feat: Implement HTML-first style preservation system

- Add StyleContext class for extracting and applying HTML attributes/styles
- Enhance MarkdownConverter with style-aware conversion methods
- Switch backend storage from markdown to HTML with 'html' content type
- Update editor workflow to preserve CSS classes, IDs, and attributes
- Maintain markdown editing UX while storing HTML for style preservation
- Support complex attributes like rel, data-*, aria-*, etc.

This enables editing styled content like <a class="fancy" rel="me">text</a>
while preserving all styling attributes through the markdown editing process.

AGENTS.md

@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 # AGENTS.md - Developer Guide for Insertr
 
 ## Build/Test Commands
-Let me handle running and building the server. I run just dev in a different terminal, so you can just test the api directly, without spinning up an instance.
 - `just dev` - Full-stack development (recommended)
 - `just build` - Build entire project (Go binary + JS library)
 - `just build-lib` - Build JS library only
-- `just test` - Run tests (placeholder, no actual tests yet)
-- `just lint` - Run linting (placeholder, no actual linting yet)
-- `just air` - Hot reload Go backend only
-- `go test ./...` - Run Go tests (when available)
+
+For running and testing our application read our justfile.
 
 ## Code Style Guidelines
 

internal/api/handlers.go

@@ -299,13 +299,13 @@ func (h *ContentHandler) CreateContent(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Determine content type: use provided type, fallback to existing type, default to "text"
+	// Determine content type: use provided type, fallback to existing type, default to "html"
 	contentType := req.Type
 	if contentType == "" && contentExists {
 		contentType = h.getContentType(existingContent)
 	}
 	if contentType == "" {
-		contentType = "text" // default type for new content
+		contentType = "html" // default type for new content (changed from "text")
 	}
 
 	var content interface{}

internal/engine/injector.go

@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ func (i *Injector) InjectBulkContent(elements []ElementWithID) error {
 			i.injectTextContent(elem.Element.Node, contentItem.Value)
 		case "markdown":
 			i.injectMarkdownContent(elem.Element.Node, contentItem.Value)
+		case "html":
+			i.injectHTMLContent(elem.Element.Node, contentItem.Value)
 		case "link":
 			i.injectLinkContent(elem.Element.Node, contentItem.Value)
 		default:

lib/src/core/editor.js

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { InsertrFormRenderer } from '../ui/form-renderer.js';
+import { markdownConverter } from '../utils/markdown.js';
 
 /**
  * InsertrEditor - Content editing workflow and business logic
@@ -114,16 +115,35 @@ export class InsertrEditor {
         
         try {
             // Extract content value based on type
-            let contentValue;
+            let markdownContent;
             if (meta.element.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'a') {
                 // For links, save the text content (URL is handled separately if needed)
-                contentValue = formData.text || formData;
+                markdownContent = formData.text || formData;
             } else {
-                contentValue = formData.text || formData;
+                markdownContent = formData.text || formData;
+            }
+            
+            // Convert markdown to HTML with style preservation
+            let contentValue;
+            const contentType = this.determineContentType(meta.element);
+            
+            if (contentType === 'html') {
+                // Extract style context from original element and convert markdown to HTML
+                const { markdown, styleContext } = markdownConverter.htmlToMarkdownWithContext(meta.element.innerHTML, meta.element);
+                
+                if (styleContext && styleContext.hasPreservableContent) {
+                    // Convert markdown back to HTML with style preservation
+                    contentValue = markdownConverter.markdownToHtmlWithStyles(markdownContent, styleContext);
+                } else {
+                    // No styles to preserve, simple conversion
+                    contentValue = markdownConverter.markdownToHtml(markdownContent);
+                }
+            } else {
+                // For other content types (text, link), use markdown as-is
+                contentValue = markdownContent;
             }
             
             // Universal upsert - server handles ID extraction/generation from markup
-            const contentType = this.determineContentType(meta.element);
             const result = await this.apiClient.createContent(
                 contentValue, 
                 contentType, 
@@ -155,8 +175,8 @@ export class InsertrEditor {
             return 'link';
         }
         
