diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 5bfee79..21723fd 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ These make the declarative syntax work; check them before changing signatures:
 - Three render paths on every `HtmlItem`: `ToString(indent)`, `AppendTo(ref StringBuilder)`, and `WriteTo(ref TextWriter)` (the streaming path used by the web integration). New node types must implement all three. For `HtmlNode` the first two funnel into `WriteTo` (one buffer for the whole subtree — `ToString` builds a `StringBuilder` then calls `AppendTo`, which wraps a `StringWriter`); keep the three outputs byte-identical (pinned by `GeneralRenderingTests.WriteTo_Should_ProduceTheSameOutputAsToString`). Indentation is emitted via the non-allocating `Indentation` helper, not `new string(' ', n)`.
 - Lowest-allocation render: `node.WriteTo(IBufferWriter<byte>)` (extension in `HtmlNodeExtensions`) encodes UTF-8 straight into the buffer via `Utf8HtmlWriter`, streaming in pooled chunks — render allocation is O(1) regardless of page size (no large string, no LOH/Gen2). `CC.CSX.Web.HtmlResult` uses this against the response `PipeWriter`. The browser path is different: `BrowserApp.Refresh()` calls `view().ToString()` and hands the HTML string to the JS `morph`, so the browser benefits from the `ToString` fast path (not the `IBufferWriter` path).
 - `HtmlNode.Attributes`/`Children` backing lists are allocated lazily (leaf nodes allocate neither). Render and traversal read the internal `RawAttributes`/`RawChildren` (nullable) so they never force a list allocation; the public getters allocate on demand for mutation.
+- HTML escaping is **on by default**: `HtmlTextNode` and `HtmlAttribute` values are escaped (`& < > " '`) by `HtmlEscape` (vectorized `SearchValues` scan with a verbatim fast path — no cost when there's nothing to escape). `Raw(string)`/`RawHtml` is the opt-out (writes verbatim); `<script>`/`<style>` are raw-text elements whose text children are written un-escaped. The render-plan generator escapes baked constant content and dynamic **text/attribute holes** identically (numeric/`Value` holes skip escaping since they can't contain specials); golden tests pin plan output equal to live, including escaping.
 - Fragment caching: `Raw(string)` emits pre-rendered HTML verbatim (caching its UTF-8 bytes for the `Utf8HtmlWriter` path); `node.Cache()` wraps a static subtree so it renders once and reuses the bytes (hold the result in a `static readonly`); `FragmentCache.GetOrAdd(key, factory)` is the keyed variant. Gated by the `FragmentCache.Enabled` flag, which **defaults to true in Release, false in Debug** (`#if DEBUG`) so dev sees fresh output. Caching only takes effect when `RenderOptions.Indent == 0` (indented output depends on nesting depth); otherwise the source renders live. Only cache genuinely-static fragments — a cached fragment holding per-request data serves stale content. Tests mutate this global flag + `RenderOptions`, so `CC.CSX.Tests` disables xUnit parallelization (`AssemblyInfo.cs`).
 - **RenderOptions** is global static state (`Indent`, `TextNodeOnNewLine`) that affects formatting everywhere — including test expectations.
 - `CC.CSX.Web.HtmlResult` streams via `WriteTo` to the response `BodyWriter` with `Content-Type: text/html`; `Render(...)` extension methods are in `CC.CSX.Web/HtmlNodeExtensions.cs`.
diff --git a/samples/RenderPlanSpike/Views.cs b/samples/RenderPlanSpike/Views.cs
index b923d8b..f02d43e 100644
--- a/samples/RenderPlanSpike/Views.cs
+++ b/samples/RenderPlanSpike/Views.cs
@@ -54,6 +54,15 @@ public static HtmlNode Status(bool ok) =>
             ok ? Span(@class("ok"), "Online")
                : Span(@class("err"), "Offline"));
 
