Keep empty collections ignored alongside instance predicates

src/Verify.Tests/Serialization/IgnoreInstanceTests.NonMatchingPredicateKeepsEmptyCollectionsIgnored.verified.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  NotEmpty: [
+    TheValue
+  ]
+}

src/Verify.Tests/Serialization/IgnoreInstanceTests.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+public class IgnoreInstanceTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public Task NonMatchingPredicateKeepsEmptyCollectionsIgnored() =>
+        Verify(
+            new
+            {
+                Empty = new List<string>(),
+                NotEmpty = new List<string>
+                {
+                    "TheValue"
+                }
+            })
+            // a predicate that never matches is not a decision to keep the value,
+            // so Empty is still ignored as an empty collection
+            .IgnoreInstance<List<string>>(_ => false);
+}

src/Verify/Serialization/SerializationSettings_ShouldIgnore.cs

@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ internal bool TryGetScrubOrIgnore(Type declaringType, Type memberType, string na
     internal bool TryGetScrubOrIgnoreByInstance(object value, [NotNullWhen(true)] out ScrubOrIgnore? scrubOrIgnore)
     {
         var memberType = value.GetType();
+        // no predicate matching is not a decision to keep the value, so
+        // the empty collection check still applies
         if (GetShouldIgnoreInstance(memberType, out var funcs))
         {
             foreach (var func in funcs)
@@ -34,9 +36,6 @@ internal bool TryGetScrubOrIgnoreByInstance(object value, [NotNullWhen(true)] ou
                     return true;
                 }
             }
-
-            scrubOrIgnore = null;
-            return false;
         }
 
         if (ignoreEmptyCollections &&

src/todo.md

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ All six resolved 2026-08-16 (five fixed here; the inline item resolved as by-des
 - [ ] **`MemberConverter` has no exact-type precedence.**
   `Verify/Serialization/VerifierSettings_MemberConverter.cs:13-25` — first registered entry with `IsAssignableFrom` wins, so a base-interface converter registered earlier permanently shadows a more specific one. Contrast `TryGetScrubOrIgnoreByMemberOfType`, which checks the exact declaring type first.
 
-- [ ] **Registering an `IgnoreInstance` predicate disables empty-collection ignoring for that type.**
+- [x] **Registering an `IgnoreInstance` predicate disables empty-collection ignoring for that type.**
   `Verify/Serialization/SerializationSettings_ShouldIgnore.cs:26-40` — when predicates exist but none match, the early `return false` skips the `ignoreEmptyCollections` check at 42-47. An empty `List<string>` starts appearing as `[]` merely because an unrelated predicate was registered.
 
 - [x] **Combinations name cache collapses distinct keys.**