diff --git a/dist/platform/elc b/dist/platform/elc
index a4de585..44b0d57 100755
Binary files a/dist/platform/elc and b/dist/platform/elc differ
diff --git a/dist/platform/elc.20260502-1104-self-host b/dist/platform/elc.20260502-1104-self-host
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..44b0d57
Binary files /dev/null and b/dist/platform/elc.20260502-1104-self-host differ
diff --git a/el-compiler/src/lexer.el b/el-compiler/src/lexer.el
index 6f7f742..d6c6d0c 100644
--- a/el-compiler/src/lexer.el
+++ b/el-compiler/src/lexer.el
@@ -195,6 +195,208 @@ fn scan_ident(chars: [String], start: Int, total: Int) -> Map<String, Any> {
     { "text": text, "pos": i }
 }
 
+// ── Code-bearing string detection + comment strip ────────────────────────────
+// Inline JS/CSS literals embedded in El source (e.g. <script>…</script> blobs
+// or stylesheet payloads inside string literals) carry their own line and
+// block comments. Those comments leak into the served HTML and reveal build
+// notes the visitor should never see. We strip them at the lexer so every
+// downstream consumer (codegen-c, codegen-js, parser) gets the cleaned form.
+//
+// looks_like_code — heuristic gate so we only strip strings that actually
+// embed JS or CSS. Plain prose, hex blobs, JSON, etc. pass through verbatim.
+
+fn substr_at(chars: [String], start: Int, total: Int, needle: String) -> Bool {
+    let nchars: [String] = native_string_chars(needle)
+    let nlen: Int = native_list_len(nchars)
+    if start + nlen > total { return false }
+    let i = 0
+    let matched = true
+    while i < nlen {
+        let a: String = native_list_get(chars, start + i)
+        let b: String = native_list_get(nchars, i)
+        if a == b { let i = i + 1 } else { let matched = false; let i = nlen }
+    }
+    matched
+}
+
+fn str_has(s: String, needle: String) -> Bool {
+    let chars: [String] = native_string_chars(s)
+    let total: Int = native_list_len(chars)
+    let i = 0
+    let found = false
+    while i < total {
+        if substr_at(chars, i, total, needle) {
+            let found = true
+            let i = total
+        } else {
+            let i = i + 1
+        }
+    }
+    found
+}
+
+fn looks_like_code(s: String) -> Bool {
+    if str_has(s, "<script") { return true }
+    if str_has(s, "<style") { return true }
+    if str_has(s, "function") {
+        if str_has(s, ";") { return true }
+    }
+    false
+}
+
+// strip_code_comments — character-by-character walk. Tracks JS string state
+// (single, double, backtick) and never strips inside one. Backslash escapes
+// inside JS strings consume the next char verbatim. URLs like https:// are
+// preserved by checking the previous char before treating // as a line
+// comment opener: if the char immediately before '/' is ':', emit the '/'
+// literally and advance one position.
+fn strip_code_comments(s: String) -> String {
+    let chars: [String] = native_string_chars(s)
+    let total: Int = native_list_len(chars)
+    let out = ""
+    let i = 0
+    let in_squote = false
+    let in_dquote = false
+    let in_btick = false
+    let prev = ""
+    while i < total {
+        let ch: String = native_list_get(chars, i)
+        let in_js_string = false
+        if in_squote { let in_js_string = true }
+        if in_dquote { let in_js_string = true }
+        if in_btick { let in_js_string = true }
+
+        if in_js_string {
+            // Backslash escape: consume next char verbatim regardless of which.
+            if ch == "\\" {
+                let out = out + ch
+                let next_i = i + 1
+                if next_i < total {
+                    let nc: String = native_list_get(chars, next_i)
+                    let out = out + nc
+                    let prev = nc
+                    let i = next_i + 1
+                } else {
+                    let prev = ch
+                    let i = next_i
+                }
+            } else {
+                if in_squote {
+                    if ch == "'" { let in_squote = false }
+                } else {
+                    if in_dquote {
+                        if ch == "\"" { let in_dquote = false }
+                    } else {
+                        if in_btick {
+                            if ch == "`" { let in_btick = false }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                let out = out + ch
+                let prev = ch
+                let i = i + 1
+            }
+        } else {
+            // Not in a JS string. Check for comment openers.
