diff --git a/templates/pongo/engine.go b/templates/pongo/engine.go
index bf71a23..eaee220 100644
--- a/templates/pongo/engine.go
+++ b/templates/pongo/engine.go
@@ -62,11 +62,25 @@ func (c *pongoComponent) Render(ctx context.Context, w io.Writer) error {
 //	{{ site_settings }}            — bn.SiteSettingsData struct
 //	{{ page_meta }}                — bn.PageMeta struct
 func (e *Engine) MustPageTemplate(name string) templates.TemplateFunc {
-	tpl := pongo2.Must(e.set.FromFile(name))
+	fn, err := e.PageTemplate(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return fn
+}
+
+// PageTemplate is MustPageTemplate without the panic — for hosts compiling
+// artifact-supplied templates at load time (a malformed artifact must fail
+// the load, not the process).
+func (e *Engine) PageTemplate(name string) (templates.TemplateFunc, error) {
+	tpl, err := e.set.FromFile(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return func(ctx context.Context, doc map[string]any) templates.HTMLComponent {
 		pongoCtx := e.buildPageContext(ctx, doc)
 		return &pongoComponent{tpl: tpl, ctx: pongoCtx}
-	}
+	}, nil
 }
 
 // MustBlockTemplate parses a pongo2 block template and returns a BlockFunc.
@@ -75,7 +89,19 @@ func (e *Engine) MustPageTemplate(name string) templates.TemplateFunc {
 // The content map fields are available directly as template variables.
 // Request context is available under {{ ctx.url }}, {{ ctx.isEditor }}, etc.
 func (e *Engine) MustBlockTemplate(name string) blocks.BlockFunc {
-	tpl := pongo2.Must(e.set.FromFile(name))
+	fn, err := e.BlockTemplate(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return fn
+}
+
+// BlockTemplate is MustBlockTemplate without the panic (see PageTemplate).
+func (e *Engine) BlockTemplate(name string) (blocks.BlockFunc, error) {
+	tpl, err := e.set.FromFile(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return func(ctx context.Context, content map[string]any) string {
 		pongoCtx := buildBlockContext(ctx, content)
 		out, err := tpl.Execute(pongoCtx)
@@ -83,7 +109,7 @@ func (e *Engine) MustBlockTemplate(name string) blocks.BlockFunc {
 			return ""
 		}
 		return blocks.ProcessIcons(out)
-	}
+	}, nil
 }
 
 // MustBlockTemplateWithDefaults is like MustBlockTemplate but merges default
@@ -129,7 +155,19 @@ func (e *Engine) MustTemplateOverride(name string) blocks.BlockFunc {
 //	{{ colors.muted }}       — muted hex color
 //	(and all other EmailColors fields as lowercase keys)
 func (e *Engine) MustEmailWrapper(name string) templates.EmailWrapperFunc {
-	tpl := pongo2.Must(e.set.FromFile(name))
+	fn, err := e.EmailWrapper(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return fn
+}
+
+// EmailWrapper is MustEmailWrapper without the panic (see PageTemplate).
+func (e *Engine) EmailWrapper(name string) (templates.EmailWrapperFunc, error) {
+	tpl, err := e.set.FromFile(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return func(body string, ctx templates.EmailContext) string {
 		pongoCtx := pongo2.Context{
 			"body":            body,
@@ -158,7 +196,7 @@ func (e *Engine) MustEmailWrapper(name string) templates.EmailWrapperFunc {
 			return body
 		}
 		return out
-	}
+	}, nil
 }
 
 // renderComponent renders any HTMLComponent to a string.
diff --git a/templates/pongo/engine_test.go b/templates/pongo/engine_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67d4ee5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/pongo/engine_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package pongo
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"testing/fstest"
+
+	"git.dev.alexdunmow.com/block/core/templates"
+)
+
+func TestNonPanickingCompileVariants(t *testing.T) {
+	fsys := fstest.MapFS{
+		"templates/theme/default.ninjatpl":           {Data: []byte(`<main>{{ slots.main|safe }}</main>`)},
+		"templates/overrides/theme/heading.ninjatpl": {Data: []byte(`<h2>{{ text }}</h2>`)},
+		"templates/email/theme.ninjatpl":             {Data: []byte(`<table>{{ body|safe }} {{ colors.mutedForeground }}</table>`)},
+		"templates/broken.ninjatpl":                  {Data: []byte(`{% if %}`)},
+	}
+	e := NewEngine(fsys)
+
+	if _, err := e.PageTemplate("templates/theme/default.ninjatpl"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("PageTemplate: %v", err)
+	}
+	bf, err := e.BlockTemplate("templates/overrides/theme/heading.ninjatpl")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("BlockTemplate: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := bf(t.Context(), map[string]any{"text": "hi"}); got != "<h2>hi</h2>" {
+		t.Errorf("override render = %q", got)
+	}
+	ef, err := e.EmailWrapper("templates/email/theme.ninjatpl")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EmailWrapper: %v", err)
+	}
+	ectx := templates.EmailContext{}
+	ectx.Colors.MutedForeground = "#6c5b35"
+	if got := ef("<p>x</p>", ectx); got != "<table><p>x</p> #6c5b35</table>" {
+		t.Errorf("email render = %q", got)
+	}
+
+	// Malformed templates return errors — no panic (hot-install safety).
+	if _, err := e.PageTemplate("templates/broken.ninjatpl"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("PageTemplate on broken template: want error")
+	}
+	if _, err := e.BlockTemplate("templates/missing.ninjatpl"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("BlockTemplate on missing file: want error")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLinesFilter(t *testing.T) {
+	fsys := fstest.MapFS{
+		"t.ninjatpl": {Data: []byte(`{% for l in address|lines %}<div>{{ l }}</div>{% endfor %}`)},
+	}
+	e := NewEngine(fsys)
+	bf, err := e.BlockTemplate("t.ninjatpl")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got := bf(t.Context(), map[string]any{"address": "1 Meridian Plaza\r\n  Floor 2  \n\nNew Gotham"})
+	want := "<div>1 Meridian Plaza</div><div>Floor 2</div><div>New Gotham</div>"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Errorf("lines render = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(got, "\n") {
+		t.Error("unexpected raw newline in output")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/templates/pongo/filters.go b/templates/pongo/filters.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a975d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/pongo/filters.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package pongo
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/flosch/pongo2/v6"
+)
+
+// Custom pongo2 filters registered process-globally (pongo2's filter registry
+// is package-level, so these are available to every TemplateSet in the
+// process — the plugin Engine, the CMS definition engine, and the powered
+// renderer alike).
+//
+//	lines — split a string into its non-empty lines (newline-separated).
+//	        pongo2 string literals cannot contain \n, so {{ v|split:"\n" }}
+//	        is inexpressible; multi-line textarea fields (e.g. postal
+//	        addresses rendered one <div> per line) need this filter:
+//
+//	        {% for line in address|lines %}<div>{{ line }}</div>{% endfor %}
+func init() {
+	// Ignore an already-registered error: multiple inits (tests, plugins
+	// linking this package twice) must not panic.
+	_ = pongo2.RegisterFilter("lines", filterLines)
+}
+
+func filterLines(in *pongo2.Value, _ *pongo2.Value) (*pongo2.Value, *pongo2.Error) {
+	raw := strings.ReplaceAll(in.String(), "\r\n", "\n")
+	var out []string
+	for line := range strings.SplitSeq(raw, "\n") {
+		if trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(line); trimmed != "" {
+			out = append(out, trimmed)
+		}
+	}
+	return pongo2.AsValue(out), nil
+}