From 446e65aefd30efaafb7c9c865c79980e12de6963 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: PhilipDeegan <philip.deegan@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2026 20:29:44 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] operator T

---
 include/dict.hpp        | 36 ++++++++++++++++++------------------
 test/basic_dict_ops.cpp |  8 ++++++++
 2 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/dict.hpp b/include/dict.hpp
index 810f58f..aa95e6b 100644
--- a/include/dict.hpp
+++ b/include/dict.hpp
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ namespace // Visitor details
                     std::visit(
                         [key, lambdas...](auto&& value) {
                             using T = std::decay_t<decltype(value)>;
-                            if constexpr (NodeT::template is_value_v<
-                                              T> or !is_values_only_v<visit_policy_t>)
+                            if constexpr (NodeT::template is_value_v<T>
+                                          or !is_values_only_v<visit_policy_t>)
                                 make_visitor(lambdas...)(key, value);
                         },
                         child_node->data);
@@ -183,25 +183,13 @@ struct Dict
     }
 
 
-    bool isLeaf() const noexcept
-    {
-        return !isNode() && !isEmpty();
-    }
+    bool isLeaf() const noexcept { return !isNode() && !isEmpty(); }
 
-    bool isNode() const noexcept
-    {
-        return std::holds_alternative<node_t>(data);
-    }
+    bool isNode() const noexcept { return std::holds_alternative<node_t>(data); }
 
-    bool isEmpty() const noexcept
-    {
-        return std::holds_alternative<empty_leaf_t>(data);
-    }
+    bool isEmpty() const noexcept { return std::holds_alternative<empty_leaf_t>(data); }
 
-    bool isValue() const noexcept
-    {
-        return !isNode() and !isEmpty();
-    }
+    bool isValue() const noexcept { return !isNode() and !isEmpty(); }
 
     template<typename T, typename U = std::enable_if_t<is_any_of<T, Types...>()>>
     Dict& operator=(const T& value)
@@ -240,6 +228,18 @@ struct Dict
         throw std::runtime_error("cppdict: not a map or not default");
     }
 
+    template<typename T, typename U = std::enable_if_t<is_any_of<T, Types...>()>>
+    operator T&() const
+    {
+        return to<T>();
+    }
+
+    template<typename T, typename U = std::enable_if_t<is_any_of<T, Types...>()>>
+    operator T&()
+    {
+        return to<T>();
+    }
+
     bool contains(std::string const key) const noexcept
     {
         return isNode() and std::get<node_t>(data).count(key);
diff --git a/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp b/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
index 0160a48..c505527 100644
--- a/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
+++ b/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ TEST_CASE("Can (depp)copy nodes with operator=", "[simple cppdict::Dict<int, dou
     REQUIRE(dict["destination"]["is"]["the"]["source"].to<double>() == 3.14);
 }
 
+TEST_CASE("Can convert directly to type")
+{
+    Dict dict;
+    dict["this"]["is"]["the"]["source"] = 3.14;
+    double const pi                     = dict["this"]["is"]["the"]["source"];
+    REQUIRE(pi == 3.14);
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("Can add values and retrieve them", "[simple cppdict::Dict<int, double, std::string>]")
 {
     Dict dict;

From a632a4142ec85893b1173ebc6bf6fc28a1dc488f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: PhilipDeegan <philip.deegan@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:23:54 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] show implicit usage

---
 README.md               | 4 +++-
 test/basic_dict_ops.cpp | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 953861f..86ff32c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ int main()
     std::cout << md["test"]["super"].to<int>() << "\n";
 
     cppdict::add("toto/tata/titi", 2.5, md);
-    std::cout << "at toto/tata/titi : " << md["toto"]["tata"]["titi"].to<double>() << "\n";
+
+    double const d = md["toto"]["tata"]["titi"];
+    std::cout << "at toto/tata/titi : " << d << "\n";
 }
 
 ```
diff --git a/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp b/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
index c505527..2565c31 100644
--- a/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
+++ b/test/basic_dict_ops.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #include "dict.hpp"
 using Dict = cppdict::Dict<int, double, std::string>;
 
-TEST_CASE("Can (depp)copy nodes with operator=", "[simple cppdict::Dict<int, double, std::string>]")
+TEST_CASE("Can (deep)copy nodes with operator=", "[simple cppdict::Dict<int, double, std::string>]")
 {
     Dict dict;
     dict["this"]["is"]["the"]["source"] = 3.14;