diff --git a/docs/features/html-import.md b/docs/features/html-import.md
index 7cb7bf493..831914e82 100644
--- a/docs/features/html-import.md
+++ b/docs/features/html-import.md
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ Callers splice the fragment into the page tree via `insertImportedNodes(parentId
 | `instatic-outlet` | `base.outlet` | none (the CMS content outlet) | **No** |
 | `instatic-loop` | `base.loop` | `sourceId`, `filters.tableId`, `orderBy`, `direction`, `limit`, `offset`, `pagination`, `pageSize`, optional `tag` / `customTag` from `data-*` attrs | Yes |
 | `h1`–`h6`, `p`, `span`, `small`, `strong`, `em` | `base.text` | `text` = `el.textContent`, `tag` = tag name | No |
-| `a` with class `btn` | `base.button`, or `base.link` when it wraps element children | `label` (`text` on `base.link`) = `el.textContent`, `href`, `target` | No for text-only; yes when it wraps elements |
-| `a` (no `btn` class) | `base.link` | `text` = `el.textContent`, `href`, `target` | No for text-only; yes when it wraps elements |
+| `a` with class `btn` | `base.button`, or `base.link` when it wraps element children | `label` (`text` on `base.link`) = `el.textContent`, `href`, `target` (normalised, see below) | No for text-only; yes when it wraps elements |
+| `a` (no `btn` class) | `base.link` | `text` = `el.textContent`, `href`, `target` (normalised, see below) | No for text-only; yes when it wraps elements |
 | `img` | `base.image` | `src`, plus `loading` / `decoding` / `fetchPriority` when the attribute holds a value the module offers; `alt` is reported in `imageAlts` for the media record, not stored as a prop | No |
 | `form` | `base.form` | `mode`, `formId`, CMS data attrs, custom `action` / `method` | Yes |
 | `label` | `base.label` unless wrapping elements, then `base.container` | `text`, `targetMode`, `targetId` | No for plain labels; yes for wrapper labels |
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ Callers splice the fragment into the page tree via `insertImportedNodes(parentId
 - **Direct text inside a recursing container is preserved.** The walker iterates `childNodes` (not just `children`): element children route through the rules, and each significant text node becomes a synthesized `base.text` child with `tag: 'none'` in document order. That no-wrapper text mode publishes back to bare text, so `<div class="num">98%</div>` and `<li>Buy milk</li>` import as containers holding their original text without adding selector-visible wrapper elements. Whitespace-only text (indentation between tags) is skipped; internal whitespace runs collapse to single spaces, and boundary spaces are kept when the text run sits between element siblings.
 - **`<body>` metadata is preserved separately.** Classes, safe HTML attributes (`id`, ARIA, `data-*`, etc.), and harvested inline styles on `<body>` are returned as `fragment.body` rather than inserted into `rootIds`. Full-site import applies them to `base.body`; paste-style HTML import can ignore them without changing the fragment structure.
 - `base.link` uses the prop `text` (not `label`). `base.button` uses `label` (not `text`). These match the module source.
+- **`target` is normalised to the module vocabulary.** `base.link` and `base.button` persist only `_self`, `_blank` and `_parent` (`AnchorTargetSchema` in `@core/htmlAttributes`). Other authored values map to the one that navigates the same way outside a frameset: an empty `target=""`, a bare `target` and `_top` import as `_self`; a named browsing context (`target="sidebar"`, `_new`), which opens a new tab when no frame has that name, imports as `_blank`. Keywords match case-insensitively. Copying it verbatim would leave a prop the publisher's schema rejects, and the whole node would then render with module defaults instead of its authored `href` and text.
 - **Button-like elements keep what they wrap.** `base.button` is `canHaveChildren: false`, so an `a.btn` or a `<button>` wrapping an icon, inline `<svg>` or `<img>` would import as a label-only leaf and lose the rest without saying so. Those recurse instead: a compound `.btn` anchor maps to `base.link` (keeping `href` and `target`), and a compound non-submit `<button>` maps to a `base.container` tagged `button`. Class names ride along as classIds, so `.btn` styling survives the module swap. Submit buttons stay `base.submit` even when compound, because `core/forms` identifies a form's submit control by that module id — so a compound submit button still keeps only its label.
 - `base.image` captures `src` and the authored `loading` / `decoding` / `fetchpriority` hints (unknown values keep the module defaults). `alt` is not a per-instance prop — it comes from the media library asset — so the walker reports it per node in `WalkResult.imageAlts` (an empty string is a deliberate decorative alt) and Site Import creates the media record with it.
