AGENTS.md

@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ Round-trip equality is a property tested over a corpus, not a claim made in pros
   spells the mark; `!adf:link[text]{attrs}` where it does not — an attribute CommonMark cannot
   hold, an `href` or `title` no canonical escape spells, a paragraph opening whose CommonMark
   spelling would read as a link reference definition — and a directive link CommonMark could spell
-  is refused (the maintainer, 2026-09-13).
+  is refused (the maintainer, 2026-09-13). No link wraps a link — the bracket form goes literal,
+  the directive form refused — which is CommonMark's prose where its reference implementation
+  nests one `<a>` in another (the maintainer, 2026-09-17).
 - Identity-bearing nodes carry their ids in attributes; a document is only portable within its
   site — accepted.
 - The HTML dialect mirrors this: semantic elements, stable `adf-*` classes, `data-*` for what HTML

MIGRATION.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Directives moved under the `!adf:` prefix. `0.2.0` reads `0.1.0`'s spelling with
 turning each directive into text and each carried node into an `adf` code block. Before `0.2.0`
 reads any `0.1.0` markdown, convert what is stored or in flight (an open editor, a queue) with the
 recipe below, and rewrite markdown your code writes or matches (templates, prompts, patterns) by
-the spelling table. Stored ADF needs no change.
+the tables below. Stored ADF needs no change.
 
 ### Convert markdown
 
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ function migrateMarkdown(stored: string) {
 A colon run and `:name[` are plain text now, and `adf` an ordinary code block language; text
 holding an unescaped `!adf:` and a `carry` fence are claimed instead.
 
+### Readings
+
+Markdown the spelling table leaves alone, which `0.2.0` reads as a different document.
+
+| Input | `0.1.0` | `0.2.0` |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| a link whose text already holds one (`[a<https://example.com/>b](/v)`) | marks every node the inner link does not, splitting the outer link around it | leaves the outer brackets literal text; write the pieces as separate links to keep them |
+
 ### Error codes
 
 `unspellable-link` leaves `ConvertErrorCode`: a `switch` naming it stops compiling, and the link

README.md

@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ Parsing — `markdownToAdf`, and `htmlToAdf` at `0.2.0`:
 | `malformed-pipe-table` | a pipe row that is no pipe table — a missing or ragged `---` delimiter row, an alignment colon in it, or a row not opening with a pipe | open every row with a pipe and give the delimiter row the header's cell count; to keep the lines literal text instead, escape the leading pipe of every one — escaping a single row leaves the next to open a fresh table and fail the same way |
 | `unknown-directive-name` | a directive whose name is no node or mark this version spells | check the name in `spec/flavour.md`, or escape the prefix as `\!adf:`; the spelling itself is well formed, so a later minor may give the name meaning |
 | `unmappable-html` | the markdown holds a raw HTML tag, comment or processing instruction | remove it or write it in the flavour — ADF holds no raw-HTML node, and the element mapping lands at `0.2.0` |
-| `unmappable-image` | an image sits inside other content, or carries a title | give the image a paragraph of its own and drop the title |
+| `unmappable-image` | an image sits inside other content that is not another image's description, or carries a title | give the image a paragraph of its own and drop the title |
 
 Emitting — `adfToMarkdown`, and `adfToHtml` at `0.2.0`:
 
