borghei · Oct 1, 2026 · Oct 1, 2026 · Oct 1, 2026 · Oct 1, 2026 · Oct 1, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ ink --plain README.md
 
 Headings, bold, italic, strikethrough, links, blockquotes, lists, task lists, tables, footnotes, horizontal rules — all rendered with proper styling and colors.
 
-Tables follow their column alignment (`:--`, `:-:`, `--:`), wide CJK and emoji cells included. Superscript `x^2^` (or `x<sup>2</sup>`) and subscript `H<sub>2</sub>O` come out as `x²` and `H₂O` (as `^(…)`/`_(…)` when a character has no Unicode form). Single and double tildes, `~x~` and `~~x~~`, strike through as on GitHub. `||spoilers||` stay hidden until you select or copy them, and definition lists (`Term` then `: definition`) get a bold term with its definitions indented underneath.
+Tables follow their column alignment (`:--`, `:-:`, `--:`), wide CJK and emoji cells included. HTML superscript `x<sup>2</sup>` and subscript `H<sub>2</sub>O` come out as `x²` and `H₂O` (`x^(2)` and `H_(2)O` with `--ascii`); when a character has no Unicode form, or the tag holds links or other markup (a `<sub>` caption), its content is shown as written. Carets and double bars in prose (`2^10`, `a||b`) are shown as written: `^x^` and `||x||` are not GitHub markdown. Single and double tildes, `~x~` and `~~x~~`, strike through as on GitHub, and definition lists (`Term` then `: definition`) get a bold term with its definitions indented underneath.
 
 ### Syntax-highlighted code blocks
 
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ Flowcharts (every node shape, link style and direction, with subgraphs drawn as
 
 ### Frontmatter
 
-YAML (`---`), TOML (`+++`) and JSON (`{`) frontmatter is hidden by default. With `--frontmatter` (or `frontmatter = true`) it shows as a small key/value box at the top of the document — lists comma-joined, nested values as written — instead of being read as markdown.
+YAML (`---`) and TOML (`+++`) frontmatter is hidden by default. With `--frontmatter` (or `frontmatter = true`) it shows as a small key/value box at the top of the document — lists comma-joined, nested values as written — instead of being read as markdown. A leading JSON object (`{` on the first line) is never hidden: with `--frontmatter` it gets the same box when markdown follows it, and otherwise it is shown as document text.
 
 ### Wikilinks
 
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ ink --slides deck.md
 
 Point `ink --plain` at a long document on an interactive terminal and it pages the output through `$PAGER` (default `less -R`) — a drop-in markdown replacement for `cat`/`less`. Piped or redirected output prints straight through, so it stays friendly for scripts, fzf previews, and git. Use `--no-pager` to always print directly. When stdout is not a terminal, `ink file.md` behaves like `ink --plain file.md`, as `bat` and `glow` do.
 
-`--line-range` works like `bat`'s: `ink --line-range 40:80 README.md` renders only those lines of the markdown *source* (1-based, inclusive; also `40:`, `:80`, a single line, or several `--line-range`s). A range that cuts through a fenced code block keeps the block intact and highlighted. It always prints plain output.
+`--line-range` works like `bat`'s: `ink --line-range 40:80 README.md` renders only those lines of the markdown *source* (1-based, inclusive; also `40:`, `:80`, a single line, or several `--line-range`s). A range that cuts through a fenced code block keeps the block intact and highlighted, inside a blockquote too. It always prints plain output.
 
 Color follows `--color <auto|always|never>` (default `auto`). In `auto` mode, `--plain` and `ink diff` emit color and OSC 8 hyperlinks only when stdout is a terminal, so redirects, pipes, and `git` textconv get clean text. Precedence: an explicit `--color` wins; then `NO_COLOR` turns color off; then `CLICOLOR_FORCE=1` or `FORCE_COLOR` turns it on; then `TERM=dumb` turns it off; then the terminal check. Tools that display ANSI from a pipe need `--color=always`:
 