+    // escaping: a constant with special chars (baked escaped) + dynamic text and attribute holes
+    // (escaped at runtime) — must match the live renderer exactly.
+    [RenderOptimized]
+    public static HtmlNode Escaped(string user, string note) =>
+        Div(@class("box"),
+            P("a < b & \"c\""),     // constant special chars
+            P(user),                 // dynamic text hole
+            Span(title(note), "ok")); // dynamic attribute-value hole
+
     // a boundary: calls an unknown/impure helper -> should become an opaque hole
     [RenderOptimized]
     public static HtmlNode WithUnknown(string s) =>
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/CodeEmitter.cs b/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/CodeEmitter.cs
index 79fa3b2..3b3f556 100644
--- a/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/CodeEmitter.cs
+++ b/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/CodeEmitter.cs
@@ -93,9 +93,10 @@ static void EmitWrite(string expr, WriteKind kind, StringBuilder body, string in
         switch (kind)
         {
             case WriteKind.Text:
-                body.AppendLine($"{indent}__tw.Write({expr});");
+                body.AppendLine($"{indent}global::CC.CSX.HtmlEscape.WriteEscaped(__tw, {expr});");
                 break;
             case WriteKind.Value:
+                // numeric/bool ToString cannot contain HTML-special chars, so no escaping needed
                 body.AppendLine($"{indent}__tw.Write(({expr}).ToString());");
                 break;
             case WriteKind.Node:
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/RenderPlanGenerator.cs b/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/RenderPlanGenerator.cs
index 8cbad9d..74bb089 100644
--- a/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/RenderPlanGenerator.cs
+++ b/src/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Generator/RenderPlanGenerator.cs
@@ -158,7 +158,9 @@ public List<Segment> Plan(ExpressionSyntax expr, ImmutableDictionary<string, str
         if (depth > MaxDepth) return [new OpaqueSeg(Sub(expr, subst), KindOf(expr))];
 
         var cv = _model.GetConstantValue(expr);
-        if (cv.HasValue) return [new StaticSeg(cv.Value?.ToString() ?? "")];
+        // constant content (text or attribute value) is baked, so escape it here exactly as the
+        // live renderer would; structural markup segments are produced elsewhere and never escaped.
+        if (cv.HasValue) return [new StaticSeg(HtmlEscape(cv.Value?.ToString() ?? ""))];
 
         switch (expr)
         {
@@ -314,6 +316,25 @@ static string Sub(ExpressionSyntax e, ImmutableDictionary<string, string> subst)
         return s;
     }
 
+    // mirrors CC.CSX.HtmlEscape (entities for & < > " ') so baked constants match the live renderer
+    static string HtmlEscape(string s)
+    {
+        if (s.IndexOfAny(EscapeChars) < 0) return s;
+        var sb = new StringBuilder(s.Length + 16);
+        foreach (char c in s)
+            sb.Append(c switch
+            {
+                '&' => "&amp;",
+                '<' => "&lt;",
+                '>' => "&gt;",
+                '"' => "&quot;",
+                '\'' => "&#39;",
+                _ => c.ToString(),
+            });
+        return sb.ToString();
+    }
+    static readonly char[] EscapeChars = ['&', '<', '>', '"', '\''];
+
     public static List<Segment> Consolidate(List<Segment> segs)
     {
         var outp = new List<Segment>();
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlAttribute.cs b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlAttribute.cs
index b7a88e7..a9d2964 100644
--- a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlAttribute.cs
+++ b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlAttribute.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public HtmlAttribute(in string name) : base(name) { }
     /// <summary>
     /// Renders the attribute to HTML by taking into account the indentation.
     /// </summary>
-    public override string ToString(int indent = 0) => string.IsNullOrEmpty(Name) ? string.Empty : Value is null ? Name : $"{Name}=\"{Value}\"";
+    public override string ToString(int indent = 0) => string.IsNullOrEmpty(Name) ? string.Empty : Value is null ? Name : $"{Name}=\"{HtmlEscape.Escape(Value)}\"";
     /// <summary>
     /// Renders the attribute to HTML by taking into account the indentation.
     /// </summary>
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ public override void AppendTo(ref StringBuilder sb, int indent = 0)
         }
         else
         {
-            sb.Append(Name).Append(CharEqual).Append(CharQuote).Append(Value).Append(CharQuote);
+            sb.Append(Name).Append(CharEqual).Append(CharQuote);
+            HtmlEscape.AppendEscaped(sb, Value);
+            sb.Append(CharQuote);
         }
     }
 
