(), dstT.String())
+	return ErrUnsupportedConversion.Subjectf("%s to %s", srcT, dstT)
 }
 
-var parserType = reflect.TypeFor[strutils.Parser]()
+func ConvertSlice(src reflect.Value, dst reflect.Value, checkValidateTag bool) gperr.Error {
+	if src.Kind() != reflect.Slice {
+		return Convert(src, dst, checkValidateTag)
+	}
+
+	srcLen := src.Len()
+	if srcLen == 0 {
+		dst.SetZero()
+		return nil
+	}
+	if dst.Kind() != reflect.Slice {
+		return ErrUnsupportedConversion.Subjectf("%s to %s", dst.Type(), src.Type())
+	}
+
+	var sliceErrs gperr.Builder
+	numValid := 0
+	gi.ReflectInitSlice(dst, srcLen, srcLen)
+	for j := range srcLen {
+		err := Convert(src.Index(j), dst.Index(numValid), checkValidateTag)
+		if err != nil {
+			sliceErrs.Add(err.Subjectf("[%d]", j))
+			continue
+		}
+		numValid++
+	}
+	if err := sliceErrs.Error(); err != nil {
+		dst.SetLen(numValid) // shrink to number of elements that were successfully converted
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
 
 func ConvertString(src string, dst reflect.Value) (convertible bool, convErr gperr.Error) {
 	convertible = true
 	dstT := dst.Type()
 	if dst.Kind() == reflect.Pointer {
 		if dst.IsNil() {
+			// Early return for empty string
+			if src == "" {
+				return true, nil
+			}
 			initPtr(dst)
 		}
 		dst = dst.Elem()
 		dstT = dst.Type()
 	}
-	if dst.Kind() == reflect.String {
-		dst.SetString(src)
-		return true, nil
-	}
 
 	// Early return for empty string
 	if src == "" {
@@ -501,6 +508,17 @@ func ConvertString(src string, dst reflect.Value) (convertible bool, convErr gpe
 		return true, nil
 	}
 
+	if dst.Kind() == reflect.String {
+		dst.SetString(src)
+		return true, nil
+	}
+
+	// check if (*T).Convertor is implemented
+	if addr := dst.Addr(); addr.Type().Implements(reflect.TypeFor[strutils.Parser]()) {
+		parser := addr.Interface().(strutils.Parser)
+		return true, gperr.Wrap(parser.Parse(src))
+	}
+
 	switch dstT {
 	case reflect.TypeFor[time.Duration]():
 		d, err := time.ParseDuration(src)
@@ -512,12 +530,6 @@ func ConvertString(src string, dst reflect.Value) (convertible bool, convErr gpe
 	default:
 	}
 
-	// check if (*T).Convertor is implemented
-	if dst.Addr().Type().Implements(parserType) {
-		parser := dst.Addr().Interface().(strutils.Parser)
-		return true, gperr.Wrap(parser.Parse(src))
-	}
-
 	if gi.ReflectIsNumeric(dst) || dst.Kind() == reflect.Bool {
 		err := gi.ReflectStrToNumBool(dst, src)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -527,29 +539,25 @@ func ConvertString(src string, dst reflect.Value) (convertible bool, convErr gpe
 	}
 
 	// yaml like
-	var tmp any
 	switch dst.Kind() {
 	case reflect.Slice:
-		// Avoid unnecessary TrimSpace if we can detect the format early
-		srcLen := len(src)
-		if srcLen == 0 {
-			return true, nil
-		}
-
 		// one liner is comma separated list
-		isMultiline := strings.ContainsRune(src, '\n')
-		if !isMultiline && src[0] != '-' {
+		isMultiline := strings.IndexByte(src, '\n') != -1
+		if !isMultiline && src[0] != '-' && src[0] != '[' {
 			values := strutils.CommaSeperatedList(src)
-			gi.ReflectInitSlice(dst, len(values), len(values))
+			size := len(values)
+			gi.ReflectInitSlice(dst, size, size)
 			var errs gperr.Builder
 			for i, v := range values {
 				_, err := ConvertString(v, dst.Index(i))
 				if err != nil {
-					errs.Add(err.Subjectf("[%d]", i))
+					errs.AddSubjectf(err, "[%d]", i)
 				}
 			}
-			err := errs.Error()
-			return true, err
+			if errs.HasError() {
+				return true, errs.Error()
+			}
+			return true, nil
 		}
 
 		sl := []any{}
@@ -557,18 +565,17 @@ func ConvertString(src string, dst reflect.Value) (convertible bool, convErr gpe
 		if err != nil {
 			return true, gperr.Wrap(err)
 		}
-		tmp = sl
+		return true, ConvertSlice(reflect.ValueOf(sl), dst, true)
 	case reflect.Map, reflect.Struct:
 		rawMap := SerializedObject{}
 		err := yaml.Unmarshal(unsafe.Slice(unsafe.StringData(src), len(src)), &rawMap)
 		if err != nil {
 			return true, gperr.Wrap(err)
 		}
-		tmp = rawMap
+		return true, mapUnmarshalValidate(rawMap, dst, true)
 	default:
 		return false, nil
 	}
-	return true, Convert(reflect.ValueOf(tmp), dst, true)
 }
 
 var envRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{([^}]+)\}`) // e.g. ${CLOUDFLARE_API_KEY}
diff --git a/internal/serialization/serialization_benchmark_test.go b/internal/serialization/serialization_benchmark_test.go
index 56531046..4fb881df 100644
--- a/internal/serialization/serialization_benchmark_test.go
+++ b/internal/serialization/serialization_benchmark_test.go
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ func BenchmarkDeserialize(b *testing.B) {
 		"c": "1,2,3",
 		"d": "a: a\nb: b\nc: c",
 		"e": "- a: a\n  b: b\n  c: c",
-		"f": map[string]any{"a": "a", "b": "456", "c": []string{"1", "2", "3"}},
+		"f": map[string]any{"a": "a", "b": "456", "c": `1,2,3`},
 		"g": map[string]any{"g1": "1.23", "g2": 123},
-		"h": []map[string]any{{"a": 123, "b": "456", "c": []string{"1", "2", "3"}}},
+		"h": []map[string]any{{"a": 123, "b": "456", "c": `["1","2","3"]`}},
 		"j": "1.23",
 		"k": 123,
 	}