diff --git a/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.test.tsx b/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.test.tsx
index 7c8516f..7fa5b8d 100644
--- a/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.test.tsx
+++ b/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.test.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { describe, test, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import React from 'react';
 import { createRoot, Root } from 'react-dom/client';
 import { act } from 'react-dom/test-utils';
-import { CodeEditor } from './CodeEditor';
+import { CodeEditor, type CodeEditorHandle } from './CodeEditor';
 
 /* ---------- DOM test harness (no @testing-library/react in this repo; see
    src/ui/AssetPicker.test.tsx / src/ui/Modal.test.tsx for the same
@@ -88,3 +88,38 @@ describe('CodeEditor', () => {
     expect((container.firstElementChild as HTMLElement).style.height).toBe('480px');
   });
 });
+
+describe('CodeEditor imperative handle (textarea fallback mode)', () => {
+  test('insertAtCursor replaces the selection and emits onChange', async () => {
+    const onChange = vi.fn();
+    const ref = React.createRef<CodeEditorHandle>();
+    render(<CodeEditor ref={ref} value="<div></div>" onChange={onChange} />);
+
+    const ta = container.querySelector('[data-testid="code-editor-fallback"]') as HTMLTextAreaElement;
+    expect(ta).not.toBeNull();
+    ta.selectionStart = 5;
+    ta.selectionEnd = 5;
+
+    act(() => {
+      ref.current!.insertAtCursor('<p></p>');
+    });
+
+    expect(onChange).toHaveBeenCalledWith('<div><p></p></div>');
+  });
+
+  test('getValue returns the current document', () => {
+    const ref = React.createRef<CodeEditorHandle>();
+    render(<CodeEditor ref={ref} value="<span>x</span>" onChange={vi.fn()} />);
+    expect(ref.current!.getValue()).toBe('<span>x</span>');
+  });
+
+  test('caretOffset positions the caret inside the inserted snippet', () => {
+    const ref = React.createRef<CodeEditorHandle>();
+    render(<CodeEditor ref={ref} value="" onChange={vi.fn()} />);
+    const ta = container.querySelector('[data-testid="code-editor-fallback"]') as HTMLTextAreaElement;
+    act(() => {
+      ref.current!.insertAtCursor('<p></p>', 3);
+    });
+    expect(ta.selectionStart).toBe(3);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.tsx b/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.tsx
index 44ac16a..d3c16b1 100644
--- a/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.tsx
+++ b/craft/src/ui/CodeEditor.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import React, { forwardRef, useEffect, useImperativeHandle, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import type { EditorView as EditorViewType } from '@codemirror/view';
 
 export type CodeEditorLanguage = 'html' | 'css' | 'javascript' | 'auto';
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ export interface CodeEditorProps {
   placeholder?: string;
 }
 
+export interface CodeEditorHandle {
+  /** Replace the current selection (or insert at the caret) with `text`.
+   *  Emits onChange. If `caretOffset` is given, the caret lands that many
+   *  characters after the insertion start instead of at its end. */
+  insertAtCursor(text: string, caretOffset?: number): void;
+  /** Current document text. */
+  getValue(): string;
+}
+
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Lazy-loaded CodeMirror 6.
 
@@ -133,15 +142,16 @@ const fallbackStyle: React.CSSProperties = {
   boxSizing: 'border-box',
 };
 
-export const CodeEditor: React.FC<CodeEditorProps> = ({
+export const CodeEditor = forwardRef<CodeEditorHandle, CodeEditorProps>(function CodeEditor({
   value,
   onChange,
   language = 'html',
   height = 320,
   placeholder,
-}) => {
+}: CodeEditorProps, ref) {
   const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const viewRef = useRef<EditorViewType | null>(null);
+  const textareaRef = useRef<HTMLTextAreaElement | null>(null);
   const onChangeRef = useRef(onChange);
   onChangeRef.current = onChange;
   // Tracks the last value this component itself emitted, so the
@@ -226,6 +236,41 @@ export const CodeEditor: React.FC<CodeEditorProps> = ({
     lastEmittedRef.current = value;
   }, [value, status]);
 
+  useImperativeHandle(ref, (): CodeEditorHandle => ({
+    getValue: () => {
+      const view = viewRef.current;
+      if (view) return view.state.doc.toString();
+      return textareaRef.current?.value ?? value;
+    },
+    insertAtCursor: (text: string, caretOffset?: number) => {
+      const view = viewRef.current;
+      if (view) {
+        const { from, to } = view.state.selection.main;
+        const caret = from + (caretOffset ?? text.length);
+        view.dispatch({
+          changes: { from, to, insert: text },
+          selection: { anchor: caret },
+        });
+        view.focus();
+        return;
+      }
+      // Textarea fallback: CodeMirror never mounted (still loading, or its
+      // lazy chunks failed). The toolbar must keep working either way.
+      const ta = textareaRef.current;
+      if (!ta) return;
+      const from = ta.selectionStart ?? ta.value.length;
+      const to = ta.selectionEnd ?? from;
+      const next = ta.value.slice(0, from) + text + ta.value.slice(to);
+      const caret = from + (caretOffset ?? text.length);
+      lastEmittedRef.current = next;
+      onChangeRef.current(next);
+      ta.value = next;
+      ta.selectionStart = caret;
+      ta.selectionEnd = caret;
+      ta.focus();
+    },
+  }), [value]);
+
   const showFallback = status !== 'ready';
 
   return (
@@ -243,6 +288,7 @@ export const CodeEditor: React.FC<CodeEditorProps> = ({
       />
       {showFallback && (
         <textarea
+          ref={textareaRef}
           data-testid="code-editor-fallback"
           data-language={language}
           value={value}
@@ -254,4 +300,4 @@ export const CodeEditor: React.FC<CodeEditorProps> = ({
       )}
     </div>
   );
-};
+});