diff --git a/src/zona/builder.py b/src/zona/builder.py
index 4a64e25..78300f9 100644
--- a/src/zona/builder.py
+++ b/src/zona/builder.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from rich import print
-from zona.models import Item, Metadata, ItemType
+from zona.models import Item, Metadata, ItemType, BuildCtx
 from zona import markdown as zmd
 from zona.templates import Templater
 from zona import util
@@ -82,17 +82,23 @@ def discover(root: Path, out_dir: Path) -> list[Item]:
 
 
 def build(root: Path, items: list[Item]):
+    ctx = BuildCtx(root=root)
     templater = Templater(root / "templates")
-    item_map = {item.source.resolve(): item for item in items}
+    ctx.item_map = {item.source.resolve(): item for item in items}
     # print(item_map)
-    for item in item_map.values():
+    for item in ctx.item_map.values():
         dst = item.destination
         # print(item)
         # create parent dirs if needed
         if item.type == ItemType.MARKDOWN:
             assert item.content is not None
             # parse markdown and render as html
-            raw_html = zmd.md_to_html(item.content)
+            raw_html = zmd.md_to_html(
+                content=item.content,
+                resolve_links=True,
+                source=item.source,
+                ctx=ctx,
+            )
             # TODO: test this
             rendered = templater.render_item(item, raw_html)
             util.ensure_parents(dst)
diff --git a/src/zona/markdown.py b/src/zona/markdown.py
index e2a8d8d..580c33f 100644
--- a/src/zona/markdown.py
+++ b/src/zona/markdown.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
+from rich import print
 from typing import Any, override
 from pathlib import Path
-from marko import Markdown
 from marko.inline import Link, Image
 from marko.html_renderer import HTMLRenderer
 from marko.parser import Parser
 
-from zona.models import Item
+from zona.models import BuildCtx, Item
+from zona import util
 
 
 class ZonaRenderer(HTMLRenderer):
@@ -13,28 +14,31 @@ class ZonaRenderer(HTMLRenderer):
         self,
         resolve: bool = False,
         source: Path | None = None,
-        item_map: dict[Path, Item] | None = None,
+        ctx: BuildCtx | None = None,
     ):
+        # print("Zona renderer initializing...")
         super().__init__()
         self.resolve: bool = resolve
         if self.resolve:
+            # print("Resolve is set")
             assert source is not None
-            assert item_map is not None
+            assert ctx is not None
             self.source: Path = source.resolve()
-            self.map: dict[Path, Item] = item_map
+            self.ctx: BuildCtx = ctx
 
     # TODO: resolve relative links and replace with url?
     @override
     def render_link(self, element: Link):
         href = element.dest
+        print(f"Rendering link, original: {href}")
         assert isinstance(href, str)
         if self.resolve:
             cur = Path(href)
-            # TODO: fix relative path issue
-            if not href.startswith(("http", "https")) and cur.is_relative_to(
-                self.source
-            ):
-                href = self.map[self.source].url
+            _href = href
+            resolved = (self.source.parent / cur).resolve()
+            if resolved.exists():
+                href = util.normalize_url(self.ctx.item_map[resolved].url)
+                print(f"Link in file {self.source}: {_href} resolved to {href}")
         body: Any = self.render_children(element)
         return f'<a href="{href}" target="_blank">{body}</a>'
 
@@ -56,9 +60,13 @@ def md_to_html(
     content: str,
     resolve_links: bool = False,
     source: Path | None = None,
-    item_map: dict[Path, Item] | None = None,
+    ctx: BuildCtx | None = None,
 ) -> str:
+    if resolve_links and (source is None or ctx is None):
+        raise TypeError(
+            "md_to_html() missing source and ctx when resolve_links is true"
+        )
     parser = Parser()
     ast = parser.parse(content)
-    renderer = ZonaRenderer(resolve_links, source, item_map)
+    renderer = ZonaRenderer(resolve_links, source, ctx)
     return renderer.render(ast)
diff --git a/src/zona/models.py b/src/zona/models.py
index c3be79c..aff3530 100644
--- a/src/zona/models.py
+++ b/src/zona/models.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from enum import Enum
 from datetime import date
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -30,3 +30,9 @@ class Item:
     content: str | None = None
     type: ItemType | None = None
     copy: bool = True
+
+
+@dataclass
+class BuildCtx:
+    root: Path
+    item_map: dict[Path, Item] = field(default_factory=dict)
diff --git a/src/zona/util.py b/src/zona/util.py
index 6c96d87..d610ed3 100644
--- a/src/zona/util.py
+++ b/src/zona/util.py
@@ -18,3 +18,9 @@ def filename_to_title(path: Path) -> str:
     name = path.stem
     words = name.replace("-", " ").replace("_", " ")
     return string.capwords(words)
+
+
+def normalize_url(url: str) -> str:
+    if not url.startswith("/"):
+        url = "/" + url
+    return url