use whitespace instead of space

app.py

@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ def highlight_words(input_text, json_output):
         if path_key not in color_map:
             color_map[path_key] = next(colors)
         color = color_map[path_key]
-        # highlighted_text = highlighted_text.replace(f" {value}", f" <span style='background-color: {color};'>{unquote(f'{value}')}</span>")
 
-        pattern = rf"(?<=[ \n\t]){re.escape(value)}(?=[ \n\t\.\,\?\:\;])"
+        escaped_value = re.escape(value).replace(r'\ ', r'\s+') # escape value and replace spaces with \s+
+        pattern = rf"(?<=[ \n\t]){escaped_value}(?=[ \n\t\.\,\?\:\;])"
         replacement = f"<span style='background-color: {color};'>{unquote(value)}</span>"
         highlighted_text = re.sub(pattern, replacement, highlighted_text, flags=re.IGNORECASE)