@@ -111,15 +111,19 @@ emit refuses:
 - Plain CommonMark is valid input to `markdownToAdf` apart from the raw HTML below, with three
   carve-outs — literal text matching directive, pipe-table or strikethrough syntax is claimed
   (escapable — `spec/flavour.md`) — and one gap: a CommonMark image fits only as its own
-  title-less paragraph; mid-text and titled images are error results. Converting back yields the
+  title-less paragraph; mid-text and titled images are error results, save an image inside
+  another's description, which flattens into the alt text. Converting back yields the
   library's canonical spelling, which round-trips byte-identically — where it converts back at
   all: a parse succeeding is no promise of that, so keep the source until the way back succeeds.
   ``` ` `` ` ``` reads cleanly and then refuses.
-- Three CommonMark spellings parse without an error and build a document the reference renders
+- Four CommonMark spellings parse without an error and build a document the reference
-  differently: `[](/url)` and `[]()` stay literal text against CommonMark's empty link, a list
+  implementation renders differently: `[](/url)` and `[]()` stay literal text against CommonMark's
-  continuing past a marker change stays one list against CommonMark's two, and a shortcut
+  empty link, a list continuing past a marker change stays one list against CommonMark's two, a
-  reference matching its definition only under Unicode case folding stays unresolved. Each is
+  shortcut reference matching its definition only under Unicode case folding stays unresolved, and
-  pinned `pending` in `corpus/commonmark-spec/exceptions.json`.
+  a link whose text holds an autolink keeps the inner link and leaves the outer brackets literal
+  text, which the spec requires and the reference itself breaks, nesting one `<a>` in the other.
+  The first three are pinned `pending` in `corpus/commonmark-spec/exceptions.json`; the suite
+  holds no example of the fourth.
 - Raw HTML in markdown input is an error result, never a silent drop — a tag, a comment and a
   processing instruction alike. ADF holds no raw-HTML node; the element mapping ships at `0.2.0`.
 - Not every document converts back: `adfToMarkdown` is partial on valid ADF — a text node holding

corpus/errors/directive-link-nested.error

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+unsupported-node-shape

corpus/errors/directive-link-nested.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+See !adf:link[<https://example.com/docs>]{collection=contentId-98237 href="/docs"} here.

corpus/normalization/link-inside-link.json

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+{
+  "content": [
+    {
+      "content": [
+        {
+          "text": "[",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "marks": [
+            {
+              "attrs": {
+                "href": "https://example.com/"
+              },
+              "type": "link"
+            }
+          ],
+          "text": "https://example.com/",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "text": "](/v)",
+          "type": "text"
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "paragraph"
+    },
+    {
+      "content": [
+        {
+          "text": "[a",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "marks": [
+            {
+              "attrs": {
+                "href": "https://example.com/b"
+              },
+              "type": "link"
+            }
+          ],
+          "text": "https://example.com/b",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "text": "c](/v)",
+          "type": "text"
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "paragraph"
+    },
+    {
+      "content": [
+        {
+          "text": "[",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "marks": [
+            {
+              "attrs": {
+                "collection": "contentId-98237",
+                "href": "/docs"
+              },
+              "type": "link"
+            }
+          ],
+          "text": "the docs",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "text": "](/v)",
+          "type": "text"
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "paragraph"
+    },
+    {
+      "content": [
+        {
+          "text": "[",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "marks": [
+            {
+              "attrs": {
+                "href": "/u"
+              },
+              "type": "link"
+            }
+          ],
+          "text": "a",
+          "type": "text"
+        },
+        {
