# If you'd like to omit non-matching lines from the result; add ';d' to the end of the expression.
sed -E 's/(^|[^@\w])@(\w{1,30})\b(?!.*<\\/span>)/$1<span class="mention">@$2<\/span>/g;t' <<< "@name
email@website.com
a@b
@thisreallylongstringthatshouldntbematched
<span>@name</span>
<span class=\"mention\">@test</span> @test2
<span></span> @betweentwospans <span></span>
"
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for SED, please visit: https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/html_node/The-_0022s_0022-Command.html