diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index 83cc604..f48246a 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -5,3 +5,7 @@
 ## 2024-05-24 - Loop Allocation Hot Paths
 **Learning:** Rendering directory entries with repeated string concatenation and list-based exclusion lookups creates avoidable allocation and lookup cost in large directories.
 **Action:** Use `StringBuilder` for entry rendering and a `Set` for excluded file names.
+
+## 2024-07-02 - Chained String Replaces
+**Learning:** Using multiple chained `.replace()` calls on a Kotlin String (e.g., for HTML escaping) allocates new intermediate strings and arrays for every replacement pass, causing significant GC pressure and CPU overhead when called frequently on long lists.
+**Action:** Replace chained `.replace()` calls with a single-pass loop over the string characters. Use a lazily-initialized `StringBuilder` to append escaped values and original characters, avoiding allocations completely on the fast path (when no escaping is needed).
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
index 2e2809f..35f51a3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/html4tree/main.kt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ fun main(args: Array<String>)  = Html4tree().main(args)
 
 fun go(topDir: String, maxLevel: Int)  {
     require(topDir.isNotBlank())
-    val top_dir = File(topDir).canonicalFile
+    val top_dir = File(topDir).toPath().toAbsolutePath().normalize().toFile()
     require(Files.isDirectory(top_dir.toPath(), LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) { "Top directory must be an existing non-symlink directory" }
 
     val ll = LinkedList()
@@ -49,12 +49,29 @@ fun go(topDir: String, maxLevel: Int)  {
 }
 
 fun String.escapeHtml(): String {
-    return this.replace("&", "&amp;")
-               .replace("<", "&lt;")
-               .replace(">", "&gt;")
-               .replace("\"", "&quot;")
-               .replace("'", "&#x27;")
-               .replace("`", "&#x60;")
+    var encoded: StringBuilder? = null
+    for (i in 0 until this.length) {
+        val c = this[i]
+        val replacement = when (c) {
+            '&' -> "&amp;"
+            '<' -> "&lt;"
+            '>' -> "&gt;"
+            '"' -> "&quot;"
+            '\'' -> "&#x27;"
+            '`' -> "&#x60;"
+            else -> null
+        }
+        if (replacement != null) {
+            if (encoded == null) {
+                encoded = StringBuilder(this.length + 16)
+                encoded.append(this, 0, i)
+            }
+            encoded.append(replacement)
+        } else {
+            encoded?.append(c)
+        }
+    }
+    return encoded?.toString() ?: this
 }
 
 fun String.urlEncodePath(): String {