+          "text": "](/v)",
+          "type": "text"
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "paragraph"
+    }
+  ],
+  "type": "doc",
+  "version": 1
+}

corpus/normalization/link-inside-link.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[<https://example.com/>](/v)
+
+[a<https://example.com/b>c](/v)
+
+[!adf:link[the docs]{collection=contentId-98237 href="/docs"}](/v)
+
+[[a](/u)](/v)

spec/flavour.md

@@ -474,7 +474,9 @@ the inline directive `!adf:link[text]{attrs}` only where CommonMark does not: an
 backslash, an entity reference, an angle bracket beside a space or opening a bare destination, a
 newline in the title), or a link opening a paragraph whose markdown spelling would read as a link
 reference definition. Every such spelling carries an `href`: a directive link CommonMark could
-spell is a named error, and so is one spelling none.
+spell is a named error, and so is one spelling none. No link wraps a link at any nesting, which is
+CommonMark's own rule: a `[text]` already holding one leaves the outer brackets literal text, and
+the directive form, open to no literal reading, is a named error.
 
 - `border` — Attributes: `color` (string, `#rrggbb` or `#rrggbbaa`), `size` (number, 1–3).
 - `code`, `em`, `strike`, `strong` — Attributes: none.

src/markdown/parse/inline-content.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ type Run = { canClose: boolean; canOpen: boolean; character: string; index: numb
 // `container` is `undefined` inside a directive's content slot, the emitter's `bracketed`.
 type Scan = {
   container: LineContainer | undefined
+  // Pieces below this have been walked for openers to deactivate: an image close folds the link-marked piece into alt text, leaving this the only record that the brackets around it are doomed.
+  deactivatedBefore: number
   definitions: LinkDefinitions
   openingSpellableLink: boolean
   path: ConvertErrorPath
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ type SlotContent = { carry: boolean; nodes: AdfNode[] }
 const carriedInMark = 'no mark spelling wraps an opaque carry: the carried node restores exactly, marks included'
 const hreflessLink = 'the link mark spells its href: this one spells none'
 const imageAlone = 'an image fits only as a paragraph of its own: this one sits inside other content'
+const linkInLink = 'no link wraps a link: the [content] this one marks already holds one'
 const spellableLink = 'link takes the directive form only where CommonMark cannot spell it: this one it can, as [text](url "title") or <url>'
 
 export function parseInlineContent(source: string, definitions: LinkDefinitions, path: ConvertErrorPath, container: LineContainer): Result<InlineContent> {
@@ -60,7 +63,7 @@ export function parseInlineContent(source: string, definitions: LinkDefinitions,
 }
 
 function parseInline(source: string, definitions: LinkDefinitions, path: ConvertErrorPath, container: LineContainer | undefined, spans: NestedSpans): Result<InlineContent> {
-  const scan: Scan = { container, definitions, openingSpellableLink: false, path, pending: '', pieces: [], source, spans }
+  const scan: Scan = { container, deactivatedBefore: 0, definitions, openingSpellableLink: false, path, pending: '', pieces: [], source, spans }
   let index = 0
   while (index < source.length) {
     switch (source.charAt(index)) {
@@ -218,6 +221,7 @@ function directiveMarkPiece(scan: Scan, name: string, mark: AdfMark, slot: SlotC
 function refuseLinkDirective(scan: Scan, mark: AdfMark, nodes: readonly AdfNode[], index: number): Result<Piece> | undefined {
   const href = linkHref(nodeAttrs(mark))
   if (href === undefined) return failure('unsupported-node-shape', hreflessLink, scan.path)
+  if (marksLink(nodes)) return failure('unsupported-node-shape', linkInLink, scan.path)
   if (commonMarkLink(nodeAttrs(mark), href, nodes, 0, scan.container === undefined) === undefined) return undefined
   if (index !== 0 || scan.container !== 'paragraph') return failure('unsupported-node-shape', spellableLink, scan.path)
   scan.openingSpellableLink = true
@@ -264,6 +268,15 @@ function holdsImage(pieces: readonly Piece[]): boolean {
   return pieces.some((piece) => piece.kind === 'image')
 }
 
+// A carry rides its own piece: the carried node's marks restore with it rather than riding a spelling, so the guard below answers for it.
+function holdsLink(pieces: readonly Piece[]): boolean {
+  return pieces.some((piece) => piece.kind === 'nodes' && marksLink(piece.nodes))
+}
+
+function marksLink(nodes: readonly AdfNode[]): boolean {
