diff --git a/src/blog-data.test.ts b/src/blog-data.test.ts
index b22f55d..eaa64c3 100644
--- a/src/blog-data.test.ts
+++ b/src/blog-data.test.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,49 @@ test("renders rich Leaflet blocks through the read-only adapter", () => {
   assert.match(post.body, /<leaflet-card\b/);
 });
 
+test("coalesces adjacent rich-text facets without exposing Markdown delimiters", () => {
+  const sentence = "The Letta Agent SDK will feel familiar to people who have used the Claude Agent SDK. ";
+  const post = parseBlogDocument(
+    "at://did:plc:gfrmhdmjvxn2sjedzboeudef/site.standard.document/adjacent-facets",
+    {
+      title: "Adjacent facets",
+      path: "/adjacent-facets",
+      publishedAt: "2026-08-18T19:59:27.602Z",
+      content: {
+        $type: "pub.leaflet.content",
+        pages: [{
+          $type: "pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument",
+          id: "7e289be1-eacb-463e-bace-159fca42a1c6",
+          blocks: [{ block: {
+            $type: "pub.leaflet.blocks.text",
+            plaintext: sentence,
+            facets: [
+              {
+                index: { byteStart: 0, byteEnd: 15 },
+                features: [{ $type: "pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#bold" }],
+              },
+              {
+                index: { byteStart: 15, byteEnd: 16 },
+                features: [
+                  { $type: "pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#bold" },
+                  { $type: "pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic" },
+                ],
+              },
+              {
+                index: { byteStart: 16, byteEnd: 84 },
+                features: [{ $type: "pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#bold" }],
+              },
+            ],
+          } }],
+        }],
+      },
+    },
+  );
+
+  assert.equal(post.body, `**${sentence.slice(0, 84)}**`);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(post.body, /\*{3} \*{3}/);
+});
+
 test("drops dangling legacy footnote references without disturbing defined notes", () => {
   const post = parseBlogDocument(
     "at://did:plc:gfrmhdmjvxn2sjedzboeudef/site.standard.document/footnotes",
diff --git a/src/leaflet-reader.ts b/src/leaflet-reader.ts
index 7ad96b8..c558fba 100644
--- a/src/leaflet-reader.ts
+++ b/src/leaflet-reader.ts
@@ -19,20 +19,74 @@ function escapeAttribute(value: string): string {
     .replace(/>/g, "&gt;");
 }
 
-function applyFacets(text: string, facets?: JsonObject[]): string {
-  if (!facets || facets.length === 0) return text;
+function featureKey(feature: JsonObject): string {
+  return JSON.stringify(
+    Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(feature).sort(([left], [right]) => left.localeCompare(right))),
+  );
+}
 
-  const unicode = new UnicodeString(text);
-  const sorted = [...facets]
+function featureSetKey(features: JsonObject[]): string {
+  return features.map(featureKey).sort().join("\n");
+}
+
+function normalizeFacets(unicode: UnicodeString, facets: JsonObject[]): JsonObject[] {
+  const sorted = facets
     .filter((facet) =>
       Number.isInteger(facet.index?.byteStart) &&
       Number.isInteger(facet.index?.byteEnd) &&
       facet.index.byteStart >= 0 &&
-      facet.index.byteEnd >= facet.index.byteStart
+      facet.index.byteEnd >= facet.index.byteStart &&
+      facet.index.byteEnd <= unicode.length
     )
-    .sort((a, b) =>
-      a.index.byteStart - b.index.byteStart || b.index.byteEnd - a.index.byteEnd
+    .map((facet) => ({
+      ...facet,
+      index: { ...facet.index },
+      features: Array.isArray(facet.features) ? [...facet.features] : [],
+    }))
+    .sort((left, right) =>
+      left.index.byteStart - right.index.byteStart ||
+      right.index.byteEnd - left.index.byteEnd
+    );
+
+  for (let index = 0; index < sorted.length; index++) {
+    const facet = sorted[index];
+    const selected = unicode.slice(facet.index.byteStart, facet.index.byteEnd);
+    if (selected.trim() !== "") continue;
+
+    const previous = sorted[index - 1];
+    const next = sorted[index + 1];
+    if (previous?.index.byteEnd !== facet.index.byteStart ||
+        next?.index.byteStart !== facet.index.byteEnd) {
+      facet.features = [];
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const nextFeatures = new Set(next.features.map(featureKey));
+    facet.features = previous.features.filter((feature: JsonObject) =>
+      nextFeatures.has(featureKey(feature))
     );
+  }
+
+  const merged: JsonObject[] = [];
+  for (const facet of sorted) {
+    if (facet.features.length === 0 || facet.index.byteStart === facet.index.byteEnd) continue;
+    const previous = merged.at(-1);
+    if (previous &&
+        previous.index.byteEnd === facet.index.byteStart &&
+        featureSetKey(previous.features) === featureSetKey(facet.features)) {
+      previous.index.byteEnd = facet.index.byteEnd;
+      continue;
+    }
+    merged.push(facet);
+  }
+  return merged;
+}
+
+function applyFacets(text: string, facets?: JsonObject[]): string {
+  if (!facets || facets.length === 0) return text;
+
+  const unicode = new UnicodeString(text);
+  const sorted = normalizeFacets(unicode, facets);
 
   const starts = new Map<number, JsonObject[]>();
   const ends = new Map<number, JsonObject[]>();