diff --git a/spacy/cli/_util.py b/spacy/cli/_util.py
index c64aa1507..360d2439a 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/_util.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/_util.py
@@ -385,3 +385,23 @@ def _from_http_to_git(repo: str) -> str:
             repo = repo[:-1]
         repo = f"{repo}.git"
     return repo
+
+
+def string_to_list(value, intify=False):
+    """Parse a comma-separated string to a list"""
+    if not value:
+        return []
+    if value.startswith("[") and value.endswith("]"):
+        value = value[1:-1]
+    result = []
+    for p in value.split(","):
+        p = p.strip()
+        if p.startswith("'") and p.endswith("'"):
+            p = p[1:-1]
+        if p.startswith('"') and p.endswith('"'):
+            p = p[1:-1]
+        p = p.strip()
+        if intify:
+            p = int(p)
+        result.append(p)
+    return result
diff --git a/spacy/cli/debug_model.py b/spacy/cli/debug_model.py
index f4d93071e..1a250e43e 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/debug_model.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/debug_model.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from thinc.api import require_gpu, fix_random_seed, set_dropout_rate, Adam
 from thinc.api import Model, data_validation
 import typer
 
-from ._util import Arg, Opt, debug_cli, show_validation_error, parse_config_overrides
+from ._util import Arg, Opt, debug_cli, show_validation_error, parse_config_overrides, string_to_list
 from .. import util
 
 
@@ -38,12 +38,13 @@ def debug_model_cli(
         require_gpu(use_gpu)
     else:
         msg.info("Using CPU")
+    layers = string_to_list(layers, intify=True)
     print_settings = {
         "dimensions": dimensions,
         "parameters": parameters,
         "gradients": gradients,
         "attributes": attributes,
-        "layers": [int(x.strip()) for x in layers.split(",")] if layers else [],
+        "layers": layers,
         "print_before_training": P0,
         "print_after_init": P1,
         "print_after_training": P2,
diff --git a/spacy/cli/init_config.py b/spacy/cli/init_config.py
index 584ca7f64..ec65b0e0a 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/init_config.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/init_config.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import re
 from .. import util
 from ..language import DEFAULT_CONFIG_PRETRAIN_PATH
 from ..schemas import RecommendationSchema
-from ._util import init_cli, Arg, Opt, show_validation_error, COMMAND
+from ._util import init_cli, Arg, Opt, show_validation_error, COMMAND, string_to_list
 
 
 ROOT = Path(__file__).parent / "templates"
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def init_config_cli(
     """
     if isinstance(optimize, Optimizations):  # instance of enum from the CLI
         optimize = optimize.value
-    pipeline = [p.strip() for p in pipeline.split(",")]
+    pipeline = string_to_list(pipeline)
     init_config(output_file, lang=lang, pipeline=pipeline, optimize=optimize, cpu=cpu)
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/tests/test_cli.py b/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
index e8c83cbad..0df707dc0 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from spacy.cli.pretrain import make_docs
 from spacy.cli.init_config import init_config, RECOMMENDATIONS
 from spacy.cli._util import validate_project_commands, parse_config_overrides
 from spacy.cli._util import load_project_config, substitute_project_variables
+from spacy.cli._util import string_to_list
 from thinc.config import ConfigValidationError
 import srsly
 
@@ -372,17 +373,13 @@ def test_parse_config_overrides(args, expected):
     assert parse_config_overrides(args) == expected
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "args", [["--foo"], ["--x.foo", "bar", "--baz"]],
-)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("args", [["--foo"], ["--x.foo", "bar", "--baz"]])
 def test_parse_config_overrides_invalid(args):
     with pytest.raises(NoSuchOption):
         parse_config_overrides(args)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "args", [["--x.foo", "bar", "baz"], ["x.foo"]],
-)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("args", [["--x.foo", "bar", "baz"], ["x.foo"]])
 def test_parse_config_overrides_invalid_2(args):
     with pytest.raises(SystemExit):
         parse_config_overrides(args)
@@ -401,3 +398,44 @@ def test_init_config(lang, pipeline, optimize):
 def test_model_recommendations():
     for lang, data in RECOMMENDATIONS.items():
         assert RecommendationSchema(**data)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "value",
+    [
+        # fmt: off
+        "parser,textcat,tagger",
+        " parser, textcat ,tagger ",
+        'parser,textcat,tagger',
+        ' parser, textcat ,tagger ',
+        ' "parser"," textcat " ,"tagger "',
+        " 'parser',' textcat ' ,'tagger '",
+        '[parser,textcat,tagger]',
+        '["parser","textcat","tagger"]',
+        '[" parser" ,"textcat ", " tagger " ]',
+        "[parser,textcat,tagger]",
+        "[ parser, textcat , tagger]",
+        "['parser','textcat','tagger']",
+        "[' parser' , 'textcat', ' tagger ' ]",
+        # fmt: on
+    ],
+)
+def test_string_to_list(value):
+    assert string_to_list(value, intify=False) == ["parser", "textcat", "tagger"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "value",
+    [
+        # fmt: off
+        "1,2,3",
+        '[1,2,3]',
+        '["1","2","3"]',
+        '[" 1" ,"2 ", " 3 " ]',
+        "[' 1' , '2', ' 3 ' ]",
+        # fmt: on
+    ],
+)
+def test_string_to_list_intify(value):
+    assert string_to_list(value, intify=False) == ["1", "2", "3"]
+    assert string_to_list(value, intify=True) == [1, 2, 3]