+  return nodes.some((node) => nodeMarks(node).some((mark) => mark.type === 'link'))
+}
+
 function readDelimiterRun(scan: Scan, index: number): number {
   const character = scan.source.charAt(index)
   const length = runLength(scan.source, index)
@@ -340,29 +353,47 @@ function resolveTarget(scan: Scan, bracket: Bracket, index: number): { definitio
   return { definition, length: label?.length ?? 0 }
 }
 
-// `false` where the link text is empty: the mark has no node to ride, so the brackets stay text.
 function closeLink(scan: Scan, at: number, inner: readonly Piece[], definition: LinkDefinition): Result<boolean> {
+  // Ahead of the guards below: brackets going literal put the image and the carry inside no mark for either to refuse.
+  if (holdsLink(inner)) {
+    deactivateOpeners(scan, at)
+    return success(false)
+  }
   if (holdsImage(inner)) return failure('unmappable-image', imageAlone, scan.path)
   if (holdsCarry(inner)) return failure('unsupported-node-shape', carriedInMark, scan.path)
   const resolved = resolveNodes(inner, scan.path)
   if (!resolved.ok) return resolved
   const nodes = resolved.value
+  // An empty link text gives the mark no node to ride, so the brackets stay text.
   if (nodes.length === 0) return success(false)
   const attrs = definition.title === undefined ? { href: definition.destination } : { href: definition.destination, title: definition.title }
-  scan.pieces.length = at
+  truncatePieces(scan, at)
-  // CommonMark: no link nests inside another, though an image's description holds one.
+  deactivateOpeners(scan, at)
-  for (const piece of scan.pieces) if (piece.kind === 'open' && !piece.image) piece.active = false
   scan.pieces.push({ kind: 'nodes', nodes: applyMark(nodes, { attrs, type: 'link' }) })
   return success(true)
 }
 
+// CommonMark: no link nests inside another, though an image's description holds one.
+function deactivateOpeners(scan: Scan, before: number): void {
+  for (let index = scan.deactivatedBefore; index < before; index += 1) {
+    const piece = scan.pieces[index]
+    if (piece?.kind === 'open' && !piece.image) piece.active = false
+  }
+  scan.deactivatedBefore = before
+}
+
+function truncatePieces(scan: Scan, to: number): void {
+  scan.pieces.length = to
+  scan.deactivatedBefore = Math.min(scan.deactivatedBefore, to)
+}
+
 function closeImage(scan: Scan, at: number, inner: readonly Piece[], definition: LinkDefinition): Result<null> {
   if (definition.title !== undefined) return failure('unmappable-image', 'no media node carries a link title', scan.path)
   const resolved = imageAlt(inner, scan.path)
   if (!resolved.ok) return resolved
   const alt = resolved.value
   const attrs = alt === '' ? { type: 'external', url: definition.destination } : { alt, type: 'external', url: definition.destination }
-  scan.pieces.length = at
+  truncatePieces(scan, at)
   scan.pieces.push({ alt, kind: 'image', node: { attrs: { layout: 'center' }, content: [{ attrs, type: 'media' }], type: 'mediaSingle' } })
   return success(null)
 }

src/markdown/parse/markdown-to-adf.test.ts

@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ test('names the mark spelling no opaque carry sits inside', () => {
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`**${carried}**\n`)), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`~~a ${carried}~~\n`)), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`[a ${carried} b](https://example.com/x)\n`)), named)
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`[*<http://x/>${carried}*](/w)\n`)), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`!adf:underline[${carried}]\n`)), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`!adf:textColor[a ${carried}]{color="#ae2e24"}\n`)), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf(`![_a ${carried}_](https://example.com/i)\n`)), named)
@@ -825,6 +826,33 @@ test('leaves the bracket pair no link parses as the text it holds', () => {
   ])
 })
 
+test('leaves the brackets of a link whose text already holds one the text they are', () => {
+  const held: AdfMark = { attrs: { collection: 'c', href: '/u' }, type: 'link' }
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[<http://x/>](/v)\n')), [
+    { content: [text('['), marked('http://x/', link('http://x/')), text('](/v)')], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[a<http://x/>b](/v)\n')), [
+    { content: [text('[a'), marked('http://x/', link('http://x/')), text('b](/v)')], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[!adf:link[a]{collection=c href="/u"}](/v)\n')), [
