diff --git a/Sources/Model/TreeNodeEditing.swift b/Sources/Model/TreeNodeEditing.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99a4788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/Model/TreeNodeEditing.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+public extension PureXML.Model.TreeNode {
+    // MARK: Attribute helpers
+
+    /// The value of the attribute named `name` (by `prefix:local` rendering or by
+    /// local name), or nil when the element has no such attribute.
+    func attributeValue(_ name: String) -> String? {
+        attributes.first { $0.name.description == name || $0.name.localName == name }?.value
+    }
+
+    /// Sets the attribute named `name` to `value`, updating it in place when it is
+    /// already present (matched by `prefix:local` rendering) or appending it
+    /// otherwise. A no-op on a non-element node.
+    func setAttribute(_ name: String, _ value: String) {
+        guard kind == .element else { return }
+        if let index = attributes.firstIndex(where: { $0.name.description == name }) {
+            attributes[index].value = value
+        } else {
+            attributes.append(PureXML.Model.Attribute(name, value))
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Removes the attribute named `name` (by `prefix:local` rendering or local
+    /// name), returning whether one was removed.
+    @discardableResult
+    func removeAttribute(_ name: String) -> Bool {
+        guard let index = attributes.firstIndex(where: { $0.name.description == name || $0.name.localName == name }) else {
+            return false
+        }
+        attributes.remove(at: index)
+        return true
+    }
+
+    // MARK: Copying
+
+    /// Returns a copy of this node alone, with no children and no parent. The
+    /// element's name, attributes, and value are carried over. Complements the
+    /// deep ``copy()``.
+    func shallowCopy() -> PureXML.Model.TreeNode {
+        PureXML.Model.TreeNode(kind: kind, name: name, attributes: attributes, value: value)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: Document order
+
+    /// Whether this node strictly precedes `other` in document order. Two nodes are
+    /// comparable only when they share a root; an unrelated node returns false. An
+    /// ancestor precedes its descendants.
+    func precedes(_ other: PureXML.Model.TreeNode) -> Bool {
+        if self === other { return false }
+        let mine = Self.pathFromRoot(self)
+        let theirs = Self.pathFromRoot(other)
+        guard mine.first === theirs.first else { return false }
+        var depth = 0
+        while depth < mine.count, depth < theirs.count, mine[depth] === theirs[depth] {
+            depth += 1
+        }
+        if depth == mine.count { return true }
+        if depth == theirs.count { return false }
+        let parent = mine[depth - 1]
+        let mineIndex = parent.children.firstIndex { $0 === mine[depth] } ?? 0
+        let theirsIndex = parent.children.firstIndex { $0 === theirs[depth] } ?? 0
+        return mineIndex < theirsIndex
+    }
+
+    private static func pathFromRoot(_ node: PureXML.Model.TreeNode) -> [PureXML.Model.TreeNode] {
+        var path = [node]
+        var current = node
+        while let parent = current.parent {
+            path.append(parent)
+            current = parent
+        }
+        return path.reversed()
+    }
+
+    // MARK: Normalization
+
+    /// Coalesces adjacent text children into one, drops empty text children, and
+    /// normalizes each element child recursively (the DOM `normalize` behavior).
+    /// CDATA sections are left intact and never merged with text.
+    func normalize() {
+        var result: [PureXML.Model.TreeNode] = []
+        for child in children {
+            if child.kind == .text {
+                if child.value.isEmpty {
+                    child.parent = nil
+                    continue
+                }
+                if let last = result.last, last.kind == .text {
+                    last.value += child.value
+                    child.parent = nil
+                    continue
+                }
+            } else {
+                child.normalize()
+            }
+            result.append(child)
+        }
+        children = result
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/TreeNodeEditingTests.swift b/Tests/TreeNodeEditingTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1579c09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/TreeNodeEditingTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+@testable import PureXML
+import Testing
+
+@Suite("TreeNode editing: attributes, copy, order, normalize")
+struct TreeNodeEditingTests {
+    private typealias Tree = PureXML.Model.TreeNode
+
+    @Test("Attribute get, set, and remove")
+    func test_attributes() {
+        let element = Tree.element("a", attributes: [PureXML.Model.Attribute("id", "1")])
+        #expect(element.attributeValue("id") == "1")
+        element.setAttribute("id", "2")
+        #expect(element.attributeValue("id") == "2")
+        element.setAttribute("class", "x")
+        #expect(element.attributeValue("class") == "x")
+        #expect(element.attributes.count == 2)
+        let removed = element.removeAttribute("id")
+        #expect(removed)
+        #expect(element.attributeValue("id") == nil)
+        let removedAgain = element.removeAttribute("id")
+        #expect(!removedAgain)
+    }
+
+    @Test("setAttribute is a no-op on a non-element node")
+    func test_setAttributeOnText() {
+        let text = Tree.text("hi")
+        text.setAttribute("id", "1")
+        #expect(text.attributes.isEmpty)
+    }
+
+    @Test("shallowCopy copies the node without its children or parent")
+    func test_shallowCopy() {
+        let parent = Tree.element("a", children: [Tree.element("b")])
+        let child = parent.children[0]
+        child.setAttribute("k", "v")
+        let copy = child.shallowCopy()
+        #expect(copy.name?.localName == "b")
+        #expect(copy.attributeValue("k") == "v")
+        #expect(copy.children.isEmpty)
+        #expect(copy.parent == nil)
+    }
+
+    @Test("Document order: ancestor precedes descendant and earlier siblings precede later")
+    func test_documentOrder() {
+        let root = Tree.element("a")
+        let first = Tree.element("b")
+        let second = Tree.element("c")
+        root.append(first)
+        root.append(second)
+        let deep = Tree.element("d")
+        first.append(deep)
+        #expect(root.precedes(first)) // ancestor before descendant
+        #expect(first.precedes(second)) // earlier sibling before later
+        #expect(deep.precedes(second)) // deep node before its parent's later sibling
+        #expect(!second.precedes(first))
+        #expect(!root.precedes(root))
+    }
+
+    @Test("Document order across unrelated trees is false")
+    func test_documentOrderUnrelated() {
+        let one = Tree.element("x")
+        let two = Tree.element("y")
+        #expect(!one.precedes(two))
+        #expect(!two.precedes(one))
+    }
+
+    @Test("normalize coalesces adjacent text and drops empty text")
+    func test_normalize() {
+        let element = Tree.element("a")
+        element.append(Tree.text("foo"))
+        element.append(Tree.text(""))
+        element.append(Tree.text("bar"))
+        element.append(Tree.comment("c"))
+        element.append(Tree.text("baz"))
+        element.normalize()
+        #expect(element.children.count == 3) // "foobar", comment, "baz"
+        #expect(element.children[0].kind == .text)
+        #expect(element.children[0].value == "foobar")
+        #expect(element.children[1].kind == .comment)
+        #expect(element.children[2].value == "baz")
+    }
+
+    @Test("normalize does not merge CDATA with text and recurses into elements")
+    func test_normalizeCDATAandRecursion() {
+        let inner = Tree.element("b")
+        inner.append(Tree.text("x"))
+        inner.append(Tree.text("y"))
+        let element = Tree.element("a")
+        element.append(Tree.text("t"))
+        element.append(Tree.cdata("data"))
+        element.append(inner)
+        element.normalize()
+        #expect(element.children.count == 3) // text, cdata, element (all distinct)
+        #expect(inner.children.count == 1)
+        #expect(inner.children[0].value == "xy")
+    }
+}