From 4079e483a4de59fd033d1f4b19f60bb28384b53e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wes <wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:29:15 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): persist chat drafts across section navigation
 (#381)

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .../src/features/messages/lib/useDrafts.ts    | 31 +++++++++++-----
 .../features/messages/ui/MessageComposer.tsx  | 36 ++++++++++---------
 .../messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx        |  1 +
 3 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)

diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/useDrafts.ts b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/useDrafts.ts
index 04d6ec02b..7846a2523 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/useDrafts.ts
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/lib/useDrafts.ts
@@ -8,31 +8,46 @@ export type DraftState = {
   selectionEnd: number;
 };
 
-export function useDrafts() {
-  const draftsRef = React.useRef(new Map<string, DraftState>());
+const sharedDrafts = new Map<string, DraftState>();
 
+export function useDrafts() {
   const saveDraft = React.useCallback(
     (channelId: string, draft: DraftState) => {
       if (draft.content.trim().length === 0) {
         return;
       }
-      const drafts = draftsRef.current;
-      drafts.set(channelId, draft);
-      trimMapToSize(drafts, 50);
+      sharedDrafts.set(channelId, draft);
+      trimMapToSize(sharedDrafts, 50);
     },
     [],
   );
 
   const loadDraft = React.useCallback(
     (channelId: string): DraftState | undefined => {
-      return draftsRef.current.get(channelId);
+      return sharedDrafts.get(channelId);
     },
     [],
   );
 
   const clearDraft = React.useCallback((channelId: string) => {
-    draftsRef.current.delete(channelId);
+    sharedDrafts.delete(channelId);
   }, []);
 
-  return { saveDraft, loadDraft, clearDraft };
+  /** Save draft if content is non-empty, otherwise clear it. */
+  const persistDraft = React.useCallback(
+    (channelId: string, content: string) => {
+      if (content.trim().length > 0) {
+        saveDraft(channelId, {
+          content,
+          selectionEnd: content.length,
+          selectionStart: content.length,
+        });
+      } else {
+        clearDraft(channelId);
+      }
+    },
+    [saveDraft, clearDraft],
+  );
+
+  return { saveDraft, loadDraft, clearDraft, persistDraft };
 }
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageComposer.tsx b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageComposer.tsx
index c96ac5122..06bad1f23 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageComposer.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageComposer.tsx
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type MessageComposerProps = {
   channelId?: string | null;
   channelName: string;
   disabled?: boolean;
+  draftKey?: string;
   editTarget?: {
     author: string;
     body: string;
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ export function MessageComposer({
   channelId = null,
   channelName,
   disabled = false,
+  draftKey,
   editTarget = null,
   isSending = false,
   onCancelEdit,
@@ -83,7 +85,8 @@ export function MessageComposer({
   }, []);
 
   const drafts = useDrafts();
-  const previousChannelIdRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null);
+  const effectiveDraftKey = draftKey ?? channelId;
+  const previousDraftKeyRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null);
 
   const mentions = useMentions(channelId);
   const channelLinks = useChannelLinks();
@@ -151,24 +154,17 @@ export function MessageComposer({
   });
 
   // ── Channel switching: save/restore drafts ──────────────────────────
-  // biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: channelId is the sole trigger
+  // biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: effectiveDraftKey is the sole trigger
   React.useEffect(() => {
-    const prevId = previousChannelIdRef.current;
-    if (prevId) {
-      const currentContent = contentRef.current;
-      if (currentContent.trim().length > 0) {
-        drafts.saveDraft(prevId, {
-          content: currentContent,
-          selectionEnd: currentContent.length,
-          selectionStart: currentContent.length,
-        });
-      } else {
-        drafts.clearDraft(prevId);
-      }
+    const prevKey = previousDraftKeyRef.current;
+    if (prevKey) {
+      drafts.persistDraft(prevKey, contentRef.current);
     }
-    previousChannelIdRef.current = channelId;
+    previousDraftKeyRef.current = effectiveDraftKey;
 
-    const saved = channelId ? drafts.loadDraft(channelId) : undefined;
+    const saved = effectiveDraftKey
+      ? drafts.loadDraft(effectiveDraftKey)
+      : undefined;
     if (saved) {
       setContent(saved.content);
       contentRef.current = saved.content;
@@ -184,7 +180,13 @@ export function MessageComposer({
     setIsEmojiPickerOpen(false);
     mentions.clearMentions();
     channelLinks.clearChannels();
-  }, [channelId]);
+
+    return () => {
+      if (effectiveDraftKey) {
+        drafts.persistDraft(effectiveDraftKey, contentRef.current);
+      }
+    };
+  }, [effectiveDraftKey]);
 
   // ── Edit mode: pre-fill content ─────────────────────────────────────
   // biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: editTarget?.id is the trigger
diff --git a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx
index f5a473616..32ffa7e26 100644
--- a/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ export function MessageThreadPanel({
           channelId={channelId}
           channelName={channelName}
           disabled={disabled || isSending || !channelId}
+          draftKey={`thread:${threadHead.id}`}
           isSending={isSending}
           onCancelReply={composerReplyTarget ? onCancelReply : undefined}
           onSend={onSend}