diff --git a/setup-tests.sh b/setup-tests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c57b927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup-tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+chmod +x test.sh
diff --git a/src/rich_cli/__main__.py b/src/rich_cli/__main__.py
index 98df6bb..9f0cbd2 100644
--- a/src/rich_cli/__main__.py
+++ b/src/rich_cli/__main__.py
@@ -395,6 +395,12 @@ class OptionHighlighter(RegexHighlighter):
 @click.option(
     "--export-svg", metavar="PATH", default="", help="Write SVG to [b]PATH[/b]."
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--preprocess-ansi",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Interpret and convert ANSI escape sequences before exporting HTML or SVG.",
+)
+
 @click.option("--pager", is_flag=True, help="Display in an interactive pager.")
 @click.option("--version", "-v", is_flag=True, help="Print version and exit.")
 def main(
@@ -440,6 +446,7 @@ def main(
     force_terminal: bool = False,
     export_html: str = "",
     export_svg: str = "",
+    preprocess_ansi: bool = False,
     pager: bool = False,
 ):
     """Rich toolbox for console output."""
@@ -720,17 +727,61 @@ def print_usage() -> None:
         except Exception as error:
             on_error("failed to print resource", error)
 
-    if export_html:
+    from rich.ansi import AnsiDecoder
+    from rich.console import Group
+
+    def preprocess_ansi_text(text: str) -> "RenderableType":
+        """Convert ANSI escape sequences into Rich renderables."""
+        from rich.text import Text
+
         try:
-            console.save_html(export_html, clear=False)
-        except Exception as error:
-            on_error("failed to save HTML", error)
+            decoder = AnsiDecoder()
+            renderables = []
+            for part in decoder.decode(text):
+                if isinstance(part, str):
+                    renderables.append(Text(part))
+                else:
+                    renderables.append(part)
+            if not renderables:
+                return Text(text)
+            return Group(*renderables)
+        except Exception:
+            return Text(text)
 
-    if export_svg:
+    # --- Export handling with optional ANSI preprocessing ---
+    if export_html or export_svg:
         try:
-            console.save_svg(export_svg, clear=False)
+            if preprocess_ansi:
+                # Capture what was printed so far
+                # Capture everything the console has rendered so far as ANSI text
+                ansi_data = console.export_text(clear=False)
+                decoder = AnsiDecoder()
+                renderables = list(decoder.decode(ansi_data))
+
+                # Make sure everything is a valid Rich renderable
+                final_renderables = []
+                for item in renderables:
+                    if isinstance(item, str):
+                        final_renderables.append(Text(item))
+                    else:
+                        final_renderables.append(item)
+
+                # Combine and re-render
+                temp_console = Console(record=True)
+                temp_console.print(Group(*final_renderables))
+
+
+                if export_html:
+                    temp_console.save_html(export_html, clear=False)
+                if export_svg:
+                    temp_console.save_svg(export_svg, clear=False)
+            else:
+                if export_html:
+                    console.save_html(export_html, clear=False)
+                if export_svg:
+                    console.save_svg(export_svg, clear=False)
         except Exception as error:
-            on_error("failed to save SVG", error)
+            on_error("failed to save export", error)
 
