mAi: #92 - t-paliad-261 — submission-draft autosave focus + click-variable-in-preview jump

Two related editor polish fixes.

(A) Autosave-refresh focus preservation
  paintVariables() replaces every input via innerHTML, blowing away
  the focused-input reference and dropping the cursor mid-edit. Fix:
  capture the active variable input's data-var key + selectionStart/
  End/Direction before the repaint, restore on the new element after
  (by data-var lookup + setSelectionRange). Cursor stays put across
  autosave, rename, and reset cycles. Works for <input> and
  <textarea> via the shared selectionRange contract.

(B) Click variable in preview → jump to sidebar input
  Go renderer wraps every substituted placeholder value in the HTML
  preview with <span class="draft-var" data-var="key">…</span>.
  Implemented via a valueWrapperFn plumbed through
  substituteInDocumentXML → substituteInTextNodes /
  substituteAcrossRuns → replacePlaceholders. RenderHTML passes
  htmlPreviewWrapper which marks values with three PUA sentinels
  (U+E100/U+E101/U+E102) that emitTextWithDraftVars converts to the
  span pair inside docXMLToHTML. Missing-marker text is wrapped too
  so a clicked [KEIN WERT: foo] jumps to the empty field.

  Render() (.docx export) passes nil for wrap → output is byte-
  identical to pre-261. New test
  TestRender_DocxOutputUnchangedByPreviewWrap asserts the .docx never
  carries draft-var/data-var markup or PUA sentinels.

  Client wireDraftVars() adds .draft-var--has-input only to spans
  whose key resolves to a sidebar input — derived variables (e.g.
  today.iso) stay non-clickable. Click handler:
    scrollIntoView(smooth, center) → focus + select after 50ms →
    1.2s lime flash on the row.
  Keyboard accessible (Enter / Space) with role=button + aria-label.

CSS adds a subtle lime tint to every .draft-var so the user sees
what was substituted; --has-input layers cursor: pointer + brighter
hover background. Flash animation respects prefers-reduced-motion
via a steps(1, end) fallback.

Tests: TestRenderHTML_ExtractsParagraphsAndFormatting updated to
assert the new span wrap. New tests for missing-marker wrap +
.docx-path-untouched. Go + frontend builds clean.

frontend/src/client/submission-draft.ts

@@ -605,6 +605,90 @@ function paintPreview(): void {
   const host = document.getElementById("submission-draft-preview");
   if (!host || !state.view) return;
   host.innerHTML = state.view.preview_html ?? "";
+  wireDraftVars(host);
+}
+
+// t-paliad-261 (B) — click a substituted variable in the preview to
+// jump to the matching sidebar input. Re-wires on every paintPreview
+// since the preview HTML is replaced wholesale. The server side wraps
+// each substituted placeholder (resolved OR missing marker) in
+// <span class="draft-var" data-var="<key>">…</span>; clicks here scroll
+// the corresponding input into view, focus + select, and flash the row.
+// If the key has no matching sidebar input (derived variables not
+// exposed in VARIABLE_GROUPS), the click is a silent no-op — the span
+// is still rendered so the user gets the visible hint that this is a
+// resolved variable.
+function wireDraftVars(previewHost: HTMLElement): void {
+  previewHost.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>(".draft-var").forEach((el) => {
+    const key = el.dataset.var;
+    if (!key) return;
+    if (findVarInput(key)) {
+      el.classList.add("draft-var--has-input");
+      el.setAttribute("role", "button");
+      el.setAttribute("tabindex", "0");
+      el.setAttribute(
+        "aria-label",
+        (isEN() ? "Edit variable " : "Variable bearbeiten: ") + labelFor(key),
+      );
+    }
+    el.addEventListener("click", (ev) => onDraftVarClick(key, ev));
+    el.addEventListener("keydown", (ev) => {
+      if (ev.key === "Enter" || ev.key === " ") {
+        ev.preventDefault();
+        onDraftVarClick(key, ev);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+function findVarInput(key: string): HTMLInputElement | null {
+  const host = document.getElementById("submission-draft-variables");
+  if (!host) return null;
+  return host.querySelector<HTMLInputElement>(
+    `.submission-draft-var-input[data-var="${cssEscape(key)}"]`,
+  );
+}
+
+function cssEscape(s: string): string {
+  // CSS.escape covers our placeholder keys ([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_.]*) but
+  // older browsers may lack it; defensive fallback escapes characters
+  // CSS treats as special. Placeholder keys never carry whitespace or
+  // quotes so escaping is straightforward.
+  if (typeof CSS !== "undefined" && typeof CSS.escape === "function") {
+    return CSS.escape(s);
+  }
+  return s.replace(/([!"#$%&'()*+,./:;<=>?@[\\\]^`{|}~])/g, "\\$1");
+}
+
+function onDraftVarClick(key: string, ev: Event): void {
+  const input = findVarInput(key);
+  if (!input) return;
+  ev.preventDefault();
+  ev.stopPropagation();
+  // Smooth-scroll the input into view, then focus on the next tick so
+  // the scroll animation has started and the focus call doesn't trigger
+  // a second jarring jump.
+  input.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "smooth", block: "center" });
+  window.setTimeout(() => {
+    input.focus();
+    try {
+      input.select();
+    } catch {
+      /* select() throws on number/email inputs; safe to ignore */
+    }
+  }, 50);
+  flashVarRow(input);
+}
+
+function flashVarRow(input: HTMLElement): void {
+  const row = input.closest<HTMLElement>(".submission-draft-var-row");
+  if (!row) return;
+  row.classList.remove("submission-draft-var-row--flash");
+  // Force reflow so removing+re-adding the class restarts the animation
+  // even on rapid successive clicks.
+  void row.offsetWidth;
+  row.classList.add("submission-draft-var-row--flash");
+  window.setTimeout(() => row.classList.remove("submission-draft-var-row--flash"), 1200);
 }
 
 // ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -643,11 +727,18 @@ async function flushAutosave(): Promise<void> {
   if (!state.pendingOverrides) return;
   const payload = { variables: state.pendingOverrides };
   state.pendingOverrides = null;
+  // t-paliad-261 (A) — paintVariables() below replaces every input in
+  // the sidebar via innerHTML, which blows away the active-element
+  // reference. Capture the focused input's key + selection range before
+  // the repaint and restore on the new element after, so the user can
+  // keep typing without clicking back into the field.
+  const focusSnap = captureVarFocus();
   try {
     const view = await patchDraft(payload);
     state.view = view;
     paintVariables();
     paintPreview();
+    restoreVarFocus(focusSnap);
     setSaveStatus(isEN() ? "Saved" : "Gespeichert");
   } catch (err) {
     if ((err as Error).name === "AbortError") return;
@@ -656,6 +747,64 @@ async function flushAutosave(): Promise<void> {
   }
 }
 
+// captureVarFocus / restoreVarFocus — focus-preservation across the
+// paintVariables() innerHTML-replace cycle (t-paliad-261 part A).
+// Tracks selection start/end/direction so the cursor lands exactly
+// where it was before the repaint, including any active selection
+// range. Handles both <input> and <textarea> via the shared
+// HTMLInputElement|HTMLTextAreaElement contract for selectionStart /
+// selectionEnd / selectionDirection / setSelectionRange.
+
+interface VarFocusSnapshot {
+  key: string;
+  start: number | null;
+  end: number | null;
+  dir: "forward" | "backward" | "none";
+}
+
+type SelectableEl = HTMLInputElement | HTMLTextAreaElement;
+
+function isVarField(el: Element | null): el is SelectableEl {
+  if (!el) return false;
+  if (!(el instanceof HTMLInputElement) && !(el instanceof HTMLTextAreaElement)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return el.classList.contains("submission-draft-var-input");
+}
+
+function captureVarFocus(): VarFocusSnapshot | null {
+  const active = document.activeElement;
+  if (!isVarField(active)) return null;
+  const key = active.dataset.var;
+  if (!key) return null;
+  return {
+    key,
+    start: active.selectionStart,
+    end: active.selectionEnd,
+    dir: (active.selectionDirection as "forward" | "backward" | "none" | null) ?? "forward",
+  };
+}
+
+function restoreVarFocus(snap: VarFocusSnapshot | null): void {
+  if (!snap) return;
+  const host = document.getElementById("submission-draft-variables");
+  if (!host) return;
+  const next = host.querySelector<SelectableEl>(
+    `.submission-draft-var-input[data-var="${cssEscape(snap.key)}"]`,
+  );
+  if (!next) return;
+  next.focus();
+  if (snap.start !== null && snap.end !== null) {
+    try {
+      next.setSelectionRange(snap.start, snap.end, snap.dir);
+    } catch {
+      /* setSelectionRange throws on inputs whose type doesn't support
+         selection ranges (number, email, etc.); safe to ignore — the
+         focus() call above is enough for those. */
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 async function renameDraft(newName: string): Promise<void> {
   setSaveStatus(isEN() ? "Saving…" : "Speichert…");
   try {

