From 642fe04017b4602b99280d33e2002c9e17d592e7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Vanshaj Poonia <vanshajtheunique@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:41:24 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] fix(#184): keep dollar signs in special variable values

wrapInQuotes wrote the quoted line back with String.replace and a string
replacement, so "$$", "$&" and similar sequences in a special variable
value were read as replacement patterns. A title such as
"Budget $$ report" came out as "Budget $ report", and "$&" pasted the
whole original line into the value.

Pass a replacer function so the quoted line is inserted as is.
---
 src/parser.ts        |  3 ++-
 tests/parser.spec.ts | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/parser.ts b/src/parser.ts
index 36bd554..432ba19 100644
--- a/src/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser.ts
@@ -224,7 +224,8 @@ export class Parser {
                 const splitVal = firstMatch.split(":");
                 const wrappedString = `${splitVal[0]}: "${splitVal.slice(1).join(":").trim()}"`;
 
-                definitionsBlock = definitionsBlock.replace(firstMatch, wrappedString);
+                // A replacer function stops "$" sequences in the value being read as replacement patterns
+                definitionsBlock = definitionsBlock.replace(firstMatch, () => wrappedString);
             }
 
             return definitionsBlock;
diff --git a/tests/parser.spec.ts b/tests/parser.spec.ts
index b7584bf..62ef174 100644
--- a/tests/parser.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/parser.spec.ts
@@ -436,6 +436,24 @@ describe("Template parser", () => {
         expect(parsedTemplate).toBeNull();
     });
 
+    test("should keep dollar signs in special variable values as written", async () => {
+        const template = {
+            id: "note-id",
+            title: "Some Template",
+            body: dedent`
+                ---
+                template_title: Budget $$ and $& report
+
+                ---
+            `
+        };
+
+        const parsedTemplate = await parser.parseTemplate(template);
+
+        assert(parsedTemplate);
+        expect(parsedTemplate.title).toEqual("Budget $$ and $& report");
+    });
+
     test("should skip empty values in tags special variable", async () => {
         const template = {
             id: "note-id",