 
 def render_csv(
diff --git a/test.patch b/test.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73f9260
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.patch
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# (Delete the file entirely; no replacement lines)
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d2701b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+if [ "$1" == "base" ]; then
+    echo "Running base tests..."
+    python -m pytest tests/ -k "not ansi_preprocessing"
+elif [ "$1" == "new" ]; then
+    echo "Running new tests..."
+    python -m pytest tests/test_ansi_preprocessing.py -v
+else
+    echo "Usage: ./test.sh [base|new]"
+    echo "  base - Run existing tests (excluding ANSI preprocessing tests)"
+    echo "  new  - Run ANSI preprocessing tests"
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/tests/test_ansi_preprocessing.py b/tests/test_ansi_preprocessing.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c8b70c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_ansi_preprocessing.py
@@ -0,0 +1,251 @@
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+import pytest
+
+from rich_cli.__main__ import main
+
+ANSI_ESCAPE_RE = re.compile(r'\x1b\[[0-9;?]*[A-Za-z]')
+
+
+def contains_ansi(s: str) -> bool:
+    return bool(ANSI_ESCAPE_RE.search(s))
+
+
+def validate_svg_structure(svg_content: str) -> bool:
+    """Validate SVG structure using XML parsing."""
+    try:
+        ET.fromstring(svg_content)
+        
+        if '<svg' not in svg_content:
+            return False
+            
+        has_svg_tag = re.search(r'<svg[^>]*>', svg_content) is not None
+        has_closing_svg_tag = '</svg>' in svg_content
+        
+        return has_svg_tag and has_closing_svg_tag
+    except ET.ParseError:
+        return False
+
+
+def validate_html_structure(html_content: str) -> bool:
+    """Validate HTML structure using robust parsing that handles real-world HTML output."""
+    try:
+        lowered = html_content.lower()
+        
+        has_doctype = '<!doctype html>' in lowered
+        has_html_tag = '<html' in lowered
+        has_head_tag = '<head' in lowered  
+        has_body_tag = '<body' in lowered
+        
+        if has_doctype:
+            if not (has_html_tag and has_head_tag and has_body_tag):
+                return False
+                
+            try:
+                clean_html = re.sub(r'<!DOCTYPE[^>]*>', '', html_content, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
+                ET.fromstring(clean_html)
+                return True
+            except ET.ParseError:
+                return validate_html_tag_balance(html_content)
+        else:
+            return validate_html_tag_balance(html_content)
+            
+    except Exception:
+        return basic_html_sanity_check(html_content)
+
+
+def basic_html_sanity_check(html_content: str) -> bool:
+    """Basic sanity check for HTML content without strict parsing."""
+    patterns = [
+        r'<[a-zA-Z][^>]*>',  
+        r'</[a-zA-Z]+>',    
+    ]
+    
+    has_tags = any(re.search(pattern, html_content) for pattern in patterns)
+    
+    open_tags = len(re.findall(r'<([a-zA-Z]+)(?:\s[^>]*)?>', html_content))
+    close_tags = len(re.findall(r'</([a-zA-Z]+)>', html_content))
+    
+    reasonable_balance = abs(open_tags - close_tags) < 5
+    
+    return has_tags and reasonable_balance
+
+
+def validate_html_tag_balance(html_content: str) -> bool:
+    """Validate that HTML tags are properly balanced."""
+    try:
+        open_tags = []
+        tag_pattern = re.compile(r'</?([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*)[^>]*>')
+        
+        for match in tag_pattern.finditer(html_content):
+            tag = match.group(1).lower()
+            full_tag = match.group(0)
+            
+            if full_tag.startswith('</'):  
+                if not open_tags or open_tags[-1] != tag:
+                    return False 
+                open_tags.pop()
+            elif not full_tag.endswith('/>'):  
+                if tag not in ('br', 'hr', 'img', 'input', 'meta', 'link', '!doctype'):
+                    open_tags.append(tag)
+        
+        return len(open_tags) == 0  
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def runner():
+    return CliRunner()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def temp_svg_file(tmp_path):
+    return str(tmp_path / "test.svg")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def temp_html_file(tmp_path):
+    return str(tmp_path / "test.html")
+
+
+def assert_styled_and_no_ansi(content: str, *, is_svg: bool = False):
+    """Assert that content contains styling and no raw ANSI."""
+    assert not contains_ansi(content), "Found raw ANSI escape sequences in output"
+    if is_svg:
+        assert ('style=' in content or '<style' in content or 'fill=' in content), (
+            "No styling detected in SVG output"
+        )
+    else:
+        assert ('style=' in content or '<style' in content or 'class=' in content or 'color:' in content), (
+            "No styling detected in HTML output"
+        )
+
+
+# === TESTS START HERE ===
+
+
+def test_export_svg_with_ansi_preprocessing(runner, temp_svg_file):
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["-p", "[green]hello[/green]", "--export-svg", temp_svg_file, "--preprocess-ansi"],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, f"Command failed: {result.output}"
+
+    svg = Path(temp_svg_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in svg and "[green]" not in svg
+    assert validate_svg_structure(svg)
+    assert_styled_and_no_ansi(svg, is_svg=True)
+
+
+def test_export_html_with_ansi_preprocessing(runner, temp_html_file):
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["-p", "[green]hello[/green]", "--export-html", temp_html_file, "--preprocess-ansi"],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in html and "[green]" not in html
+    assert validate_html_structure(html)
+    assert_styled_and_no_ansi(html)
+
+
+def test_pipe_ansi_to_svg_export(runner, temp_svg_file):
+    ansi = "\033[32mhello\033[0m"
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-svg", temp_svg_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=ansi,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    svg = Path(temp_svg_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in svg
+    assert_styled_and_no_ansi(svg, is_svg=True)
+    assert validate_svg_structure(svg)
+
+
+def test_pipe_ansi_to_html_export(runner, temp_html_file):
+    ansi = "\033[32mhello\033[0m"
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-html", temp_html_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=ansi,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in html
+    assert_styled_and_no_ansi(html)
+    assert validate_html_structure(html)
+
+
+def test_preprocess_ansi_enabled_svg_styling(runner, temp_svg_file):
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-svg", temp_svg_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input="\033[32mhello\033[0m",
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    svg = Path(temp_svg_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in svg
+    assert not contains_ansi(svg)
+    assert any(tag in svg for tag in ("style=", "fill=", "class="))
+
+
+def test_preprocess_ansi_enabled_html_styling(runner, temp_html_file):
+    ansi = "\033[32mhello\033[0m"
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-html", temp_html_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=ansi,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert "hello" in html
+    assert not contains_ansi(html)
+    assert any(t in html for t in ("style=", "color:", "<style"))
+
+
+def test_mixed_ansi_and_rich_markup(runner, temp_html_file):
+    mixed = "\033[32mANSI green\033[0m and [blue]rich blue[/blue]"
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-html", temp_html_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=mixed,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert all(k in html for k in ("ANSI green", "rich blue"))
+    assert_styled_and_no_ansi(html)
+    assert validate_html_structure(html)
+
+
+def test_special_characters_handling(runner, temp_html_file):
+    special = 'Text <>&"\' and \033[32mANSI\033[0m'
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-html", temp_html_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=special,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert "&lt;" in html
+    assert "&gt;" in html
+    assert "&amp;" in html
+    assert "&quot;" in html or "&#34;" in html
+
+
+def test_unicode_and_binary_safety(runner, temp_html_file):
+    uni = "Unicode 中文 Español 🚀\033[32mGreen\033[0m"
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        main,
+        ["--export-html", temp_html_file, "-", "--preprocess-ansi"],
+        input=uni,
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    html = Path(temp_html_file).read_text()
+    assert "Unicode" in html
+    assert "Green" in html
+    assert validate_html_structure(html)
+