frontend/src/styles/global.css

@@ -5880,6 +5880,66 @@ dialog.modal::backdrop {
     font-style: italic;
 }
 
+/* t-paliad-261 (B) — substituted variables in the preview are wrapped
+   in <span class="draft-var" data-var="…"> by the Go HTML renderer.
+   .draft-var by itself shows a subtle dotted underline so the lawyer
+   can SEE which text was filled in from a variable. .draft-var--has-input
+   (added client-side when a matching sidebar input exists) layers on
+   the clickable affordance — pointer cursor + brighter hover background.
+   Non-matching draft-vars (derived variables not exposed in the
+   sidebar) stay visually distinct but non-interactive. */
+.draft-var {
+    background-color: rgba(198, 244, 28, 0.12);
+    border-radius: 2px;
+    padding: 0 2px;
+    box-decoration-break: clone;
+    -webkit-box-decoration-break: clone;
+    transition: background-color 0.15s ease;
+}
+
+.draft-var--has-input {
+    cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+.draft-var--has-input:hover,
+.draft-var--has-input:focus-visible {
+    background-color: rgba(198, 244, 28, 0.45);
+    outline: none;
+}
+
+/* t-paliad-261 (B) — brief lime flash on the sidebar row after a
+   click-jump from the preview, so the user's eye lands on the right
+   input even after the smooth-scroll motion. Animation restarts on
+   each click via class-remove + reflow + class-add. */
+.submission-draft-var-row--flash {
+    animation: paliad-var-flash 1.2s ease;
+    border-radius: 4px;
+}
+
+@keyframes paliad-var-flash {
+    0% {
+        background-color: rgba(198, 244, 28, 0.55);
+        box-shadow: 0 0 0 4px rgba(198, 244, 28, 0.25);
+    }
+    100% {
+        background-color: transparent;
+        box-shadow: 0 0 0 4px transparent;
+    }
+}
+
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    .submission-draft-var-row--flash {
+        animation: paliad-var-flash-still 1.2s steps(1, end);
+    }
+    @keyframes paliad-var-flash-still {
+        0%, 99% { background-color: rgba(198, 244, 28, 0.55); }
+        100% { background-color: transparent; }
+    }
+    .draft-var {
+        transition: none;
+    }
+}
+
 .submission-edit-btn {
     margin-right: 0.4rem;
 }

internal/services/submission_merge.go

@@ -47,6 +47,33 @@ type PlaceholderMap map[string]string
 // "[KEIN WERT: <key>]" / "[NO VALUE: <key>]" depending on lang.
 type MissingPlaceholderFn func(key string) string
 