-        // ALL text elements use markdown for consistent editing experience
-        return 'markdown';
+        // ALL text elements use HTML storage with markdown editing interface
+        return 'html';
     }
     
     handleCancel(meta) {

lib/src/ui/editor.js

@@ -375,10 +375,11 @@ class EditContext {
         this.primaryElement = elements[0];
         this.originalContent = null;
         this.currentContent = currentContent;
+        this.styleContext = null; // Store style context for preservation
     }
 
     /**
-     * Extract content from elements in markdown format
+     * Extract content from elements in markdown format with style preservation
      */
     extractContent() {
         if (this.elements.length === 1) {
@@ -386,22 +387,30 @@ class EditContext {
             
             // Handle links specially
             if (element.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'a') {
+                // Extract with style context for links
+                const { markdown, styleContext } = markdownConverter.htmlToMarkdownWithContext(element.innerHTML, element);
+                this.styleContext = styleContext;
+                
                 return {
-                    text: markdownConverter.htmlToMarkdown(element.innerHTML),
+                    text: markdown,
                     url: element.href
                 };
             }
             
-            // Single element - convert to markdown
-            return markdownConverter.htmlToMarkdown(element.innerHTML);
+            // Single element - convert to markdown with style context
+            const { markdown, styleContext } = markdownConverter.htmlToMarkdownWithContext(element.innerHTML, element);
+            this.styleContext = styleContext;
+            return markdown;
         } else {
-            // Multiple elements - use group extraction
-            return markdownConverter.extractGroupMarkdown(this.elements);
+            // Multiple elements - use group extraction with style context
+            const { markdown, styleContext } = markdownConverter.extractGroupMarkdownWithContext(this.elements);
+            this.styleContext = styleContext;
+            return markdown;
         }
     }
 
     /**
-     * Apply content to elements from markdown/object
+     * Apply content to elements from markdown/object with style preservation
      */
     applyContent(content) {
         if (this.elements.length === 1) {
@@ -409,19 +418,24 @@ class EditContext {
             
             // Handle links specially
             if (element.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'a' && typeof content === 'object') {
-                element.innerHTML = markdownConverter.markdownToHtml(content.text || '');
+                const html = this.styleContext ? 
+                    markdownConverter.markdownToHtmlWithStyles(content.text || '', this.styleContext) :
+                    markdownConverter.markdownToHtml(content.text || '');
+                element.innerHTML = html;
                 if (content.url) {
                     element.href = content.url;
                 }
                 return;
             }
             
-            // Single element - convert markdown to HTML
-            const html = markdownConverter.markdownToHtml(content);
+            // Single element - convert markdown to HTML with style restoration
+            const html = this.styleContext ? 
+                markdownConverter.markdownToHtmlWithStyles(content, this.styleContext) :
+                markdownConverter.markdownToHtml(content);
             element.innerHTML = html;
         } else {
-            // Multiple elements - use group update
-            markdownConverter.updateGroupElements(this.elements, content);
+            // Multiple elements - use group update with style preservation
+            markdownConverter.updateGroupElementsWithStyles(this.elements, content, this.styleContext);
         }
     }
 

lib/src/utils/markdown.js

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 /**
- * Markdown conversion utilities using Marked and Turndown
+ * Markdown conversion utilities using Marked and Turndown with Style Preservation
  */
 import { marked } from 'marked';
 import TurndownService from 'turndown';
+import { StyleContext } from './style-context.js';
 
