import re


def str_to_list(str_input: str) -> list[str]:
    if isinstance(str_input, list):
        return str_input

    splits = re.split(r"', '|\", \"|', \"|\", '", str_input)
    splits = [
        split.removeprefix("[")
        .removesuffix("]")
        .removeprefix("(")
        .removesuffix(")")
        .removeprefix("'")
        .removesuffix("'")
        .removeprefix('"')
        .removesuffix('"')
        for split in splits
    ]
    return splits