 - **Form elements import as form primitives.** Third-party `<form>` elements default to `base.form` in `custom` mode, so they do not become CMS submission endpoints until an author binds them to a data table. Published CMS-native forms can round-trip their `data-instatic-*` form metadata. Plain labels become `base.label`; labels that wrap controls become a `base.container` with `customTag:'label'` so nested inputs are not dropped.
diff --git a/docs/features/modules.md b/docs/features/modules.md
index b61509d49..1552b51a1 100644
--- a/docs/features/modules.md
+++ b/docs/features/modules.md
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ src/modules/base/
 ├── slotOutlet/          — base.slot-outlet (VC author side)
 ├── slotInstance/        — base.slot-instance (VC consumer side)
 ├── shared/
-│   └── anchorTarget.ts  — AnchorTargetSchema, ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS, anchorRel() (button + link)
+│   └── anchorTarget.ts  — ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS, anchorRel() (button + link; schema in @core/htmlAttributes)
 ├── utils/
 │   ├── escape.ts        — escapeHtml, safeUrl, sanitiseCssValue, buildStyle (re-exports publisher utils)
 │   ├── htmlTag.ts       — htmlTagControl, customHtmlTagControl (resolution lives in @core/htmlAttributes)
diff --git a/docs/reference/module-engine.md b/docs/reference/module-engine.md
index 21142596f..60e8f2dec 100644
--- a/docs/reference/module-engine.md
+++ b/docs/reference/module-engine.md
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ Name the leaf after what it owns, not generically:
 
 | File                       | Exports                                                      | Used by            |
 |----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
-| `shared/anchorTarget.ts`   | `AnchorTargetSchema`, `AnchorTarget`, `ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS`, `anchorRel()` | button, link |
+| `shared/anchorTarget.ts`   | `ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS`, `anchorRel()`                       | button, link       |
 
 ```ts
 // anchor.ts — leaf file for base.button
@@ -421,7 +421,8 @@ The publisher emits a `<script type="importmap">` entry. `getMissingModuleDepend
   - `src/core/publisher/renderConfig.ts` — `RenderResolvedMedia` shape
   - `src/modules/base/*` — first-party modules (read these for real examples)
   - `src/modules/base/container/ContainerEditor.tsx` — canonical editor component pattern
-  - `src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts` — `AnchorTargetSchema`, `anchorRel()` (cross-module shared vocabulary)
+  - `src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts` — `ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS`, `anchorRel()` (cross-module shared vocabulary)
+  - `src/core/htmlAttributes/anchorTarget.ts` — `AnchorTargetSchema`, `normalizeAnchorTarget()` (persisted `target` vocabulary, shared with the HTML importer)
   - `src/modules/base/button/anchor.ts` — `resolveButtonAnchor()` (per-module shared leaf)
   - `src/modules/base/link/content.ts` — `linkUsesChildren()` (per-module shared leaf)
   - `src/modules/base/list/items.ts` — `parseItems()` (per-module shared leaf)
diff --git a/src/__tests__/htmlImport/mapping.test.ts b/src/__tests__/htmlImport/mapping.test.ts
index 85ab5ada3..db9d454e0 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/htmlImport/mapping.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/htmlImport/mapping.test.ts
@@ -200,6 +200,38 @@ describe('base.link — plain <a> elements', () => {
     expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
   })
 
+  it('plain anchor with target="" → "_self", href and text kept', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/contact/" target="">Contact us</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
+    expect(node.props.href).toBe('/contact/')
+    expect(node.props.text).toBe('Contact us')
+  })
+
+  it('plain anchor with a bare target attribute → "_self"', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/contact/" target>Contact us</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
+  })
+
+  it('plain anchor with target="_top" → "_self"', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/" target="_top">Home</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
+  })
+
+  it('plain anchor with a named target → "_blank" (a new tab when no frame has that name)', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/" target="content-frame">Home</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_blank')
+  })
+
+  it('plain anchor keeps target="_parent"', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/" target="_parent">Up</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_parent')
+  })
+
+  it('plain anchor reads target keywords case-insensitively', () => {
+    const node = single('<a href="/" target="_BLANK">Open</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_blank')
+  })
+
   it('plain anchor with empty href → href is empty string', () => {
     const node = single('<a href="">Empty</a>')
     expect(node.props.href).toBe('')
@@ -239,6 +271,24 @@ describe('base.button — <a class="btn"> elements', () => {
     expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
   })
 
+  it('<a class="btn"> with target="" → "_self", href and label kept', () => {
+    const node = single('<a class="btn" href="/buy" target="">Buy now</a>')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
+    expect(node.props.href).toBe('/buy')
+    expect(node.props.label).toBe('Buy now')
+  })
+
+  it('<a class="btn"> with target="_top" → "_self", a named target → "_blank"', () => {
+    expect(single('<a class="btn" href="/x" target="_top">X</a>').props.target).toBe('_self')
+    expect(single('<a class="btn" href="/x" target="_new">X</a>').props.target).toBe('_blank')
+  })
+
+  it('compound <a class="btn"> (→ base.link) normalises target too', () => {
+    const node = single('<a class="btn" href="/x" target=""><span>X</span></a>')
+    expect(node.moduleId).toBe('base.link')
+    expect(node.props.target).toBe('_self')
+  })
+
   it('<a class="btn primary"> — btn is present among other classes → still base.button', () => {
     const node = single('<a class="btn primary large" href="/x">CTA</a>')
     expect(node.moduleId).toBe('base.button')
diff --git a/src/core/htmlAttributes/anchorTarget.ts b/src/core/htmlAttributes/anchorTarget.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0765c399e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/htmlAttributes/anchorTarget.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * The anchor-`target` vocabulary the base modules persist (`base.link` and
+ * `base.button`), and the one place that maps authored HTML onto it.
