diff --git a/spec/tests/test-hyperscript-behavioral.sx b/spec/tests/test-hyperscript-behavioral.sx
index 5c610e81..3a867216 100644
--- a/spec/tests/test-hyperscript-behavioral.sx
+++ b/spec/tests/test-hyperscript-behavioral.sx
@@ -4183,7 +4183,7 @@
     (assert= (map (fn (x) (get x "name")) (eval-hs "set arr to [{name: \"b\", age: 30}, {name: \"a\", age: 20}, {name: \"c\", age: 25}] then return arr sorted by its age")) (list "a" "c" "b"))
   )
   (deftest "split by on null returns null"
-    (eval-hs "set x to null then return x split by ','n")
+    (eval-hs "set x to null then return x split by ','\\n")
   )
   (deftest "the result inside where refers to previous command result, not current element"
     (assert= (eval-hs "get 3 then set arr to [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] then return arr where it > the result") (list 4 5))
@@ -9135,13 +9135,13 @@
     (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick item 2 from arr set $test to it" (list (list (quote arr) (list 10 11 12 13 14 15 16)))) (list 12))
   )
   (deftest "can pick a single regex match"
-    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick match of \"d+\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes jumped 12 times over the 149 lazy dogs"))) (list "32"))
+    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick match of \"\\d+\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes jumped 12 times over the 149 lazy dogs"))) (list "32"))
   )
   (deftest "can pick a single regex match w/ a flag"
     (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick match of \"t.e\" | i from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes jumped 12 times over the 149 lazy dogs"))) (list "The"))
   )
   (deftest "can pick all regex matches"
-    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick matches of \"d+\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes jumped 12 times over the 149 lazy dogs"))) (list (list "32") (list "12") (list "149")))
+    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick matches of \"\\d+\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes jumped 12 times over the 149 lazy dogs"))) (list (list "32") (list "12") (list "149")))
   )
   (deftest "can pick first n items"
     (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick first 3 of arr set $test to it" (list (list (quote arr) (list 10 20 30 40 50)))) (list 10 20 30))
@@ -9159,7 +9159,7 @@
     (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick last 2 of arr set $test to it" (list (list (quote arr) (list 10 20 30 40 50)))) (list 40 50))
   )
   (deftest "can pick match using 'of' syntax"
-    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick match of \"d+\" of haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes"))) (list "32"))
+    (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick match of \"\\d+\" of haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "The 32 quick brown foxes"))) (list "32"))
   )
   (deftest "can pick random item"
     (assert (not (nil? (eval-hs-locals "pick random of arr set $test to it" (list (list (quote arr) (list 10 20 30)))))))
@@ -9186,7 +9186,7 @@
     (assert= (eval-hs-locals "pick items 0 to -4 from arr set $test to it" (list (list (quote arr) (list 10 11 12 13 14 15 16)))) (list 10 11 12))
   )
   (deftest "does not hang on zero-length regex matches"
-    (assert (not (nil? (eval-hs-locals "pick matches of \"d*\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "a1b"))))))
+    (assert (not (nil? (eval-hs-locals "pick matches of \"\\d*\" from haystack set window.test to it" (list (list (quote haystack) "a1b"))))))
   )
   (deftest "pick first from null returns null"
     (eval-hs "set x to null then pick first 3 from x then return it")
@@ -9195,7 +9195,7 @@
     (eval-hs "set x to null then pick last 2 from x then return it")
   )
   (deftest "pick match from null returns null"
-    (eval-hs "set x to null then pick match of \"d+\" from x then return it")
+    (eval-hs "set x to null then pick match of \"\\d+\" from x then return it")
   )
   (deftest "pick random from null returns null"
     (eval-hs "set x to null then pick random from x then return it")
diff --git a/tests/playwright/generate-sx-tests.py b/tests/playwright/generate-sx-tests.py
index 1ce2f910..3efec6bc 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/generate-sx-tests.py
+++ b/tests/playwright/generate-sx-tests.py
@@ -1768,14 +1768,49 @@ def _js_window_expr_to_sx(expr):
     return None
 
 
+def _decode_js_escapes(s):
+    """Decode JS string escape sequences.
+    - \\" -> "   (escaped quote)
+    - \\' -> '
+    - \\` -> `
+    - \\\\ -> \\  (escaped backslash)
+    - \\n, \\t -> space (already normalized)
+    - Other \\X sequences (e.g. \\d for regex) are preserved literally,
+      matching String.raw semantics for unknown escapes.
+    """
+    out = []
+    i = 0
+    while i < len(s):
+        c = s[i]
+        if c == '\\' and i + 1 < len(s):
+            nxt = s[i + 1]
+            if nxt in ('"', "'", '`'):
+                out.append(nxt)
+                i += 2
+                continue
+            if nxt == '\\':
+                out.append('\\')
+                i += 2
+                continue
+            # Unknown escape: preserve both chars (regex \\d, CSS \\:, lambda \\ -> )
+            out.append(c)
+            i += 1
+            continue
+        out.append(c)
+        i += 1
+    return ''.join(out)
+
+
 def extract_hs_expr(raw):
     """Clean a HS expression extracted from run() call."""
     # Remove surrounding whitespace and newlines
     expr = raw.strip().replace('\n', ' ').replace('\t', ' ')
     # Collapse multiple spaces
     expr = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', expr)
-    # Escape backslashes (preserve regex escapes like \d, CSS escapes, lambda \)
-    # then escape quotes for SX string.
+    # Decode JS-level escape sequences while preserving regex/CSS/lambda
+    # backslashes. \" -> ", \\ -> \, \d -> \d (unchanged).
+    expr = _decode_js_escapes(expr)
+    # Re-escape for SX string literal: backslashes, then quotes.
     expr = expr.replace('\\', '\\\\').replace('"', '\\"')
     return expr