diff --git a/src/vault.rs b/src/vault.rs
index 573ab14..a12a187 100644
--- a/src/vault.rs
+++ b/src/vault.rs
@@ -40,3 +40,145 @@ pub fn load_document(vault_path: &Path, relative: &str) -> VaultDocument {
         },
     }
 }
+
+// ── Path traversal guard ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/// Returns `true` if `candidate` is a path within `vault_path`.
+///
+/// Uses `canonicalize()` + `starts_with()` to resolve symlinks and `..` components
+/// before the prefix check, guarding against path traversal attacks such as
+/// `../../etc/passwd` in linked destinations.
+///
+/// Returns `false` if either path cannot be canonicalized (e.g. does not exist yet,
+/// or permissions deny access).
+pub fn is_within_vault(vault_path: &Path, candidate: &Path) -> bool {
+    match (candidate.canonicalize(), vault_path.canonicalize()) {
+        (Ok(canon_candidate), Ok(canon_vault)) => canon_candidate.starts_with(&canon_vault),
+        _ => false,
+    }
+}
+
+// ── Wiki-link resolution ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/// Resolve a raw wiki-link target string to a vault-relative `PathBuf`.
+///
+/// Algorithm (per locked decisions — case-insensitive, hyphens first):
+/// 1. Split `raw_target` on the last `/` to extract optional `subdir` and `name`.
+/// 2. Generate candidate stems: spaces→hyphens, spaces→underscores, literal spaces.
+/// 3. List `vault_path/subdir` via `read_dir`; compare each entry's stem (`.md`
+///    stripped, lowercased) against each candidate (lowercased).
+/// 4. On first match: apply `is_within_vault()` path traversal guard.
+/// 5. If within vault: return the vault-relative path as `Some(PathBuf)`.
+/// 6. If no match: return `None`.
+///
+/// First match wins (filesystem iteration order). This is intentional and documented.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// ```text
+/// resolve_wiki_link(vault, "Getting Started")
+///   → matches "getting-started.md"  (hyphen strategy, case-insensitive)
+///
+/// resolve_wiki_link(vault, "guides/Getting Started")
+///   → matches "guides/getting-started.md"
+/// ```
+pub fn resolve_wiki_link(vault_path: &Path, raw_target: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    // Split off subpath prefix if present: "guides/Getting Started" → ("guides", "Getting Started")
+    let (subdir, name) = match raw_target.rfind('/') {
+        Some(i) => (&raw_target[..i], &raw_target[i + 1..]),
+        None => ("", raw_target),
+    };
+
+    // Generate candidate stems (space-replacement strategies, hyphens first per locked decision)
+    let hyphen = name.replace(' ', "-");
+    let under = name.replace(' ', "_");
+    let literal = name.to_string();
+    let candidates: [String; 3] = [hyphen, under, literal];
+
+    // Compute search directory
+    let search_dir: PathBuf = if subdir.is_empty() {
+        vault_path.to_path_buf()
+    } else {
+        vault_path.join(subdir)
+    };
+
+    let Ok(entries) = std::fs::read_dir(&search_dir) else {
+        return None;
+    };
+
+    for entry in entries.flatten() {
+        let fname = entry.file_name();
+        let fname_str = fname.to_string_lossy();
+
+        // Only consider .md files
+        let stem = match fname_str.strip_suffix(".md") {
+            Some(s) => s.to_string(),
+            None => continue,
+        };
+        let stem_lower = stem.to_lowercase();
+
+        for candidate in &candidates {
+            if stem_lower == candidate.to_lowercase() {
+                // Candidate matched — apply path traversal guard
+                let full_path = entry.path();
+                if let Ok(canonical) = full_path.canonicalize() {
+                    if let Ok(vault_canonical) = vault_path.canonicalize() {
+                        if canonical.starts_with(&vault_canonical) {
+                            // Return vault-relative path
+                            return canonical
+                                .strip_prefix(&vault_canonical)
+                                .ok()
+                                .map(|p| p.to_path_buf());
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                // Path traversal detected or canonicalize failed — skip this match
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    None
+}
+
+// ── Standard link resolution ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/// Resolve a standard markdown link destination relative to `current_doc`.
+///
+/// For inline links `[text](path.md)`, `dest` is the raw path string from the link.
+/// Resolution is relative to the directory containing `current_doc` within the vault.
+///
+/// Applies the `is_within_vault()` path traversal guard: if the resolved path
+/// escapes the vault root (e.g. `../../etc/passwd`), returns `None`.
+///
+/// Returns `Some(vault_relative_path)` if the file exists and is within the vault,
+/// `None` otherwise.
+///
+/// # Arguments
+///
+/// * `vault_path` — absolute path to the vault root directory
+/// * `current_doc` — vault-relative path of the currently displayed document
+///   (e.g. `"guides/getting-started.md"`)
+/// * `dest` — raw link destination from the markdown (e.g. `"../index.md"`)
+pub fn resolve_standard_link(vault_path: &Path, current_doc: &str, dest: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    // Compute base directory: directory of the current document within the vault
+    let current_full = vault_path.join(current_doc);
+    let base_dir = current_full.parent()?;
+
+    // Join the link destination relative to the base directory
+    let candidate = base_dir.join(dest);
+
+    // Apply path traversal guard (also checks file existence via canonicalize)
+    if let Ok(canonical) = candidate.canonicalize() {
+        if let Ok(vault_canonical) = vault_path.canonicalize() {
+            if canonical.starts_with(&vault_canonical) {
+                return canonical
+                    .strip_prefix(&vault_canonical)
+                    .ok()
+                    .map(|p| p.to_path_buf());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    None
+}