diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d1a8e89..84ebd20 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,17 @@ on).
 Syntax highlighting and editing support for Emacs and Sublime Text are in
 [`doc/edit/`](doc/edit/).
 
+## Provenance
+
+This repository is a curated snapshot of Klammertext's private development
+tree, assembled by a manifest-driven script. Its history is a series of
+release snapshots, not a mirror of the development history, and files here
+are regenerated on each release — patches cannot be merged directly.
+Report problems (or send patches) to the author; accepted changes are
+applied to the development tree and appear in a following snapshot.
+
+This snapshot was assembled from development commit `f6463478da4c`.
+
 ## License
 
 See [`LICENSE.md`](LICENSE.md).
diff --git a/tst/Makefile b/tst/Makefile
index ebcb64c..c6b44ca 100644
--- a/tst/Makefile
+++ b/tst/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # Klammertext distribution test suite (subset).
 #
-# Runs the two shell regression suites:
+# Runs the three shell regression suites:
 #   cond_test.sh    — @cond argument delimitation
 #   deftype_test.sh — the four klammer definition modes + redefinition table
+#   escape_test.sh  — target character escaping and quoted specials
 #
 # Requires KLAMMERTEXT_HOME set and `ktext` on PATH (build it with `make -C com`).
 
@@ -10,3 +11,4 @@
 test:
 	./cond_test.sh
 	./deftype_test.sh
+	./escape_test.sh
diff --git a/tst/escape_test.sh b/tst/escape_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7ff8cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tst/escape_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# escape_test.sh — Regression tests for the Klammermachine's target character
+# escaping MECHANISM.
+#
+# Kept SKS-INDEPENDENT on purpose: tst/ tests the engine only (mac/target.cpp,
+# mac/machine.cpp), not the SKS. A target is a MACHINE construct — declared
+# with the @@@target system command, not owned by any klammer set — so the
+# idiomatic engine-level test defines its own fixture target inline and loads
+# no klammer set (`-k none`); it does not "avoid" the SKS so much as have no
+# need of it. Target `t` here escapes `& -> AMP`, `_ -> UND`, `\ -> BSL`
+# (arbitrary tokens, easy to assert). The SKS's own targets (tex, html) and
+# the specific characters they declare are exercised by the SKS suite.
+#
+# The `:escape` parameter on `@@@target` declares characters special in a
+# target's output and their replacements. Escaping must reach writer content
+# wherever it appears — including the body of a GENERAL klammer (no target
+# suffix), which is target-agnostic writer text — while leaving target-native
+# content alone:
+#
+#   - general klammer body           -> writer content, ESCAPE it
+#   - target-specific body (.t)       -> already in target form, LEAVE it
+#   - ^'...'^ literal span            -> raw target markup, LEAVE it
+#   - nested target-native klammer    -> e.g. @n@ -> \newline, LEAVE it
+#   - @eval/@read/@cond arg span      -> code/path/predicate, LEAVE it
+#   - klammer-producing @eval result  -> klammer output, LEAVE it
+#
+# Cases 8-9 pin a regression: escaping a general klammer body once corrupted
+# the @eval CODE inside it (an underscore in "offer.Price_list(K)" became a
+# KTESC marker -> Python AttributeError). Only the general body's own literal
+# writer text is escaped; @eval/@read/@cond argument spans (code, filenames,
+# predicates) are skipped, and the Klammertext a nested @eval produces is
+# klammer output, not writer text, so it is never escaped. Mechanism:
+# Klammer::m_body_generic + the hook in Machine::apply_klammer; see the
+# "Target character escaping" section of CLAUDE.md.
+#
+# Usage: ./escape_test.sh   (needs KLAMMERTEXT_HOME set; ktext on PATH)
+# Exit code: 0 if all tests pass, 1 otherwise.
+
+PASS=0
+FAIL=0
+KTEXT=ktext
+K=${KLAMMERTEXT_HOME:?KLAMMERTEXT_HOME must be set}
+ERR=/tmp/escape_test_err.$$
+
+red=$'\033[31m'
+green=$'\033[32m'
+bold=$'\033[1m'
+reset=$'\033[0m'
+
+# strip leading/trailing blank lines and trailing whitespace
+trim() { awk '{ sub(/[ \t\r]+$/, "") } { line[NR]=$0 } END { f=1; while (f<=NR && line[f]=="") f++; l=NR; while (l>=1 && line[l]=="") l--; for (i=f;i<=l;i++) print line[i] }'; }
+
+# check_eq NAME EXPECTED KTEXT_ARGS... — exit 0 and stdout==EXPECTED.
+check_eq() {
+    local name="$1" expected="$2"; shift 2
+    local out status err
+    out=$("$KTEXT" "$@" 2>"$ERR"); status=$?
+    err=$(cat "$ERR")
+    out=$(printf '%s' "$out" | trim)
+    if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "${red}FAIL${reset} $name — ktext exited $status"
+        echo "       stderr: $(echo "$err" | head -2)"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); return
+    fi
+    if [ "$out" = "$expected" ]; then
+        echo "${green}PASS${reset} $name"; PASS=$((PASS+1))
+    else
+        echo "${red}FAIL${reset} $name"
+        echo "       expected: [$expected]"; echo "       got:      [$out]"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1))
+    fi
+}
+
+echo "${bold}Target character escaping tests (Machine mechanism, fixture target 't')${reset}"