diff --git a/docs/llms-full.txt b/docs/llms-full.txt
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@ ink is a feature-rich terminal markdown reader built in Rust. It renders markdow
 - Ordered and unordered lists with nesting
 - Task lists with checkbox rendering
 - Footnotes
-- Superscript ^x^ and <sup>x</sup>, subscript <sub>x</sub> (Unicode forms, ^(x)/_(x) fallback); ~x~ and ~~x~~ are strikethrough as on GitHub; ||spoilers||, definition lists (Term / : definition)
+- Superscript <sup>x</sup> and subscript <sub>x</sub> as Unicode forms (^(x)/_(x) in ASCII mode) when the content is plain text that has them; otherwise (captions, links, markup) the content is shown as written; ^x^ and ||x|| are not syntax (carets and double bars in prose are shown as written); ~x~ and ~~x~~ are strikethrough as on GitHub; definition lists (Term / : definition)
 - Horizontal rules
 - Inline/block math ($...$, $$...$$, ```math) rendered as Unicode text: Greek letters, operators, \mathbb/\mathcal letters, super/subscripts, \frac as a/b, \sqrt, matrix/cases/aligned environments on several lines; unknown commands kept as written; ASCII mode shows the LaTeX source. A lone $ in prose stays a dollar sign. :emoji: shortcodes resolved to glyphs
-- HTML blocks shown as text; common inline HTML (<br>, <sub>, <sup>, <kbd>) handled rather than dropped, <sub>/<sup> as Unicode sub/superscripts
-- YAML, TOML and JSON frontmatter: stripped by default; --frontmatter shows it as a key/value box
+- HTML blocks shown as text; common inline HTML (<br>, <sub>, <sup>, <kbd>) handled rather than dropped, <sub>/<sup> as Unicode sub/superscripts where possible
+- YAML and TOML frontmatter: stripped by default; --frontmatter shows it as a key/value box. A leading JSON object is never stripped; with --frontmatter it is shown as the box only when markdown follows it
 
 ### Images
 - Real pixel rendering via terminal graphics protocols (Kitty graphics, iTerm2 inline, Sixel), auto-detected at startup; --image-protocol auto|kitty|iterm2|sixel|halfblocks
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ ink is a feature-rich terminal markdown reader built in Rust. It renders markdow
 - Table of contents sidebar showing heading structure, tracks scroll position
 - Interactive TOC: o focuses it (opening it if closed); j/k/arrows move, g/G first/last, Ctrl+d/Ctrl+u page, Enter jumps (recorded in back/forward history), h/l fold subheadings, / filters headings as you type, Esc returns; click a heading to jump, the wheel over the sidebar scrolls it
 - Navigation history with back/forward ([ ] keys or Alt+Arrow)
-- e opens the current local file in $VISUAL / $EDITOR (fallback vi; notepad on Windows) at the line of the heading being read (+N for vi/vim/nvim/nano/emacs/kak/micro, --goto file:N for VS Code/Codium/Cursor, file:N for subl/zed/hx), then reloads it and keeps the position; stdin and URL documents cannot be edited
+- e opens the current local file in $VISUAL / $EDITOR (fallback vi; notepad on Windows) at the line of the heading being read (+N for vi/vim/nvim/nano/emacs/kak/micro, --goto file:N for VS Code/Codium/Cursor, file:N for subl/zed/hx), then reloads it and keeps the position; on Windows a bare editor name is looked up on PATH with PATHEXT, so .cmd/.bat shims such as code.cmd work; stdin and URL documents cannot be edited
 - Mouse wheel scrolling, click a link to follow it (same path as f: browser for web/mail, in-app for .md and #anchor), plus drag-to-select (can be disabled via behavior.mouse_capture so the terminal handles clicks/selection instead)
 - Event-driven redraw (no CPU when idle) and virtualized rendering for large documents
 - Responsive to terminal resizing; shows a message instead of breaking on very small terminals

diff --git a/docs/llms.txt b/docs/llms.txt
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ ink is a command-line tool that renders markdown files in the terminal with rich
 
 ## What it does
 
-- Renders markdown with syntax highlighting, tables (with column alignment), blockquotes, lists, task lists, footnotes, definition lists, superscript (^x^, <sup>) and subscript (<sub>), spoilers, and horizontal rules
+- Renders markdown with syntax highlighting, tables (with column alignment), blockquotes, lists, task lists, footnotes, definition lists, HTML superscript (<sup>) and subscript (<sub>), and horizontal rules
 - Displays inline images using terminal graphics protocols (Kitty, iTerm2, Sixel) where supported, falling back to Unicode half-block characters (any true-color terminal); --image-protocol selects the renderer
 - Renders mermaid diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams, pie charts, Gantt charts) as ASCII art
 - Supports GitHub-style admonitions (NOTE, TIP, IMPORTANT, WARNING, CAUTION) with custom titles, and Obsidian callouts
-- YAML, TOML and JSON frontmatter: hidden by default, shown as a key/value box with --frontmatter
+- YAML and TOML frontmatter: hidden by default, shown as a key/value box with --frontmatter (JSON frontmatter is never hidden; with --frontmatter it gets the box when markdown follows it)
 - Supports wikilink syntax: [[page]] and [[page|display text]]
 - Renders inline/block math ($...$, $$...$$, ```math) as Unicode text (Greek, operators, super/subscripts, fractions, roots, matrices, cases) and resolves :emoji: shortcodes
 - Interactive TUI with multi-tab support, in-document search (n/N to cycle matches), keyboard link opening (press f), a help overlay (?), and a table of contents sidebar