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ public override void WriteTo(ref TextWriter sb, int indent = 0)
             sb.Write(Name);
             sb.Write(CharEqual);
             sb.Write(CharQuote);
-            sb.Write(Value);
+            HtmlEscape.WriteEscaped(sb, Value);
             sb.Write(CharQuote);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlEscape.cs b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlEscape.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..672a24b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlEscape.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+using System.Buffers;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace CC.CSX;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// HTML-escapes text and attribute values. Uses a vectorized scan (<see cref="SearchValues{T}"/>)
+/// with a verbatim fast path: when the value contains no special character (the common case) it is
+/// written in one shot with no per-char work and no allocation. Escapes <c>&amp; &lt; &gt; " '</c>,
+/// which is safe for both element text and double-quoted attribute values.
+/// </summary>
+public static class HtmlEscape
+{
+    static readonly SearchValues<char> Special = SearchValues.Create("&<>\"'");
+
+    static string Entity(char c) => c switch
+    {
+        '&' => "&amp;",
+        '<' => "&lt;",
+        '>' => "&gt;",
+        '"' => "&quot;",
+        '\'' => "&#39;",
+        _ => "",
+    };
+
+    /// <summary>Writes <paramref name="value"/> to <paramref name="tw"/>, HTML-escaped.</summary>
+    public static void WriteEscaped(TextWriter tw, string? value)
+    {
+        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) WriteEscaped(tw, value.AsSpan());
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Writes <paramref name="s"/> to <paramref name="tw"/>, HTML-escaped.</summary>
+    public static void WriteEscaped(TextWriter tw, ReadOnlySpan<char> s)
+    {
+        int idx = s.IndexOfAny(Special);
+        if (idx < 0) { tw.Write(s); return; } // fast path: nothing to escape
+        int start = 0;
+        while (idx >= 0)
+        {
+            if (idx > start) tw.Write(s.Slice(start, idx - start));
+            tw.Write(Entity(s[idx]));
+            start = idx + 1;
+            int next = s.Slice(start).IndexOfAny(Special);
+            idx = next < 0 ? -1 : start + next;
+        }
+        if (start < s.Length) tw.Write(s.Slice(start));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Appends <paramref name="value"/> to <paramref name="sb"/>, HTML-escaped.</summary>
+    public static void AppendEscaped(StringBuilder sb, string? value)
+    {
+        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) AppendEscaped(sb, value.AsSpan());
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Appends <paramref name="s"/> to <paramref name="sb"/>, HTML-escaped.</summary>
+    public static void AppendEscaped(StringBuilder sb, ReadOnlySpan<char> s)
+    {
+        int idx = s.IndexOfAny(Special);
+        if (idx < 0) { sb.Append(s); return; }
+        int start = 0;
+        while (idx >= 0)
+        {
+            if (idx > start) sb.Append(s.Slice(start, idx - start));
+            sb.Append(Entity(s[idx]));
+            start = idx + 1;
+            int next = s.Slice(start).IndexOfAny(Special);
+            idx = next < 0 ? -1 : start + next;
+        }
+        if (start < s.Length) sb.Append(s.Slice(start));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Returns <paramref name="value"/> HTML-escaped (or the same instance if nothing to escape).</summary>
+    public static string Escape(string? value)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value) || value!.AsSpan().IndexOfAny(Special) < 0) return value ?? string.Empty;
+        var sb = new StringBuilder(value.Length + 16);
+        AppendEscaped(sb, value.AsSpan());
+        return sb.ToString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlNode.cs b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlNode.cs
index 96e88a8..d315954 100644
--- a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlNode.cs
+++ b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlNode.cs
@@ -163,11 +163,18 @@ public override void WriteTo(ref TextWriter tw, int indent = 0)
             tw.WriteLine();
         }
 
+        // <script>/<style> are raw-text elements: their text content must NOT be HTML-escaped
+        // (e.g. CSS `a > b {}` or JS `a < b`), so write text children verbatim.
+        bool rawText = Name is "script" or "style";
+
         if (children is not null)
         {
             foreach (HtmlNode? child in children)
             {
-                child?.WriteTo(ref tw, indent + RenderOptions.Indent);
+                if (rawText && child is HtmlTextNode { Value: { } raw })
+                    tw.Write(raw);
+                else
+                    child?.WriteTo(ref tw, indent + RenderOptions.Indent);
                 if (newLines)
                 {
                     if (child is HtmlTextNode)
diff --git a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlTextNode.cs b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlTextNode.cs
index 74cda5d..cfab53e 100644
--- a/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlTextNode.cs
+++ b/src/CC.CSX/Domain/HtmlTextNode.cs
@@ -15,24 +15,24 @@ public class HtmlTextNode(in string value) : HtmlNode(TextNodeKey, value)
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates a new instance of <see cref="HtmlTextNode"/> with the given value.
     /// </summary>
-    public override string ToString()
-    {
-        return Value ?? "";
-    }
+    public override string ToString() => HtmlEscape.Escape(Value);
 