+// valueWrapperFn wraps a substituted value with a marker the HTML
+// preview emitter can recognise — used by RenderHTML to turn each
+// substituted value into a clickable <span class="draft-var" …>
+// (t-paliad-261, click-variable-in-preview → jump-to-field). nil means
+// no wrapping; the .docx export path uses nil so its output is
+// byte-identical to the wrapper-free build. The wrapper is invoked for
+// both resolved values and missing-marker text so clicking a missing
+// placeholder still jumps to the corresponding sidebar input.
+type valueWrapperFn func(key, value string) string
+
+// Private-Use-Area sentinels for the HTML preview wrap. PUA characters
+// are valid in XML 1.0 content, never appear in legitimate template
+// text, pass unchanged through xmlEncode/xmlDecode/htmlEscape, and are
+// stripped by emitTextWithDraftVars when the preview HTML is assembled.
+const (
+	previewVarBegin = ""
+	previewVarMid   = ""
+	previewVarEnd   = ""
+)
+
+// htmlPreviewWrapper wraps a substituted value with the PUA sentinels
+// emitTextWithDraftVars recognises. Used only by RenderHTML; the .docx
+// Render path uses nil so its output is identical to the pre-261 build.
+func htmlPreviewWrapper(key, value string) string {
+	return previewVarBegin + key + previewVarMid + value + previewVarEnd
+}
+
 // DefaultMissingMarker returns the standard missing-value marker for
 // the given UI language.
 func DefaultMissingMarker(lang string) MissingPlaceholderFn {
@@ -107,7 +134,7 @@ func (r *SubmissionRenderer) Render(templateBytes []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, m
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("submission render: read %s: %w", entry.Name, err)
 		}
 		if isWordXMLEntry(entry.Name) {
-			body = substituteInDocumentXML(body, vars, missing)
+			body = substituteInDocumentXML(body, vars, missing, nil)
 		}
 		w, err := zw.CreateHeader(&zip.FileHeader{
 			Name:     entry.Name,
@@ -165,7 +192,7 @@ func (r *SubmissionRenderer) RenderHTML(templateBytes []byte, vars PlaceholderMa
 	if docXML == nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("submission render html: word/document.xml missing")
 	}
-	merged := substituteInDocumentXML(docXML, vars, missing)
+	merged := substituteInDocumentXML(docXML, vars, missing, htmlPreviewWrapper)
 	return docXMLToHTML(merged), nil
 }
 
@@ -214,12 +241,12 @@ func readMergeZipEntry(f *zip.File) ([]byte, error) {
 //     paragraph, run the replacement on the merged text, and rewrite
 //     the paragraph's runs as a single <w:r><w:t>…</w:t></w:r> using
 //     the formatting properties of the first run.
-func substituteInDocumentXML(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn) []byte {
+func substituteInDocumentXML(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn, wrap valueWrapperFn) []byte {
-	replaced := substituteInTextNodes(body, vars, missing)
+	replaced := substituteInTextNodes(body, vars, missing, wrap)
 	if !needsCrossRunMerge(replaced) {
 		return replaced
 	}
-	return substituteAcrossRuns(replaced, vars, missing)
+	return substituteAcrossRuns(replaced, vars, missing, wrap)
 }
 
 // wTextNodeRegex matches one <w:t …>contents</w:t> element, capturing
@@ -229,12 +256,12 @@ var wTextNodeRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`<w:t(\s[^>]*)?>([^<]*)</w:t>`)
 // substituteInTextNodes runs the placeholder replacement inside each
 // <w:t> text node independently. Format-preserving for single-run
 // placeholders.
-func substituteInTextNodes(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn) []byte {
+func substituteInTextNodes(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn, wrap valueWrapperFn) []byte {
 	return wTextNodeRegex.ReplaceAllFunc(body, func(match []byte) []byte {
 		sub := wTextNodeRegex.FindSubmatch(match)
 		attrs := string(sub[1])
 		contents := xmlDecode(string(sub[2]))
-		replaced := replacePlaceholders(contents, vars, missing)
+		replaced := replacePlaceholders(contents, vars, missing, wrap)
 		if replaced == contents {
 			return match
 		}
@@ -270,7 +297,7 @@ var wParagraphPropsRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(?s)<w:pPr>.*?</w:pPr>`)
 
 // substituteAcrossRuns is pass 2: concatenate every text node in a
 // fragmented-placeholder paragraph, run replacement, rewrite as one run.
-func substituteAcrossRuns(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn) []byte {
+func substituteAcrossRuns(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn, wrap valueWrapperFn) []byte {
 	return wParagraphRegex.ReplaceAllFunc(body, func(para []byte) []byte {
 		textNodes := wTextNodeRegex.FindAllSubmatch(para, -1)
 		if len(textNodes) == 0 {
@@ -284,7 +311,7 @@ func substituteAcrossRuns(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlace
 		if !strings.Contains(original, "{{") {
 			return para
 		}
-		replaced := replacePlaceholders(original, vars, missing)
+		replaced := replacePlaceholders(original, vars, missing, wrap)
 		if replaced == original {
 			return para
 		}
@@ -307,18 +334,29 @@ func substituteAcrossRuns(body []byte, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlace
 }
 