+            let next_i = i + 1
+            let next_ch = ""
+            if next_i < total {
+                let next_ch: String = native_list_get(chars, next_i)
+            }
+
+            if ch == "/" {
+                if next_ch == "/" {
+                    // URL guard: prev char ':' means this is "://", not a comment.
+                    if prev == ":" {
+                        let out = out + ch
+                        let prev = ch
+                        let i = i + 1
+                    } else {
+                        // Skip until newline (newline itself is preserved so
+                        // surrounding line counts/structure stay sane).
+                        let i = i + 2
+                        let scanning = true
+                        while scanning {
+                            if i >= total {
+                                let scanning = false
+                            } else {
+                                let lc: String = native_list_get(chars, i)
+                                if lc == "\n" {
+                                    let scanning = false
+                                } else {
+                                    let i = i + 1
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                        let prev = ""
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    if next_ch == "*" {
+                        // Skip until matching "*/".
+                        let i = i + 2
+                        let scanning2 = true
+                        while scanning2 {
+                            if i >= total {
+                                let scanning2 = false
+                            } else {
+                                let bc: String = native_list_get(chars, i)
+                                if bc == "*" {
+                                    let after = i + 1
+                                    if after < total {
+                                        let nc2: String = native_list_get(chars, after)
+                                        if nc2 == "/" {
+                                            let i = after + 1
+                                            let scanning2 = false
+                                        } else {
+                                            let i = i + 1
+                                        }
+                                    } else {
+                                        let i = i + 1
+                                    }
+                                } else {
+                                    let i = i + 1
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                        let prev = ""
+                    } else {
+                        let out = out + ch
+                        let prev = ch
+                        let i = i + 1
+                    }
+                }
+            } else {
+                // Open a JS string?
+                if ch == "'" {
+                    let in_squote = true
+                    let out = out + ch
+                    let prev = ch
+                    let i = i + 1
+                } else {
+                    if ch == "\"" {
+                        let in_dquote = true
+                        let out = out + ch
+                        let prev = ch
+                        let i = i + 1
+                    } else {
+                        if ch == "`" {
+                            let in_btick = true
+                            let out = out + ch
+                            let prev = ch
+                            let i = i + 1
+                        } else {
+                            let out = out + ch
+                            let prev = ch
+                            let i = i + 1
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
 // scan_string — scan a quoted string literal, handling \" escapes.
 // Starts AFTER the opening quote. Returns { "text": content, "pos": i_after_close }
 fn scan_string(chars: [String], start: Int, total: Int) -> Map<String, Any> {
@@ -305,7 +507,15 @@ fn lex(source: String) -> [Map<String, Any>] {
                     let result = scan_string(chars, i + 1, total)
                     let str_text: String = result["text"]
                     let new_pos: Int = result["pos"]
-                    let tokens = native_list_append(tokens, make_tok("Str", str_text))
+                    // Compile-time scrub: strings that embed JS or CSS get
+                    // their // line comments and /* block comments stripped
+                    // before the token reaches the parser. Plain prose passes
+                    // through untouched.
+                    let clean_text = str_text
+                    if looks_like_code(str_text) {
+                        let clean_text = strip_code_comments(str_text)
+                    }
+                    let tokens = native_list_append(tokens, make_tok("Str", clean_text))
                     let i = new_pos
                 } else {
                     // Number literal
diff --git a/elc-cli.el b/elc-cli.el
index cb67683..6b9b25d 100644
--- a/elc-cli.el
+++ b/elc-cli.el
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
+// elc-cli.el — entry point for the self-hosted el compiler.
+//
+// All logic lives in el-compiler/src/compiler.el (which defines fn main()).
+// Importing it pulls in compiler.el + parser + lexer + codegen transitively.
+// The native compiler resolves imports textually and folds fn main() into
+// C's int main(), so this file does not declare any top-level work itself.
 import "el-compiler/src/compiler.el"
-
-// compile() streams C source to stdout via println.
-// We read source from args()[0] and compile it.
-let _argv: [String] = args()
-let src_path: String = native_list_get(_argv, 0)
-let source: String = fs_read(src_path)
-compile(source)