freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp

Escaping HTML entities

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#63,788 opened on Nov 12, 2025

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help wanted

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Description

Describe the Issue

We have a challenge that asks campers to replace symbols like & with the relevant HTML entity &. It's a neat little challenge, BUUUUUUT...

The in-app console we render sanitises the entities back to HTML. So with correct code, campers still see & instead of &.

https://imgur.com/a/xxjSSW2

Affected Page

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/full-stack-developer/lab-html-entitiy-converter/implement-an-html-entity-converter

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Go to https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/full-stack-developer/lab-html-entitiy-converter/implement-an-html-entity-converter
  2. Enter the following code.
  3. Open browser console.
  4. See different results.
function convertHTML(str) {
  let newStr = "";
  for (let char of str) {
    if (char == "&") {
      newStr += "&";
    } else if (char == "<") {
      newStr += "&lt;";
    } else if (char == ">") {
      newStr += "&gt;";
    } else if (char == '"') {
      newStr += "&quot;";
    } else if (char == "'") {
      newStr += "&apos;";
    } else {
      newStr += char;
    }
  }
  return newStr;
}

console.log(convertHTML("Dolce & Gabbana"));

Expected behavior

The in-app console should render `Dolce & Gabanna

Screenshots

No response

System

Irrelevant

Additional context

https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeCodeCamp/comments/1ovgdgm/current_javascript_version_autoconvert_makes/

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the console rendering code in the curriculum app to see where HTML entities are being sanitized. Look for any sanitization or escaping in the console output display.
Tech stack
javascripttypescript
Domain
frontend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
JavaScriptHTML
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65