 // replacePlaceholders performs the actual substitution on a plain
-// string. Unbound placeholders render the missing marker.
+// string. Unbound placeholders render the missing marker. When wrap is
-func replacePlaceholders(s string, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn) string {
+// non-nil, both the resolved value AND the missing-marker text are
+// passed through wrap(key, value) — the HTML preview path uses this to
+// emit clickable spans around every substituted placeholder, including
+// missing ones (clicking a missing marker jumps to the corresponding
+// sidebar input).
+func replacePlaceholders(s string, vars PlaceholderMap, missing MissingPlaceholderFn, wrap valueWrapperFn) string {
 	return placeholderRegex.ReplaceAllStringFunc(s, func(match string) string {
 		sub := placeholderRegex.FindStringSubmatch(match)
 		if len(sub) < 2 {
 			return match
 		}
 		key := sub[1]
-		if value, ok := vars[key]; ok {
+		var value string
-			return value
+		if v, ok := vars[key]; ok {
+			value = v
+		} else {
+			value = missing(key)
 		}
-		return missing(key)
+		if wrap != nil {
+			return wrap(key, value)
+		}
+		return value
 	})
 }
 
@@ -401,7 +439,7 @@ func paragraphToHTML(para []byte) string {
 		if italic {
 			out.WriteString("<em>")
 		}
-		out.WriteString(htmlEscape(text))
+		out.WriteString(emitTextWithDraftVars(text))
 		if italic {
 			out.WriteString("</em>")
 		}
@@ -412,6 +450,52 @@ func paragraphToHTML(para []byte) string {
 	return out.String()
 }
 
+// emitTextWithDraftVars HTML-escapes run text while converting any
+// preview-only sentinels emitted by htmlPreviewWrapper into
+// <span class="draft-var" data-var="<key>">…</span>. The key is
+// restricted to [A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_.]* by placeholderRegex, so no
+// attribute-escaping is needed on the key; the value is HTML-escaped
+// normally. Sentinel-free text (the Render path output, or template
+// text outside placeholders) is passed straight through htmlEscape, so
+// callers that never invoked wrap see byte-identical HTML.
+//
+// t-paliad-261: makes substituted variables clickable in the preview
+// pane so the user can jump to the matching input in the sidebar.
+func emitTextWithDraftVars(text string) string {
+	if !strings.Contains(text, previewVarBegin) {
+		return htmlEscape(text)
+	}
+	var out strings.Builder
+	rest := text
+	for {
+		i := strings.Index(rest, previewVarBegin)
+		if i < 0 {
+			out.WriteString(htmlEscape(rest))
+			return out.String()
+		}
+		out.WriteString(htmlEscape(rest[:i]))
+		body := rest[i+len(previewVarBegin):]
+		mid := strings.Index(body, previewVarMid)
+		end := strings.Index(body, previewVarEnd)
+		if mid < 0 || end < 0 || mid > end {
+			// Malformed sentinel — emit the marker as plain escaped
+			// text and continue past it so the rest of the run still
+			// renders.
+			out.WriteString(htmlEscape(previewVarBegin))
+			rest = body
+			continue
+		}
+		key := body[:mid]
+		value := body[mid+len(previewVarMid) : end]
+		out.WriteString(`<span class="draft-var" data-var="`)
+		out.WriteString(key)
+		out.WriteString(`">`)
+		out.WriteString(htmlEscape(value))
+		out.WriteString(`</span>`)
+		rest = body[end+len(previewVarEnd):]
+	}
+}
+
 // extractRunText concatenates every <w:t> inside a run, XML-decoding
 // the content as it goes.
 func extractRunText(run []byte) string {

