ensures the same yaml settings for reading/writing throughout tljh """ from ruamel.yaml.composer import Composer from ruamel.yaml import YAML class _NoEmptyFlowComposer(Composer): """yaml composer that avoids setting flow_style on empty containers. workaround ruamel.yaml issue #255 """ def compose_mapping_node(self, anchor): node = super().compose_mapping_node(anchor) if not node.value: node.flow_style = False return node def compose_sequence_node(self, anchor): node = super().compose_sequence_node(anchor) if not node.value: node.flow_style = False return node # create the global yaml object: yaml = YAML(typ="rt") yaml.Composer = _NoEmptyFlowComposer