From 340fec3cab627fd427b20eaef6159785b3d593f7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nick Beckley <nickbeckley5@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2026 20:36:26 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Reuse Word markers before inserting anchors

---
 PlotLine.Tests/Program.cs                  |  5 +--
 PlotLine/wwwroot/js/word-companion-host.js | 42 +++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/PlotLine.Tests/Program.cs b/PlotLine.Tests/Program.cs
index 495ca51..53e620c 100644
--- a/PlotLine.Tests/Program.cs
+++ b/PlotLine.Tests/Program.cs
@@ -1980,11 +1980,12 @@ static void WordCompanionRuntimeFollowsMultipleImportedSceneAnchors()
     Assert(script.Contains("if (paragraph.sceneAnchorId)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Runtime structure should start scenes from PD-SCENE anchors on ordinary paragraphs.");
     Assert(script.Contains("return chapter.scenes\r\n            .filter((item) => item.startParagraphIndex <= paragraphIndex)", StringComparison.Ordinal)
         || script.Contains("return chapter.scenes\n            .filter((item) => item.startParagraphIndex <= paragraphIndex)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Cursor resolution should select the latest preceding scene boundary.");
-    Assert(script.Contains("findExactAnchorControl(paragraph, tag)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion should reuse only the exact canonical SceneID tag.");
+    Assert(script.Contains("findExactAnchorControl(paragraph, tag)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion should prefer the exact canonical SceneID tag.");
+    Assert(script.Contains("const reusable = existing || findAnchorControl(paragraph, prefix)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion should reuse an existing same-prefix marker on the same paragraph before inserting another control.");
     Assert(script.Contains("const rangeLocations = [\"Content\", \"Start\", \"Whole\"]", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion should try heading content before progressively smaller Word ranges.");
     Assert(script.Contains("paragraph.getRange(rangeLocation).insertContentControl()", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion should retry Word-supported paragraph range locations.");
     Assert(script.Contains("await ensureAnchorControl(context, paragraphs.items[index], title, tag, prefix)", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Bulk marker sync should await each marker insertion so Word range failures are isolated.");
-    Assert(!script.Contains("const existing = findAnchorControl(paragraph, prefix);", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Marker insertion must not collapse distinct PD-SCENE tags by prefix.");
+    Assert(script.Contains("paragraphs.items[index].contentControls.load(\"items/tag,title\")", StringComparison.Ordinal), "Bulk marker sync should inspect existing paragraph markers before deciding to insert content controls.");
 }
 
 static void WordCompanionExistingProjectBookLinkingRemainsAvailable()
diff --git a/PlotLine/wwwroot/js/word-companion-host.js b/PlotLine/wwwroot/js/word-companion-host.js
index 829ce01..a66cc14 100644
--- a/PlotLine/wwwroot/js/word-companion-host.js
+++ b/PlotLine/wwwroot/js/word-companion-host.js
@@ -2621,6 +2621,39 @@
                 paragraphs.load("items/text,items/style,items/styleBuiltIn");
                 await context.sync();
 
+                const markerParagraphIndexes = new Set();
+                if (chapterInstructions.length > 0 || sceneInstructions.length > 0) {
+                    for (const instruction of [...chapterInstructions, ...sceneInstructions]) {
+                        const index = Number.parseInt(instruction.wordParagraphIndex ?? instruction.WordParagraphIndex, 10);
+                        if (Number.isInteger(index) && paragraphs.items[index]) {
+                            markerParagraphIndexes.add(index);
+                        }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    for (const chapter of lastOnboardingScanPreview.chapters || []) {
+                        const index = Number.parseInt(chapter.startPosition, 10);
+                        if (Number.isInteger(index) && paragraphs.items[index]) {
+                            markerParagraphIndexes.add(index);
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    for (const scene of lastOnboardingScanPreview.scenes || []) {
+                        const index = Number.parseInt(scene.startPosition, 10);
+                        if (Number.isInteger(index) && paragraphs.items[index]) {
+                            markerParagraphIndexes.add(index);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                try {
+                    for (const index of markerParagraphIndexes) {
+                        paragraphs.items[index].contentControls.load("items/tag,title");
+                    }
+                    await context.sync();
+                } catch (error) {
+                    console.warn("Unable to inspect existing PlotDirector markers before marker sync.", error);
+                }
+
                 if (chapterInstructions.length > 0 || sceneInstructions.length > 0) {
                     for (const instruction of chapterInstructions) {
                         const index = Number.parseInt(instruction.wordParagraphIndex ?? instruction.WordParagraphIndex, 10);
@@ -4615,10 +4648,11 @@
             return false;
         }
 
-        if (existing) {
-            existing.title = title;
-            existing.tag = tag;
-            existing.appearance = "Hidden";
+        const reusable = existing || findAnchorControl(paragraph, prefix);
+        if (reusable) {
+            reusable.title = title;
+            reusable.tag = tag;
+            reusable.appearance = "Hidden";
             await context.sync();
             return true;
         }