internal/services/submission_merge_test.go

@@ -265,7 +265,9 @@ func TestPatentNumberUPC(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestRenderHTML_ExtractsParagraphsAndFormatting verifies the preview
 // HTML emitter walks <w:p> / <w:r> / <w:t> correctly and carries
-// bold/italic through to <strong>/<em>.
+// bold/italic through to <strong>/<em>. Substituted placeholders are
+// wrapped in <span class="draft-var" data-var="…"> so the client can
+// make them clickable (t-paliad-261).
 func TestRenderHTML_ExtractsParagraphsAndFormatting(t *testing.T) {
 	doc := `<w:document><w:body>` +
 		`<w:p><w:r><w:t>Hello {{firm.name}}</w:t></w:r></w:p>` +
@@ -278,8 +280,8 @@ func TestRenderHTML_ExtractsParagraphsAndFormatting(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("render html: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(html, "<p>Hello HLC</p>") {
+	if !strings.Contains(html, `<p>Hello <span class="draft-var" data-var="firm.name">HLC</span></p>`) {
-		t.Errorf("expected merged paragraph, got %q", html)
+		t.Errorf("expected merged paragraph with draft-var span, got %q", html)
 	}
 	if !strings.Contains(html, "<strong>Bold line</strong>") {
 		t.Errorf("expected bold span, got %q", html)
@@ -290,7 +292,8 @@ func TestRenderHTML_ExtractsParagraphsAndFormatting(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // TestRenderHTML_EscapesContent confirms the preview emitter HTML-escapes
-// special characters in placeholder values.
+// special characters in placeholder values even inside the draft-var
+// span wrapper.
 func TestRenderHTML_EscapesContent(t *testing.T) {
 	doc := `<w:document><w:body><w:p><w:r><w:t>{{user.display_name}}</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:body></w:document>`
 	tmpl := minimalMergeDOCX(t, doc)
@@ -301,7 +304,50 @@ func TestRenderHTML_EscapesContent(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("render html: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(html, "M&amp;S &lt;Inc&gt; &quot;X&quot;") {
+	want := `<span class="draft-var" data-var="user.display_name">M&amp;S &lt;Inc&gt; &quot;X&quot;</span>`
-		t.Errorf("expected escaped value in HTML, got %q", html)
+	if !strings.Contains(html, want) {
+		t.Errorf("expected escaped value inside draft-var span, got %q", html)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestRenderHTML_WrapsMissingMarker confirms that an unbound placeholder
+// is still rendered as a clickable draft-var span so the user can click
+// the [KEIN WERT: …] marker in the preview and jump to the field.
+func TestRenderHTML_WrapsMissingMarker(t *testing.T) {
+	doc := `<w:document><w:body><w:p><w:r><w:t>{{project.case_number}}</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:body></w:document>`
+	tmpl := minimalMergeDOCX(t, doc)
+	r := NewSubmissionRenderer()
+	html, err := r.RenderHTML(tmpl, PlaceholderMap{}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("render html: %v", err)
+	}
+	want := `<span class="draft-var" data-var="project.case_number">[KEIN WERT: project.case_number]</span>`
+	if !strings.Contains(html, want) {
+		t.Errorf("expected missing marker wrapped in draft-var span, got %q", html)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestRender_DocxOutputUnchangedByPreviewWrap asserts the hard rule from
+// t-paliad-261: the .docx export path must NOT carry the preview-only
+// draft-var sentinels or any draft-var span markup. Renders the same
+// template through Render (.docx) and asserts the merged document.xml
+// has only the resolved value, not a wrapped one.
+func TestRender_DocxOutputUnchangedByPreviewWrap(t *testing.T) {
+	doc := `<w:document><w:body><w:p><w:r><w:t>{{firm.name}}</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:body></w:document>`
+	tmpl := minimalMergeDOCX(t, doc)
+	r := NewSubmissionRenderer()
+	out, err := r.Render(tmpl, PlaceholderMap{"firm.name": "HLC"}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("render docx: %v", err)
+	}
+	body := readMergeDocumentXML(t, out)
+	if !strings.Contains(body, `<w:t>HLC</w:t>`) {
+		t.Errorf("expected raw resolved value in .docx, got %q", body)
+	}
+	// PUA sentinels and any span markup must NOT appear in the .docx.
+	for _, forbidden := range []string{"draft-var", "data-var", previewVarBegin, previewVarMid, previewVarEnd} {
+		if strings.Contains(body, forbidden) {
+			t.Errorf("docx output unexpectedly contains %q: %q", forbidden, body)
+		}
 	}
 }