From c40f649f7bb3be56e15b52b2daa4af2558485777 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: squidfunk <martin.donath@squidfunk.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2026 18:59:54 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix: brackets in indented code blocks recognized as
 unresolved link references (#700)

Signed-off-by: squidfunk <martin.donath@squidfunk.com>
---
 .../tests/unit/collectors/test_references.py  | 33 +++++++++--
 .../zensical/collectors/references/cursor.py  | 55 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 83 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/python/tests/unit/collectors/test_references.py b/python/tests/unit/collectors/test_references.py
index a8e3b97..03c2471 100644
--- a/python/tests/unit/collectors/test_references.py
+++ b/python/tests/unit/collectors/test_references.py
@@ -455,7 +455,6 @@ class TestLinkReferences:
             pytest.param(b"text [TOC]", id="inline"),
             pytest.param(b"[TOC] text", id="inline-prefix"),
             pytest.param(b"[TOC]\ntext", id="paragraph"),
-            pytest.param(b"    [TOC]", id="code-block"),
         ],
     )
     def test_link_ref_toc_text(self, md: bytes) -> None:
@@ -737,10 +736,7 @@ class TestLinkDefinitions:
     def test_no_link_def_indent(self) -> None:
         md = b"    [id]: href"
         refs = collect(md)
-        assert len(refs) == 1
-
-        link_refs = link_refs_only(refs)
-        assert len(link_refs) == 1
+        assert len(refs) == 0
 
     def test_no_link_def_prefix(self) -> None:
         md = b"text [id]: href"
@@ -1741,6 +1737,33 @@ class TestSnippets:
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+class TestIndentedCodeBlocks:
+    """Tests for indented code blocks."""
+
+    def test_indented_code_is_ignored(self) -> None:
+        md = b"\n    [Start][]\n"
+        refs = collect(md)
+        assert len(refs) == 0
+
+    def test_indented_code_with_blank_line_continuation_is_ignored(self) -> None:
+        md = b"\n    [Start][]\n\n    [End][]\n"
+        refs = collect(md)
+        assert len(refs) == 0
+
+    def test_indented_code_does_not_hide_following_link(self) -> None:
+        md = b"\n    [Start][]\n\n[after](href)\n"
+        refs = collect(md)
+        assert len(refs) == 1
+
+        links = links_only(refs)
+        assert len(links) == 1
+        assert text(md, links[0].text) == b"after"
+        assert text(md, links[0].href) == b"href"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
 class TestInlineCode:
     """Tests for inline code."""
 
diff --git a/python/zensical/collectors/references/cursor.py b/python/zensical/collectors/references/cursor.py
index b49797c..9f67a64 100644
--- a/python/zensical/collectors/references/cursor.py
+++ b/python/zensical/collectors/references/cursor.py
@@ -169,6 +169,13 @@ def _scan(cursor: Cursor) -> Iterator[Reference]:
     while cursor.pos < cursor.end:
         char = cursor.data[cursor.pos]
 
+        # Top-level indented code block.
+        if cursor.at_line_start():
+            end = _scan_indented_code(cursor)
+            if end is not None:
+                cursor.advance(end - cursor.pos)
+                continue
+
         # Snippet directives and section markers: --8<-- ...
         if cursor.at_line_start():
             end = _scan_snippet(cursor)
@@ -394,6 +401,37 @@ def _scan(cursor: Cursor) -> Iterator[Reference]:
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+def _scan_indented_code(cursor: Cursor) -> int | None:
+    """Scan for a top-level indented code block."""
+    line = _find_line_start(cursor, cursor.pos)
+    if not _is_previous_line_blank(cursor, line):
+        return None
+
+    pos = line
+    indent, end = _measure_indent(cursor, pos)
+    if indent < 4:
+        return None
+    if end >= cursor.end or cursor.data[end] in (_CR, _NL):
+        return None
+
+    # Consume the whole chunk: indented lines plus blank continuation lines.
+    pos = _skip_line(cursor, end)
+    while pos < cursor.end:
+        if _is_blank_line(cursor, pos):
+            pos = _skip_line(cursor, pos)
+            continue
+
+        indent, end = _measure_indent(cursor, pos)
+        if indent < 4:
+            break
+        pos = _skip_line(cursor, end)
+
+    return pos
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
 def _scan_snippet(cursor: Cursor) -> int | None:
     """Scan for a pymdownx.snippets directive or section marker line."""
     pos = _skip_whitespace(cursor, cursor.pos)
@@ -1579,6 +1617,23 @@ def _skip_whitespace(cursor: Cursor, pos: int) -> int:
     return pos
 
 
+def _measure_indent(cursor: Cursor, pos: int) -> tuple[int, int]:
+    """Return visual indentation width and first non-whitespace position."""
+    indent = 0
+    while pos < cursor.end:
+        char = cursor.data[pos]
+        if char == _SPACE:
+            indent += 1
+            pos += 1
+            continue
+        if char == _TAB:
+            indent += 4 - (indent % 4)
+            pos += 1
+            continue
+        break
+    return indent, pos
+
+
 def _skip_whitespace_newline(cursor: Cursor, pos: int) -> int:
     """Skip trailing horizontal whitespace and at most one newline."""
     pos = _skip_whitespace(cursor, pos)