diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/editor/plate-editor.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/editor/plate-editor.tsx
index 3313a27f0..510d95110 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/editor/plate-editor.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/editor/plate-editor.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 'use client';
 
 import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
-import { MarkdownPlugin } from '@platejs/markdown';
+import { MarkdownPlugin, remarkMdx } from '@platejs/markdown';
 import { Plate, usePlateEditor } from 'platejs/react';
 import remarkGfm from 'remark-gfm';
 import remarkMath from 'remark-math';
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { SlashCommandKit } from '@/components/editor/plugins/slash-command-kit';
 import { TableKit } from '@/components/editor/plugins/table-kit';
 import { ToggleKit } from '@/components/editor/plugins/toggle-kit';
 import { Editor, EditorContainer } from '@/components/ui/editor';
+import { escapeMdxExpressions } from '@/components/editor/utils/escape-mdx';
 
 interface PlateEditorProps {
   /** Markdown string to load as initial content */
@@ -68,13 +69,16 @@ export function PlateEditor({
       ...DndKit,
       MarkdownPlugin.configure({
         options: {
-          remarkPlugins: [remarkGfm, remarkMath],
+          remarkPlugins: [remarkGfm, remarkMath, remarkMdx],
         },
       }),
     ],
     // Use markdown deserialization for initial value if provided
     value: markdown
-      ? (editor) => editor.getApi(MarkdownPlugin).markdown.deserialize(markdown)
+      ? (editor) =>
+          editor
+            .getApi(MarkdownPlugin)
+            .markdown.deserialize(escapeMdxExpressions(markdown))
       : undefined,
   });
 
@@ -83,7 +87,9 @@ export function PlateEditor({
   useEffect(() => {
     if (markdown !== undefined && markdown !== lastMarkdownRef.current) {
       lastMarkdownRef.current = markdown;
-      const newValue = editor.getApi(MarkdownPlugin).markdown.deserialize(markdown);
+      const newValue = editor
+        .getApi(MarkdownPlugin)
+        .markdown.deserialize(escapeMdxExpressions(markdown));
       editor.tf.reset();
       editor.tf.setValue(newValue);
     }
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/editor/utils/escape-mdx.ts b/surfsense_web/components/editor/utils/escape-mdx.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7835ef7ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/editor/utils/escape-mdx.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// MDX curly-brace escaping helper
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// remarkMdx treats { } as JSX expression delimiters. Arbitrary markdown
+// (e.g. AI-generated reports) can contain curly braces that are NOT valid JS
+// expressions, which makes acorn throw "Could not parse expression".
+// We escape unescaped { and } *outside* of fenced code blocks and inline code
+// so remarkMdx treats them as literal characters while still parsing
+// <mark>, <u>, <kbd>, etc. tags correctly.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const FENCED_OR_INLINE_CODE = /(```[\s\S]*?```|`[^`\n]+`)/g;
+
+export function escapeMdxExpressions(md: string): string {
+  const parts = md.split(FENCED_OR_INLINE_CODE);
+
+  return parts
+    .map((part, i) => {
+      // Odd indices are code blocks / inline code – leave untouched
+      if (i % 2 === 1) return part;
+      // Escape { and } that are NOT already escaped (no preceding \)
+      return part.replace(/(?<!\\)\{/g, '\\{').replace(/(?<!\\)\}/g, '\\}');
+    })
+    .join('');
+}
+
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/ui/highlight-node.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/ui/highlight-node.tsx
index 536e89abf..b292dceba 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/ui/highlight-node.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/ui/highlight-node.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { PlateLeaf } from 'platejs/react';
 
 export function HighlightLeaf(props: PlateLeafProps) {
   return (
-    <PlateLeaf {...props} as="mark" className="bg-highlight/30 text-inherit">
+    <PlateLeaf {...props} as="mark" className="bg-yellow-200 dark:bg-yellow-800 text-inherit">
       {props.children}
     </PlateLeaf>
   );
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/ui/link-node.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/ui/link-node.tsx
index 0fddec3b3..82e916ed0 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/ui/link-node.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/ui/link-node.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export function LinkElement(props: PlateElementProps<TLinkElement>) {
       {...props}
       as="a"
       className={cn(
-        'font-medium text-primary underline decoration-primary underline-offset-4'
+        'font-medium text-blue-600 underline decoration-blue-600 underline-offset-4 hover:text-blue-800 dark:text-blue-400 dark:decoration-blue-400 dark:hover:text-blue-300'
       )}
       attributes={{
         ...props.attributes,
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/ui/mark-toolbar-button.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/ui/mark-toolbar-button.tsx
index 1f9405756..4534ab8b9 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/ui/mark-toolbar-button.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/ui/mark-toolbar-button.tsx
@@ -17,5 +17,13 @@ export function MarkToolbarButton({
   const state = useMarkToolbarButtonState({ clear, nodeType });
   const { props: buttonProps } = useMarkToolbarButton(state);
 
-  return <ToolbarButton {...props} {...buttonProps} />;
+  return (
+    <ToolbarButton
+      {...props}
+      {...buttonProps}
+      onMouseDown={(e: React.MouseEvent) => {
+        e.preventDefault();
+      }}
+    />
+  );
 }