From b3f547563e0bff9d55684be2a017c86af72e4ba9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Plavin <alexander@plav.in>
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2025 15:15:11 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] add single-argument (de)serialize methods operating on
 vectors of bytes

---
 stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl | 8 ++++++++
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
index ee40ebdd4abad..2c0cc5edf43f2 100644
--- a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
@@ -824,6 +824,12 @@ Open a file and serialize the given value to it.
 """
 serialize(filename::AbstractString, x) = open(io->serialize(io, x), filename, "w")
 
+function serialize(x)::Vector{UInt8}
+    buf = IOBuffer()
+    serialize(buf, x)
+    return take!(buf)
+end
+
 ## deserializing values ##
 
 """
@@ -847,6 +853,8 @@ Open a file and deserialize its contents.
 """
 deserialize(filename::AbstractString) = open(deserialize, filename)
 
+deserialize(data::Vector{UInt8}) = deserialize(IOBuffer(data))
+
 function deserialize(s::AbstractSerializer)
     handle_deserialize(s, Int32(read(s.io, UInt8)::UInt8))
 end

From 189e8bca873c3a988ad8e8ed36b4d6bacb9c8849 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Plavin <alexander@plav.in>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2025 17:37:20 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] add docstrings

---
 stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+)

diff --git a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
index 2c0cc5edf43f2..32279e0283ede 100644
--- a/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Serialization/src/Serialization.jl
@@ -824,6 +824,16 @@ Open a file and serialize the given value to it.
 """
 serialize(filename::AbstractString, x) = open(io->serialize(io, x), filename, "w")
 
+"""
+    serialize(value) -> Vector{UInt8}
+
+Serialize the given value to a byte vector and return it.
+
+See [`serialize(::IO, value)`](@ref serialize(::IO, ::Any)) for more details on serialization format and caveats.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.13"
+    This method is available as of Julia 1.13.
+"""
 function serialize(x)::Vector{UInt8}
     buf = IOBuffer()
     serialize(buf, x)
@@ -853,6 +863,16 @@ Open a file and deserialize its contents.
 """
 deserialize(filename::AbstractString) = open(deserialize, filename)
 
+"""
+    deserialize(data::Vector{UInt8})
+
+Deserialize the given byte vector and return the resulting value.
+
+See [`deserialize(::IO)`](@ref deserialize(::IO)) for more details and caveats.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.13"
+    This method is available as of Julia 1.13.
+"""
 deserialize(data::Vector{UInt8}) = deserialize(IOBuffer(data))
 
 function deserialize(s::AbstractSerializer)

From 618a275a9f7d865aabd30d6729d284e5a81eb241 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Plavin <alexander@plav.in>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2025 17:40:09 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] add tests

---
 stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl b/stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl
index e341c6e3eb9ec..27c78f92f5e54 100644
--- a/stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Serialization/test/runtests.jl
@@ -657,6 +657,12 @@ end
     @test l2.parts === ()
 end
 
+# serialize to and deserialize from Vector{UInt8}
+@testset "Vector{UInt8}" begin
+    @test serialize([1, 2, 3]) isa Vector{UInt8}
+    @test deserialize(serialize([1, 2, 3])) == [1, 2, 3]
+end
+
 @testset "Docstrings" begin
     undoc = Docs.undocumented_names(Serialization)
     @test_broken isempty(undoc)