impossible to parse when a token start with a decimal

[42atomys]

What version were you using?

nats-server: v2.12.4

What environment was the server running in?

helm deployment on Kubernetes

Is this defect reproducible?

1. Create a secret on Kubernetes cluster how start with a decimal (like 33feda22ea)
2. Configure the environment from key and configuration like following
3. Deploy helm

config:
  merge:
    authorization:
      token: << $TOKEN >>
container:
  env:
    TOKEN:
      valueFrom:
        secretKeyRef:
          name: secret-name
          key: TOKEN

Given the capability you are leveraging, describe your expectation?

always use string in parser to be sure nats start

Given the expectation, what is the defect you are observing?

This resume to an error on start of the nats server:

[43] 2026/03/06 15:15:40.083695 [ERR] Failed to reload server configuration: variable reference for
  'TOKEN' on line 3 could not be parsed: Parse error on line 1: 'Expected a top-level value to end with a
   new line, comment or EOF, but got '3' instead.'