     ///<summary>
     ///<inheritdoc/>
     ///</summary>
     public override string ToString(int indent = 0)
     {
-        return (new string(' ', indent) + Value) ?? "";
+        var sb = new StringBuilder();
+        if (indent > 0) Indentation.AppendTo(sb, indent);
+        HtmlEscape.AppendEscaped(sb, Value);
+        return sb.ToString();
     }
 
     ///<inheritdoc/>
     public override void AppendTo(ref StringBuilder sb, int indent = 0)
     {
         if (indent > 0) Indentation.AppendTo(sb, indent);
-        sb.Append(Value);
+        HtmlEscape.AppendEscaped(sb, Value);
     }
 
     ///<inheritdoc/>
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public override void WriteTo(ref TextWriter tw, int indent = 0)
         if (Value is not null)
         {
             if (indent > 0) Indentation.WriteTo(tw, indent);
-            tw.Write(Value);
+            HtmlEscape.WriteEscaped(tw, Value);
         }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Tests/GoldenTests.cs b/tests/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Tests/GoldenTests.cs
index 9ec9048..595b260 100644
--- a/tests/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Tests/GoldenTests.cs
+++ b/tests/CC.CSX.RenderPlan.Tests/GoldenTests.cs
@@ -54,6 +54,18 @@ public void Status_StructuralConditional_Matches()
     [Fact]
     public void OptimizedBuilder_ReturnsPlanNode()
         => Assert.IsType<PlanNode>(Views__Optimized.UserRow(1, "a", "b"));
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Escaped_Matches_AndActuallyEscapes()
+    {
+        const string user = "<script>alert('x')&</script>";
+        const string note = "a\"b&c<";
+        var live = Render(Views.Escaped(user, note));
+        var opt = Render(Views__Optimized.Escaped(user, note));
+        Assert.Equal(live, opt);                       // plan escapes identically to live
+        Assert.Contains("&lt;script&gt;", live);       // and it really is escaped
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("<script>", live);
+    }
 }
 
 // complex / dynamic-heavy page (loop + structural conditional + nested loop + inlined component)
diff --git a/tests/CC.CSX.Tests/EscapingTests.cs b/tests/CC.CSX.Tests/EscapingTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdb3488
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CC.CSX.Tests/EscapingTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+namespace CC.CSX.Tests;
+
+using Xunit;
+
+using static CC.CSX.HtmlElements;
+using static CC.CSX.HtmlAttributes;
+
+public class EscapingTests
+{
+    public EscapingTests() => RenderOptions.Indent = 0;
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void TextContent_IsEscaped()
+    {
+        var html = Div(P("a < b & c > d")).ToString();
+        Assert.Contains("a &lt; b &amp; c &gt; d", html);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("< b", html);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AttributeValue_IsEscaped()
+    {
+        var html = A(href("/s?a=1&b=2"), title("say \"hi\"")).ToString();
+        Assert.Contains("href=\"/s?a=1&amp;b=2\"", html);
+        Assert.Contains("title=\"say &quot;hi&quot;\"", html);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Raw_IsNotEscaped()
+    {
+        var html = Div(Raw("<b>bold &amp; raw</b>")).ToString();
+        Assert.Contains("<b>bold &amp; raw</b>", html);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void StyleContent_IsNotEscaped()
+    {
+        // raw-text element: CSS like `a > b {}` must survive verbatim
+        var html = Style("a > b { content: \"x\"; }").ToString();
+        Assert.Contains("a > b { content: \"x\"; }", html);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("&gt;", html);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void ScriptContent_IsNotEscaped()
+    {
+        var html = Script("if (a < b && c) {}").ToString();
+        Assert.Contains("if (a < b && c) {}", html);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain("&lt;", html);
+    }
+}