diff --git a/ghost/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/ghost/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 7affe9d..e574455 100644
--- a/ghost/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/ghost/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ghost",
-  "version": "0.1.2",
+  "version": "0.1.3",
   "description": "Write, revise, and push blog posts to a Ghost site from Claude Code — a Ghost Admin API MCP plus a plan→draft→revise→push skill set.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Court Schuett"
diff --git a/ghost/mcp-server/package.json b/ghost/mcp-server/package.json
index 411ad94..dd7cd69 100644
--- a/ghost/mcp-server/package.json
+++ b/ghost/mcp-server/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ghost-blog-mcp",
-  "version": "0.1.2",
+  "version": "0.1.3",
   "description": "MCP server for the Ghost Admin API",
   "type": "module",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/ghost/mcp-server/src/core/lexical-builder.ts b/ghost/mcp-server/src/core/lexical-builder.ts
index 73014be..78b32b5 100644
--- a/ghost/mcp-server/src/core/lexical-builder.ts
+++ b/ghost/mcp-server/src/core/lexical-builder.ts
@@ -11,26 +11,44 @@ interface Part {
 
 const TABLE_RE = /<table[\s\S]*?<\/table>/g;
 const CARD_MARKER = "<!-- card -->";
+// Fenced ``` blocks and single-line inline `code`, masked before boundary
+// detection so a <table> or <!-- card --> written *inside* code — e.g. a post
+// documenting the card syntax — isn't mistaken for a real card boundary.
+const CODE_SPAN_RE = /```[\s\S]*?```|`[^`\n]*`/g;
+// NUL never occurs in markdown, so mask tokens can't collide with prose.
+const NUL = String.fromCharCode(0);
+const TOKEN_RE = new RegExp(`${NUL}(\\d+)${NUL}`, "g");
 
 // Split markdown into Ghost lexical cards. Top-level <table> blocks become
 // their own `html` cards (preserving inline styling and keeping each prose
 // chunk between tables independently editable in the Ghost UI); the prose
-// between them is further split on explicit <!-- card --> markers. Without
-// either boundary, the whole post is one markdown card.
+// between them is further split on explicit <!-- card --> markers. Code spans
+// are masked first so boundaries appearing inside them are left intact.
+// Without either boundary, the whole post is one markdown card.
 export function buildLexical(markdown: string): LexicalResult {
+  const codeSpans: string[] = [];
+  const masked = markdown.replace(CODE_SPAN_RE, (span) => {
+    const token = `${NUL}${codeSpans.length}${NUL}`;
+    codeSpans.push(span);
+    return token;
+  });
+  const restore = (s: string): string =>
+    s.replace(TOKEN_RE, (_, i) => codeSpans[Number(i)]);
+
   const parts: Part[] = [];
   let lastIndex = 0;
   let m: RegExpExecArray | null;
   TABLE_RE.lastIndex = 0;
 
-  while ((m = TABLE_RE.exec(markdown)) !== null) {
-    pushMarkdownParts(parts, markdown.slice(lastIndex, m.index));
+  while ((m = TABLE_RE.exec(masked)) !== null) {
+    pushMarkdownParts(parts, masked.slice(lastIndex, m.index));
     parts.push({ type: "html", content: m[0] });
     lastIndex = m.index + m[0].length;
   }
-  pushMarkdownParts(parts, markdown.slice(lastIndex));
+  pushMarkdownParts(parts, masked.slice(lastIndex));
 
   const children = parts
+    .map((p) => ({ type: p.type, content: restore(p.content) }))
     .filter((p) => p.content.trim().length > 0)
     .map((p) =>
       p.type === "markdown"
diff --git a/ghost/mcp-server/test/lexical-builder.test.ts b/ghost/mcp-server/test/lexical-builder.test.ts
index 87df98f..0322f93 100644
--- a/ghost/mcp-server/test/lexical-builder.test.ts
+++ b/ghost/mcp-server/test/lexical-builder.test.ts
@@ -35,4 +35,35 @@ describe("buildLexical", () => {
     const root = JSON.parse(buildLexical("Hi.").lexical).root;
     expect(root).toMatchObject({ type: "root", version: 1, indent: 0 });
   });
+
+  it("ignores <!-- card --> inside inline code", () => {
+    const r = buildLexical("An explicit `<!-- card -->` marker in prose.");
+    expect(r.cardCount).toBe(1);
+    expect(r.cardSummary).toBe("markdown");
+  });
+
+  it("ignores <table> and <!-- card --> inside a fenced block", () => {
+    const md =
+      "Before.\n\n```html\n<table><tr><td>x</td></tr></table>\n" +
+      "<!-- card -->\n```\n\nAfter.";
+    const r = buildLexical(md);
+    expect(r.cardCount).toBe(1);
+    expect(r.cardSummary).toBe("markdown");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a real <table> but ignores one shown in inline code", () => {
+    const md =
+      "Shown: `<table><tr><td>x</td></tr></table>`.\n\n" +
+      "<table><tr><td>y</td></tr></table>\n\nEnd.";
+    const r = buildLexical(md);
+    expect(r.cardSummary).toBe("markdown, html, markdown");
+    expect(r.cardCount).toBe(3);
+  });
+
+  it("restores code verbatim without mangling nearby numbers", () => {
+    const md = "A key is 24 hex chars and `<!-- card -->` sits mid-line.";
+    const child = children(buildLexical(md))[0] as { markdown: string };
+    expect(child.markdown).toContain("24 hex chars");
+    expect(child.markdown).toContain("`<!-- card -->`");
+  });
 });