Apply a constrained atomic state patch

Advanced50 min

Implement apply_updates(state, operations) for plain top-level dictionary paths using add, replace, remove, and test. Return a new state or raise ValueError without mutating the input.

Your task

Accept paths of the form /key where key is nonempty and contains neither / nor ~. This intentionally excludes full JSON Pointer syntax.
add sets a key, including an existing key; replace and remove require that key to exist.
test requires an existing key equal to value; any failure aborts the whole update.
Reject unsupported operations and copy nested values so result mutations cannot alter input state.

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

Input{'status':'draft'} with replace /status='ready'

Output{'status':'ready'}

The original dictionary remains unchanged.

def apply_updates(state, operations):
    raise NotImplementedError