+echo "======================================================================="
+echo
+
+# A self-contained fixture target, defined inline via the @@@target system
+# command, escaping & _ \ to distinct tokens.  -k none loads no klammer set,
+# so nothing below depends on the SKS.
+T='@@@target t | test target :escape & AMP _ UND \ BSL @@@'
+
+check_eq " 1. top-level text: & escaped"                    'A AMP B'            -k none -t t -s "$T A & B"
+check_eq " 2. general klammer body: & escaped"              'A AMP B'            -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : A & B @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 3. general klammer body: _ escaped"              'AUNDB'              -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : A_B @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 4. general klammer body: backslash escaped"      'aBSLb'              -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : a\\b @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 5. target-specific body: NOT escaped"            'A & B'              -k none -t t -s "$T @@g.k : d @@ @@g.t :: A & B @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 6. general body ^'...'^ literal: NOT escaped"     'a&b'                -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : ^'a&b'^ @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 7. nested target-native klammer survives escape" 'X AMP Y \newline Z' -k none -t t -s "$T @@n.t : \\newline @@ @@g : X & Y @n@ Z @@ @g@"
+# 8-9: @eval inside a general body. Code (with underscores) must not be
+# escaped or Python breaks; the Klammertext it returns is klammer output and
+# must not be escaped either. chr(64) builds a literal '@' so the returned
+# klammer call is not parsed as one in this source line.
+check_eq " 8. general body @eval code NOT escaped"          '3'                  -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : @eval (1).__add__(2) @ @@ @g@"
+check_eq " 9. general body @eval klammer result NOT escaped" '\textbf{hi}'       -k none -t t -s "$T @@b.k s : d @@ @@b.t :: \\textbf{*s*} @@ @@g : @eval chr(64)+'b hi '+chr(64) @ @@ @g@"
+# 10-11: an @eval result that still holds klammers is a GENERATOR (Klammertext
+# with data) -- its writer text is escaped for the target before the klammers
+# are applied; a result with no klammers is a RENDERER (final markup) -- left
+# untouched.  The signal is "does the read-back result contain a klammer".
+check_eq "10. @eval generator: klammer result's data escaped" '[a AMP b]'        -k none -t t -s "$T @@wrap z : [*z*] @@ @@g : @eval chr(64)+'wrap a & b '+chr(64) @ @@ @g@"
+check_eq "11. @eval renderer: final markup NOT escaped"      'raw & markup'       -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : @eval 'raw & markup' @ @@ @g@"
+
+# 12-18: quoted KLAMMERTEXT specials (^@ ^| ^# ^^ ^: ^*) and ^'...'^ literal
+# regions. The katomizer strips the "^"; hide_special_katoms() and
+# mark_literal_katoms() then hold the character as a KTESC marker so it stays
+# inert through sub-Machine re-katomization and the @eval result read-back,
+# resolving to the literal character at final processing. Regression: after
+# the marker mechanism replaced the old hide/restore pass, a quoted "@"
+# leaked as a bare apply-end katom into re-read text ("A klammer ends
+# without a beginning"). Exact-match expectations also guard against KTESC
+# markers leaking into output.
+check_eq "12. quoted @ | # resolve to the characters"       'x @ | # y'          -k none -t t -s "$T x ^@ ^| ^# y"
+check_eq "13. quoted ^ : * resolve to the characters"       'x ^ : * y'          -k none -t t -s "$T x ^^ ^: ^* y"
+check_eq "14. ^'...'^ region: specials stay literal"         'a  @ |  b'          -k none -t t -s "$T a ^' @ | '^ b"
+check_eq "15. general body: quoted @ resolves"              'x @ y'              -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : x ^@ y @@ @g@"
+# 16: inside an @eval argument span a quoted special reaches the CODE as the
+# character (the span is skipped by hide_special_katoms, like the escape pass).
+check_eq "16. @eval code: quoted : reaches shell as ':'"     'x:y'                -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : @eval :shell echo x^:y @ @@ @g@"
+# 17: an @eval result emitting the two characters ^ @ is re-read as a quoted
+# special and survives to the output as a literal @ (the generator idiom for
+# a literal @; a bare @ in a result is a parse error by design).
+check_eq "17. @eval result ^@ survives read-back as @"      '@'                  -k none -t t -s "$T @@g : @eval chr(94)+chr(64) @ @@ @g@"
+# 18: a bare-Python :after_apply phase receives the RESOLVED result text
+# (K_result) and its return is taken as raw target text, not re-read as
+# Klammertext -- a resolved @ in the result must not be re-parsed.
+check_eq "18. :after_apply phase: raw result, @ intact"     'A @ B'              -k none -t u -s '@@@target u | up :after_apply string.capwords @@@ a ^@ b'
+
+rm -f "$ERR"
+
+echo
+echo "============================================"
+echo "Results: ${green}$PASS passed${reset}, ${red}$FAIL failed${reset}"
+[ $FAIL -eq 0 ]