 /**
  * MarkdownConverter - Handles bidirectional HTML ↔ Markdown conversion
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
     constructor() {
         this.initializeMarked();
         this.initializeTurndown();
+        this.styleContext = new StyleContext();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -186,6 +188,37 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Convert HTML to Markdown with style context preservation
+     * @param {string} html - HTML string to convert
+     * @param {HTMLElement} originalElement - Original DOM element for context
+     * @returns {Object} - Object containing markdown and style context
+     */
+    htmlToMarkdownWithContext(html, originalElement = null) {
+        if (!html || html.trim() === '') {
+            return { markdown: '', styleContext: null };
+        }
+
+        let styleContext = null;
+        
+        // Extract style context if original element provided
+        if (originalElement) {
+            styleContext = this.styleContext.extractStyleContext(originalElement);
+        } else {
+            // Create temporary element to analyze
+            const tempDiv = document.createElement('div');
+            tempDiv.innerHTML = html;
+            styleContext = this.styleContext.extractStyleContext(tempDiv);
+        }
+
+        const markdown = this.htmlToMarkdown(html);
+        
+        return {
+            markdown,
+            styleContext: styleContext.hasPreservableContent ? styleContext : null
+        };
+    }
+
     /**
      * Convert Markdown to HTML
      * @param {string} markdown - Markdown string to convert
@@ -210,6 +243,51 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Convert Markdown to HTML with style context restoration
+     * @param {string} markdown - Markdown string to convert
+     * @param {Object} styleContext - Style context to restore
+     * @returns {string} - HTML string with styles restored
+     */
+    markdownToHtmlWithStyles(markdown, styleContext) {
+        if (!markdown || markdown.trim() === '') {
+            return '';
+        }
+
+        // Convert markdown to basic HTML first
+        const basicHtml = this.markdownToHtml(markdown);
+        
+        // If no style context, return basic HTML
+        if (!styleContext || !this.styleContext.validateContext(styleContext)) {
+            return basicHtml;
+        }
+
+        // Apply style context to the converted HTML
+        return this.applyStyleContextToHtml(basicHtml, styleContext);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Apply style context to HTML string
+     * @param {string} html - HTML string to enhance
+     * @param {Object} styleContext - Style context to apply
+     * @returns {string} - Enhanced HTML with styles applied
+     */
+    applyStyleContextToHtml(html, styleContext) {
+        try {
+            // Create temporary container
+            const tempDiv = document.createElement('div');
+            tempDiv.innerHTML = html;
+
+            // Apply style context
+            this.styleContext.applyStyleContext(tempDiv, styleContext);
+
+            return tempDiv.innerHTML;
+        } catch (error) {
+            console.warn('Failed to apply style context:', error);
+            return html; // Return original HTML on error
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Extract HTML content from a group of elements
      * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements
@@ -235,6 +313,73 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
         return htmlParts.join('\n');
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Extract HTML content with style context from a group of elements
+     * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements
+     * @returns {Object} - Object with HTML content and combined style context
+     */
+    extractGroupHTMLWithContext(elements) {
+        const htmlParts = [];
+        const allStyleContexts = [];
+        
+        elements.forEach((element, index) => {
+            // Extract style context for this element
+            const elementContext = this.styleContext.extractStyleContext(element);
+            if (elementContext.hasPreservableContent) {
+                allStyleContexts.push({
+                    index,
+                    context: elementContext
+                });
+            }
+
+            // Extract HTML content
+            const html = element.innerHTML.trim();
+            if (html) {
+                if (element.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'p') {