+    { content: [text('['), marked('a', held), text('](/v)')], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[<http://x/>][r]\n\n[r]: /v\n')), [
+    { content: [text('['), marked('http://x/', link('http://x/')), text(']'), marked('r', link('/v'))], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+})
+
+test('keeps the carry and the image the brackets a nested link leaves literal hold', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf(`[<http://x/>${carried}](/w)\n`)), [
+    { content: [text('['), marked('http://x/', link('http://x/')), { type: 'placeholder' }, text('](/w)')], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf(`[[<http://x/>](/c)${carried}](/w)\n`)), [
+    { content: [text('[['), marked('http://x/', link('http://x/')), text('](/c)'), { type: 'placeholder' }, text('](/w)')], type: 'paragraph' },
+  ])
+  // The failing bracket sits inside the image, not beside it: beside it the link-marked piece survives, and the deactivation stops being what the assertion pins.
+  assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('![![a [b](/c) ](/i)[![[<http://x/>](/c)](/y)](/w)](/v)\n')), [image('/v', 'a b [[http://x/](/c)](/w)')])
+})
+
 test('reads the reference links a definition resolves, and leaves the rest literal', () => {
   assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[a][r]\n\n[r]: /url\n')), [{ content: [marked('a', link('/url'))], type: 'paragraph' }])
   assert.deepEqual(content(markdownToAdf('[a][]\n\n[a]: /url\n')), [{ content: [marked('a', link('/url'))], type: 'paragraph' }])
@@ -996,6 +1024,15 @@ test('names the href the directive link spells no value for', () => {
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[a]\n')), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[a]{title=t}\n')), named)
   assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('See !adf:link[a]{id=01a032c3-7a90-70c9-88f6-c60f710eda07}.\n')), named)
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[<http://x/>]{collection=c}\n')), named)
+})
+
+test('names the link a directive link wraps, no link holding another', () => {
+  const named = 'unsupported-node-shape: no link wraps a link: the [content] this one marks already holds one'
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[<http://x/>]{collection=c href="/u"}\n')), named)
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[[a](/v)]{collection=c href="/u"}\n')), named)
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[a <http://x/> b]{collection=c href="/u"}\n')), named)
+  assert.equal(content(markdownToAdf('!adf:link[<http://x/>]{href="/u"}\n')), named)
 })
 
 test('names the directive mark left without the content it wraps', () => {

todo-history.md

@@ -814,6 +814,12 @@ The done `todo.md` items in full, as they were written. `todo.md` keeps a one-li
       parses to a mark the emitter writes back as a carry, while the schema requires `href` and
       every other directive mark spells without attributes in both directions alike (the
       stability-reviewer, 2026-09-16; the maintainer, 2026-09-17).
+- [x] **16 — The link wrapping a link (`0.2.0`).** Read `[<http://x/>](/v)` and
+      `[!adf:link[a]{href="/u"}](/v)` as `[[a](/u)](/v)` reads — the inner link wins and the outer
+      brackets stay literal text, CommonMark's rule that no link holds another — rather than
+      dropping the outer link silently as `closeLink`'s `applyMark` does today, with a
+      normalization fixture per shape (the stability-reviewer, 2026-09-16; the maintainer,
+      2026-09-17).
 
 ## 5 — Ship `0.1.0`
 

todo.md

@@ -210,11 +210,7 @@ bundle size and the tagline.
   - [x] **13b — The directive link.**
 - [x] **14 — The CommonMark subset's directory (`0.2.0`).**
 - [x] **15 — The href-less directive link (`0.2.0`).**
-- [ ] **16 — The link wrapping a link (`0.2.0`).** Read `[<http://x/>](/v)` and
+- [x] **16 — The link wrapping a link (`0.2.0`).**
-      `[!adf:link[a]{href="/u"}](/v)` as `[[a](/u)](/v)` reads — the inner link wins and the outer
-      brackets stay literal text, CommonMark's rule that no link holds another — rather than
-      dropping the outer link silently as `closeLink`'s `applyMark` does today, with a normalization
-      fixture per shape (the stability-reviewer, 2026-09-16; the maintainer, 2026-09-17).
 - [ ] **17 — A machine-enforced size guardrail (`0.2.0`).** Add a per-function complexity check to
       the gate — branch count or size — so the fits-in-your-head guardrail fails the build rather
       than waiting for a review to catch it (the systems-architect, 2026-09-16). It reads ahead of