+ *
+ * Lives core-side because both the block catalogue (the schema each module
+ * embeds) and the engine (the HTML importer) need it, and `src/core/` never
+ * imports `src/modules/`. The module-specific pieces — the Properties-panel
+ * select options and the `rel` decision — stay in
+ * `@modules/base/shared/anchorTarget`.
+ */
+import { Type, type Static } from '@core/utils/typeboxHelpers'
+
+export const AnchorTargetSchema = Type.Union(
+  [Type.Literal('_self'), Type.Literal('_blank'), Type.Literal('_parent')],
+  { default: '_self' },
+)
+
+export type AnchorTarget = Static<typeof AnchorTargetSchema>
+
+const ANCHOR_TARGETS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(
+  AnchorTargetSchema.anyOf.map((literal) => literal.const),
+)
+
+/**
+ * Map a raw HTML `target` attribute onto the persisted vocabulary.
+ *
+ * Authored markup carries values the schema does not model, and none of them
+ * can be stored as-is: `AnchorTargetSchema` would reject the node's props at
+ * publish time. Each maps to the stored value that navigates the same way
+ * outside a frameset. An empty string (`target=""` or a bare `target`) and
+ * `_top` open in the same tab, so they become `_self`. Any other value names
+ * a browsing context; with no frame of that name the browser opens a new tab,
+ * so it becomes `_blank`. HTML matches the keywords ASCII case-insensitively,
+ * so `_BLANK` is still `_blank`.
+ */
+export function normalizeAnchorTarget(raw: string | null | undefined): AnchorTarget {
+  if (raw === null || raw === undefined) return '_self'
+  const keyword = raw.toLowerCase()
+  if (ANCHOR_TARGETS.has(keyword)) return keyword as AnchorTarget
+  return keyword === '' || keyword === '_top' ? '_self' : '_blank'
+}
diff --git a/src/core/htmlAttributes/index.ts b/src/core/htmlAttributes/index.ts
index 14f4bd476..8d39d4ba4 100644
--- a/src/core/htmlAttributes/index.ts
+++ b/src/core/htmlAttributes/index.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export {
   normalizeHtmlAttributes,
   sanitizeRenderableHtmlAttribute,
 } from './attributes'
+export { AnchorTargetSchema, normalizeAnchorTarget, type AnchorTarget } from './anchorTarget'
 export {
   BUILTIN_HTML_TAGS,
   CUSTOM_HTML_TAG_VALUE,
diff --git a/src/core/htmlImport/rules.ts b/src/core/htmlImport/rules.ts
index fd0f13ddd..f251028b1 100644
--- a/src/core/htmlImport/rules.ts
+++ b/src/core/htmlImport/rules.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import { normalizeImportedText } from './text'
 import { normalizeIdentifierValue } from '@core/utils/identifier'
+import { normalizeAnchorTarget } from '@core/htmlAttributes'
 
 export interface ImportRule {
   /** CSS selector tested via `el.matches()`. */
@@ -388,12 +389,17 @@ export const HTML_TO_MODULE_RULES: ImportRule[] = [
   // treatment the plain anchor rule below gives a compound `<a>` — which keeps
   // href and target. The `btn` class rides along as a classId, so the swap does
   // not change how the element is styled.