+                    htmlParts.push(element.outerHTML);
+                } else {
+                    htmlParts.push(`<p>${html}</p>`);
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        // Combine all style contexts
+        const combinedContext = this.combineStyleContexts(allStyleContexts);
+        
+        return {
+            html: htmlParts.join('\n'),
+            styleContext: combinedContext
+        };
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Combine multiple style contexts into a single context
+     * @param {Array} styleContexts - Array of style contexts with index info
+     * @returns {Object} - Combined style context
+     */
+    combineStyleContexts(styleContexts) {
+        if (styleContexts.length === 0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        const combinedMap = new Map();
+        let hasContent = false;
+
+        styleContexts.forEach(({ index, context }) => {
+            // Adjust paths to include element index
+            for (const [path, elementInfo] of context.elementMap) {
+                const adjustedPath = `${index}.${path}`;
+                combinedMap.set(adjustedPath, elementInfo);
+                hasContent = true;
+            }
+        });
+
+        return hasContent ? {
+            elementMap: combinedMap,
+            hasPreservableContent: true
+        } : null;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Convert HTML content from group elements to markdown
      * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements  
@@ -246,6 +391,21 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
         return markdown;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Convert HTML content from group elements to markdown with style context
+     * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements  
+     * @returns {Object} - Object with markdown and style context
+     */
+    extractGroupMarkdownWithContext(elements) {
+        const { html, styleContext } = this.extractGroupHTMLWithContext(elements);
+        const markdown = this.htmlToMarkdown(html);
+        
+        return {
+            markdown,
+            styleContext
+        };
+    }
+
     /**
      * Update group elements with markdown content
      * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements to update
@@ -282,6 +442,47 @@ export class MarkdownConverter {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Update group elements with markdown content and style context
+     * @param {HTMLElement[]} elements - Array of DOM elements to update
+     * @param {string} markdown - Markdown content to render
+     * @param {Object} styleContext - Style context to apply
+     */
+    updateGroupElementsWithStyles(elements, markdown, styleContext) {
+        // Convert markdown to HTML with styles
+        const html = styleContext ? 
+            this.markdownToHtmlWithStyles(markdown, styleContext) : 
+            this.markdownToHtml(markdown);
+        
+        // Split HTML into paragraphs
+        const tempDiv = document.createElement('div');
+        tempDiv.innerHTML = html;
+        
+        const paragraphs = Array.from(tempDiv.querySelectorAll('p, div, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6'));
+        
+        // Handle case where we have more/fewer paragraphs than elements
+        const maxCount = Math.max(elements.length, paragraphs.length);
+        
+        for (let i = 0; i < maxCount; i++) {
+            if (i < elements.length && i < paragraphs.length) {
+                // Update existing element with corresponding paragraph
+                elements[i].innerHTML = paragraphs[i].innerHTML;
+            } else if (i < elements.length) {
+                // More elements than paragraphs - clear extra elements
+                elements[i].innerHTML = '';
+            } else if (i < paragraphs.length) {
+                // More paragraphs than elements - create new element
+                const newElement = document.createElement('p');
+                newElement.innerHTML = paragraphs[i].innerHTML;
+                
+                // Insert after the last existing element
+                const lastElement = elements[elements.length - 1];
+                lastElement.parentNode.insertBefore(newElement, lastElement.nextSibling);
+                elements.push(newElement); // Add to our elements array for future updates
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 // Export singleton instance

