fix low level issues

bincio/render/cli.py

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def _find_data_dir(explicit: Optional[str], config_path: Optional[str]) -> Path:
 
     if config_path and Path(config_path).exists():
         import yaml
-        raw = yaml.safe_load(Path(config_path).read_text())
+        raw = yaml.safe_load(Path(config_path).read_text()) or {}
         out = raw.get("output", {}).get("dir")
         if out:
             return Path(out).expanduser().resolve()
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ def _find_data_dir(explicit: Optional[str], config_path: Optional[str]) -> Path:
     auto_config = Path.cwd() / "extract_config.yaml"
     if auto_config.exists():
         import yaml
-        raw = yaml.safe_load(auto_config.read_text())
+        raw = yaml.safe_load(auto_config.read_text()) or {}
         out = raw.get("output", {}).get("dir")
         if out:
             return Path(out).expanduser().resolve()

bincio/render/merge.py

@@ -140,13 +140,27 @@ def merge_all(data_dir: Path) -> int:
                 if not dest_img.exists():
                     dest_img.symlink_to(img_dir.resolve())
 
-    # Symlink athlete.json if present
+    # Produce merged athlete.json — base from extract overlaid with edits/athlete.yaml
     athlete_src = data_dir / "athlete.json"
     athlete_dest = merged_dir / "athlete.json"
     if athlete_dest.exists() or athlete_dest.is_symlink():
         athlete_dest.unlink()
     if athlete_src.exists():
-        athlete_dest.symlink_to(athlete_src.resolve())
+        athlete_edits_path = data_dir / "edits" / "athlete.yaml"
+        if athlete_edits_path.exists():
+            try:
+                import yaml as _yaml
+                edits = _yaml.safe_load(athlete_edits_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) or {}
+            except Exception:
+                edits = {}
+        else:
+            edits = {}
+        if edits:
+            athlete_data = json.loads(athlete_src.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            athlete_data.update(edits)
+            athlete_dest.write_text(json.dumps(athlete_data, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
+        else:
+            athlete_dest.symlink_to(athlete_src.resolve())
 
     # Write merged index.json (private filtered, highlight sorted)
     index_path = data_dir / "index.json"