+  //
+  // `target` is normalised, not copied: an empty attribute, `_top` or a named
+  // frame is not in `AnchorTargetSchema`, and a value outside the schema makes
+  // the publisher discard the node's props wholesale. `normalizeAnchorTarget`
+  // maps each onto the stored value that navigates the same way.
   {
     match: 'a.btn',
     map: (el) => {
       const text = normalizeImportedText(el.textContent ?? '')
       const href = el.getAttribute('href') ?? ''
-      const target = el.getAttribute('target') ?? '_self'
+      const target = normalizeAnchorTarget(el.getAttribute('target'))
 
       return hasElementChild(el)
         ? { moduleId: 'base.link', props: { text, href, target } }
@@ -413,7 +419,7 @@ export const HTML_TO_MODULE_RULES: ImportRule[] = [
       props: {
         text: normalizeImportedText(el.textContent ?? ''),
         href: el.getAttribute('href') ?? '',
-        target: el.getAttribute('target') ?? '_self',
+        target: normalizeAnchorTarget(el.getAttribute('target')),
       },
     }),
     recurse: hasElementChild,
diff --git a/src/modules/base/button/props.ts b/src/modules/base/button/props.ts
index 7f6c12daa..6aa91ea86 100644
--- a/src/modules/base/button/props.ts
+++ b/src/modules/base/button/props.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Type, type Static } from '@core/utils/typeboxHelpers'
-import { AnchorTargetSchema } from '@modules/base/shared/anchorTarget'
+import { AnchorTargetSchema } from '@core/htmlAttributes'
 import { HtmlAttributesPropSchemaOptions } from '@modules/base/shared/htmlAttributes'
 
 export const ButtonPropsSchema = Type.Object({
diff --git a/src/modules/base/link/props.ts b/src/modules/base/link/props.ts
index afc380eba..ae66c413d 100644
--- a/src/modules/base/link/props.ts
+++ b/src/modules/base/link/props.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Type, type Static } from '@core/utils/typeboxHelpers'
-import { AnchorTargetSchema } from '@modules/base/shared/anchorTarget'
+import { AnchorTargetSchema } from '@core/htmlAttributes'
 import { HtmlAttributesPropSchemaOptions } from '@modules/base/shared/htmlAttributes'
 
 export const LinkPropsSchema = Type.Object({
diff --git a/src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts b/src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts
index 622634693..7e68f6345 100644
--- a/src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts
+++ b/src/modules/base/shared/anchorTarget.ts
@@ -1,29 +1,23 @@
 /**
- * Shared anchor-`target` vocabulary for the base modules that emit `<a>`
- * elements (`base.link` and `base.button`).
+ * Shared anchor-`target` UI and `rel` logic for the base modules that emit
+ * `<a>` elements (`base.link` and `base.button`). The persisted vocabulary
+ * itself (`AnchorTargetSchema`, `normalizeAnchorTarget`) lives in
+ * `@core/htmlAttributes` so the HTML importer can share it without a
+ * core→modules import.
  *
- * Both modules used to redeclare an identical `Type.Union([_self, _blank,
- * _parent])` schema, an identical select-options array, AND an identical
- * `rel="noopener noreferrer"` rule — once in the publisher `render()` path and
- * again in the canvas `*Editor.tsx`. Four copies of the rel logic meant four
- * places for the canvas and the published page to drift apart. They now share
- * this one leaf:
+ * Both modules used to redeclare an identical select-options array AND an
+ * identical `rel="noopener noreferrer"` rule — once in the publisher
+ * `render()` path and again in the canvas `*Editor.tsx`. Four copies of the
+ * rel logic meant four places for the canvas and the published page to drift
+ * apart. They now share this one leaf:
  *
- *   - `AnchorTargetSchema` / `AnchorTarget`  — the persisted prop shape.
  *   - `ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS`                — the Properties-panel select.
  *   - `anchorRel(target)`                    — the single rel decision.
  *
  * Lives in a non-component `.ts` so the editor components can import it without
  * breaking React Fast Refresh (Constraint #309).
  */
-import { Type, type Static } from '@core/utils/typeboxHelpers'
-
-export const AnchorTargetSchema = Type.Union(
-  [Type.Literal('_self'), Type.Literal('_blank'), Type.Literal('_parent')],
-  { default: '_self' },
-)
-
-type AnchorTarget = Static<typeof AnchorTargetSchema>
+import type { AnchorTarget } from '@core/htmlAttributes'
 
 /** Select options for the Properties-panel `target` control. */
 export const ANCHOR_TARGET_OPTIONS: ReadonlyArray<{ label: string; value: AnchorTarget }> = [