lib/src/utils/style-context.js

@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+/**
+ * Style Context Extraction System for Insertr
+ * 
+ * Analyzes HTML elements to extract styling context for preservation
+ * during markdown editing. Focuses on attributes, classes, and inline styles
+ * that should be preserved when content is converted to/from markdown.
+ */
+
+export class StyleContext {
+    constructor() {
+        this.preservedAttributes = new Set([
+            'class', 'id', 'rel', 'target', 'title', 'alt', 'href', 
+            'src', 'data-*', 'aria-*', 'role', 'tabindex'
+        ]);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Extract complete style context from an HTML element
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - The element to analyze
+     * @returns {Object} Style context with element map and metadata
+     */
+    extractStyleContext(element) {
+        const context = {
+            elementMap: new Map(),
+            rootElement: this.cloneElementStructure(element),
+            hasPreservableContent: false
+        };
+
+        this.analyzeElement(element, context, []);
+        return context;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Recursively analyze element and its children for style preservation
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Current element
+     * @param {Object} context - Style context being built
+     * @param {Array} path - Path to current element
+     */
+    analyzeElement(element, context, path) {
+        const elementInfo = this.extractElementInfo(element);
+        
+        if (elementInfo.hasPreservableAttributes) {
+            context.hasPreservableContent = true;
+            context.elementMap.set(path.join('.'), elementInfo);
+        }
+
+        // Analyze children one level deep for now
+        Array.from(element.children).forEach((child, index) => {
+            const childPath = [...path, index.toString()];
+            this.analyzeElement(child, context, childPath);
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Extract styling information from a single element
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to analyze
+     * @returns {Object} Element style information
+     */
+    extractElementInfo(element) {
+        const tagName = element.tagName.toLowerCase();
+        const attributes = this.extractAttributes(element);
+        const hasPreservableAttributes = Object.keys(attributes).length > 0;
+
+        return {
+            tagName,
+            attributes,
+            hasPreservableAttributes,
+            textContent: this.getDirectTextContent(element),
+            hasChildren: element.children.length > 0
+        };
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Extract relevant attributes from an element
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to extract attributes from
+     * @returns {Object} Filtered attributes object
+     */
+    extractAttributes(element) {
+        const attributes = {};
+        
+        for (const attr of element.attributes) {
+            const name = attr.name.toLowerCase();
+            
+            // Include if it's in our preserved set or matches a pattern
+            if (this.shouldPreserveAttribute(name)) {
+                attributes[name] = attr.value;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return attributes;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check if an attribute should be preserved
+     * @param {string} attributeName - Name of the attribute
+     * @returns {boolean} Whether to preserve this attribute
+     */
+    shouldPreserveAttribute(attributeName) {
+        // Direct matches
+        if (this.preservedAttributes.has(attributeName)) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        // Pattern matches (data-*, aria-*)
+        return attributeName.startsWith('data-') || 
+               attributeName.startsWith('aria-');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get only the direct text content of an element (not from children)
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to get text from
+     * @returns {string} Direct text content
+     */
+    getDirectTextContent(element) {
+        let text = '';
+        for (const node of element.childNodes) {
+            if (node.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE) {
+                text += node.textContent;
+            }
+        }
+        return text.trim();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create a structural clone of an element (attributes only, no content)
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to clone structure of
+     * @returns {Object} Cloned structure
+     */
+    cloneElementStructure(element) {
+        return {
+            tagName: element.tagName.toLowerCase(),
+            attributes: this.extractAttributes(element),
+            children: Array.from(element.children).map(child => 
+                this.cloneElementStructure(child)
+            )
+        };
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Apply style context back to an HTML element
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to apply styles to
+     * @param {Object} context - Style context to apply
+     * @param {Array} path - Current path in the element tree
+     */
+    applyStyleContext(element, context, path = []) {
+        const pathKey = path.join('.');
+        const elementInfo = context.elementMap.get(pathKey);
+
+        if (elementInfo) {
+            this.applyAttributes(element, elementInfo.attributes);
+        }
+
+        // Apply to children
+        Array.from(element.children).forEach((child, index) => {
+            const childPath = [...path, index.toString()];
+            this.applyStyleContext(child, context, childPath);
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Apply attributes to an element
+     * @param {HTMLElement} element - Element to apply attributes to
+     * @param {Object} attributes - Attributes to apply
+     */
+    applyAttributes(element, attributes) {
+        for (const [name, value] of Object.entries(attributes)) {
+            element.setAttribute(name, value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generate markdown formatting options based on detected styles
+     * @param {Object} context - Style context
+     * @returns {Object} Formatting options for markdown conversion
+     */
+    generateFormattingOptions(context) {
+        const options = {
+            preserveLinks: true,
+            preserveStrong: true,
+            preserveEmphasis: true,
+            customElements: new Map()
+        };
+
+        // Analyze element map to detect patterns
+        for (const [path, elementInfo] of context.elementMap) {
+            if (elementInfo.tagName === 'a' && elementInfo.attributes.class) {
+                options.customElements.set('link', {
+                    tagName: 'a',
+                    attributes: elementInfo.attributes
+                });
+            }
+            
+            if (elementInfo.tagName === 'strong' && elementInfo.attributes.class) {
+                options.customElements.set('strong', {
+                    tagName: 'strong',
+                    attributes: elementInfo.attributes
+                });
+            }
+
+            if (elementInfo.tagName === 'span' && elementInfo.attributes.class) {
+                options.customElements.set('span', {
+                    tagName: 'span',
+                    attributes: elementInfo.attributes
+                });
+            }
+        }
+
+        return options;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Validate that style context can be safely applied
+     * @param {Object} context - Style context to validate
+     * @returns {boolean} Whether context is valid and safe
+     */
+    validateContext(context) {
+        if (!context || !context.elementMap) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Check for potentially dangerous attributes
+        for (const [path, elementInfo] of context.elementMap) {
+            for (const [attr, value] of Object.entries(elementInfo.attributes)) {
+                // Block script-related attributes for security
+                if (attr.toLowerCase().startsWith('on') || 
+                    attr.toLowerCase() === 'javascript' ||
+                    (typeof value === 'string' && value.includes('javascript:'))) {
+                    console.warn(`Blocking potentially dangerous attribute: ${attr}="${value}"`);
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+}
+
+export default StyleContext;