[kotlin-client] Add decodeOrNull helper for Jackson enums, fix decode KDoc

modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/kotlin-client/enum_class.mustache

@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ import kotlinx.serialization.encoding.Encoder
          */
         {{^nonPublicApi}}{{#explicitApi}}public {{/explicitApi}}{{/nonPublicApi}}fun encode(data: kotlin.Any?): kotlin.String? = if (data is {{classname}}) "$data" else null
 
+{{^jackson}}
         /**
          * Returns a valid [{{classname}}] for [data], null otherwise.
          */
-{{^jackson}}
         {{^nonPublicApi}}{{#explicitApi}}public {{/explicitApi}}{{/nonPublicApi}}fun decode(data: kotlin.Any?): {{classname}}? = data?.let {
           val normalizedData = "$it".lowercase()
           entries.firstOrNull { value ->
@@ -120,6 +120,12 @@ import kotlinx.serialization.encoding.Encoder
         }
 {{/jackson}}
 {{#jackson}}
+        /**
+         * Returns a valid [{{classname}}] for [data].{{^isNullable}}{{^enumUnknownDefaultCase}}
+         *
+         * Throws [IllegalArgumentException] when [data] is null or does not match a known value.
+         * For lenient lookup that returns null on unknown values, see [decodeOrNull].{{/enumUnknownDefaultCase}}{{/isNullable}}
+         */
         @JvmStatic
         @JsonCreator
         {{^nonPublicApi}}{{#explicitApi}}public {{/explicitApi}}{{/nonPublicApi}}fun decode(data: kotlin.Any?): {{classname}}{{#isNullable}}?{{/isNullable}} {
@@ -138,6 +144,20 @@ import kotlinx.serialization.encoding.Encoder
             ?: {{#allowableValues}}{{#enumVars}}{{#-last}}{{&name}}{{/-last}}{{/enumVars}}{{/allowableValues}}{{/enumUnknownDefaultCase}}{{^enumUnknownDefaultCase}}
             ?: throw IllegalArgumentException("Unknown {{classname}} value: $data"){{/enumUnknownDefaultCase}}{{/isNullable}}
         }
+
+        /**
+         * Returns a valid [{{classname}}] for [data], or null when [data] is null or does not match a known value.
+         *
+         * Lenient counterpart to [decode], intended for direct calls from Kotlin code.
+         * Jackson deserialization uses [decode], which is strict.
+         */
+        @JvmStatic
+        {{^nonPublicApi}}{{#explicitApi}}public {{/explicitApi}}{{/nonPublicApi}}fun decodeOrNull(data: kotlin.Any?): {{classname}}? = data?.let {
+          val normalizedData = "$it".lowercase()
+          entries.firstOrNull { value ->
+            it == value || normalizedData == "$value".lowercase()
+          }
+        }
 {{/jackson}}
     }
 }

modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/kotlin/KotlinClientCodegenModelTest.java

@@ -819,6 +819,39 @@ public void testJacksonEnumsThrowForUnknownValue() throws IOException {
       TestUtils.assertFileContains(enumKt, "throw IllegalArgumentException(\"Unknown ExampleNumericEnum value: $data\")");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testJacksonEnumsExposeDecodeOrNullHelper() throws IOException {
+      File output = Files.createTempDirectory("test").toFile();
+      output.deleteOnExit();
+
+      final CodegenConfigurator configurator = new CodegenConfigurator()
+              .setGeneratorName("kotlin")
+              .setLibrary("jvm-retrofit2")
+              .setAdditionalProperties(new HashMap<>() {{
+                put(CodegenConstants.SERIALIZATION_LIBRARY, "jackson");
+                put(CodegenConstants.MODEL_PACKAGE, "model");
+              }})
+              .setInputSpec("src/test/resources/3_0/kotlin/issue22534-kotlin-numeric-enum.yaml")
+              .setOutputDir(output.getAbsolutePath().replace("\\", "/"));
+
+      final ClientOptInput clientOptInput = configurator.toClientOptInput();
+      DefaultGenerator generator = new DefaultGenerator();
+
+      generator.opts(clientOptInput).generate();
+
+      final Path enumKt = Paths.get(output + "/src/main/kotlin/model/ExampleNumericEnum.kt");
+
+      // decodeOrNull should always be generated alongside decode in the Jackson branch
+      // and must return null for unknown values without throwing.
+      TestUtils.assertFileContains(enumKt, "fun decodeOrNull(data: kotlin.Any?): ExampleNumericEnum?");
+      // decodeOrNull should not be annotated with @JsonCreator — only decode is the Jackson entry point.
+      // Verify by checking @JsonCreator appears exactly once in the file.
+      String content = new String(java.nio.file.Files.readAllBytes(enumKt), java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+      int jsonCreatorCount = content.split("@JsonCreator", -1).length - 1;
+      Assert.assertEquals(jsonCreatorCount, 1,
+              "Expected exactly one @JsonCreator annotation in the generated enum, found " + jsonCreatorCount);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testJacksonEnumsWithUnknownDefaultCase() throws IOException {
       File output = Files.createTempDirectory("test").toFile();

samples/client/echo_api/kotlin-jvm-spring-3-restclient/src/main/kotlin/org/openapitools/client/models/StringEnumRef.kt

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ enum class StringEnumRef(@get:JsonValue val value: kotlin.String) {
         fun encode(data: kotlin.Any?): kotlin.String? = if (data is StringEnumRef) "$data" else null
 
         /**
-         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data], null otherwise.
+         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data].
          */
         @JvmStatic
         @JsonCreator
@@ -80,6 +80,20 @@ enum class StringEnumRef(@get:JsonValue val value: kotlin.String) {
           }
             ?: unknown_default_open_api
         }
+
+        /**
+         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data], or null when [data] is null or does not match a known value.
+         *
+         * Lenient counterpart to [decode], intended for direct calls from Kotlin code.
+         * Jackson deserialization uses [decode], which is strict.
+         */
+        @JvmStatic
+        fun decodeOrNull(data: kotlin.Any?): StringEnumRef? = data?.let {
+          val normalizedData = "$it".lowercase()
+          entries.firstOrNull { value ->
+            it == value || normalizedData == "$value".lowercase()
+          }
+        }
     }
 }
 

samples/client/echo_api/kotlin-jvm-spring-3-webclient/src/main/kotlin/org/openapitools/client/models/StringEnumRef.kt

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ enum class StringEnumRef(@get:JsonValue val value: kotlin.String) {
         fun encode(data: kotlin.Any?): kotlin.String? = if (data is StringEnumRef) "$data" else null
 
         /**
-         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data], null otherwise.
+         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data].
          */
         @JvmStatic
         @JsonCreator
@@ -80,6 +80,20 @@ enum class StringEnumRef(@get:JsonValue val value: kotlin.String) {
           }
             ?: unknown_default_open_api
         }
+
+        /**
+         * Returns a valid [StringEnumRef] for [data], or null when [data] is null or does not match a known value.
+         *
+         * Lenient counterpart to [decode], intended for direct calls from Kotlin code.
+         * Jackson deserialization uses [decode], which is strict.
+         */
+        @JvmStatic
+        fun decodeOrNull(data: kotlin.Any?): StringEnumRef? = data?.let {
+          val normalizedData = "$it".lowercase()
+          entries.firstOrNull { value ->
+            it == value || normalizedData == "$value".lowercase()
+          }
+        }
     }
 }