diff --git a/Mactrix/Models/LiveTimeline.swift b/Mactrix/Models/LiveTimeline.swift
index 618b855..7661c7c 100644
--- a/Mactrix/Models/LiveTimeline.swift
+++ b/Mactrix/Models/LiveTimeline.swift
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import SwiftUI
 @MainActor @Observable
 public final class LiveTimeline {
     public let room: LiveRoom
-    public let isThreadFocus: Bool
+    public let focusedThreadId: String?
 
     public var timeline: Timeline?
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public final class LiveTimeline {
     public private(set) var hitTimelineStart: Bool = false
 
     public init(room: LiveRoom) {
-        self.isThreadFocus = false
+        self.focusedThreadId = nil
         self.room = room
         Task {
             do {
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public final class LiveTimeline {
     }
 
     public init(room: LiveRoom, focusThread threadId: String) {
-        self.isThreadFocus = true
+        self.focusedThreadId = threadId
         self.room = room
         Task {
             do {
diff --git a/Mactrix/Views/ChatView/ChatInputView.swift b/Mactrix/Views/ChatView/ChatInputView.swift
index db4a1a1..e5630a0 100644
--- a/Mactrix/Views/ChatView/ChatInputView.swift
+++ b/Mactrix/Views/ChatView/ChatInputView.swift
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ struct ChatInputView: View {
     @Binding var height: CGFloat?
     @AppStorage("fontSize") var fontSize: Int = 13
 
+    @State private var isDraftLoaded: Bool = false
     @State private var chatInput: String = ""
     @FocusState private var chatFocused: Bool
 
@@ -33,6 +34,83 @@ struct ChatInputView: View {
         timeline.scrollPosition.scrollTo(edge: .bottom)
     }
 
+    private func saveDraft() async {
+        guard isDraftLoaded else { return } // avoid saving a draft hasn't yet been restored
+        if chatInput.isEmpty && replyTo == nil {
+            Logger.viewCycle.debug("clearing draft")
+            do {
+                try await room.clearComposerDraft(threadRoot: timeline.focusedThreadId)
+            } catch {
+                Logger.viewCycle.error("failed to clear draft: \(error)")
+            }
+            return
+        }
+
+        let draftType: ComposerDraftType
+        if let replyTo {
+            draftType = .reply(eventId: replyTo.eventOrTransactionId.id)
+        } else {
+            draftType = .newMessage
+        }
+        let draft = ComposerDraft(
+            plainText: chatInput,
+            htmlText: nil,
+            draftType: draftType,
+            attachments: []
+        )
+        do {
+            try await room.saveComposerDraft(draft: draft, threadRoot: timeline.focusedThreadId)
+        } catch {
+            Logger.viewCycle.error("failed save draft: \(error)")
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func loadDraft() async {
+        guard !isDraftLoaded else { return }  // don't load a draft more than once
+        do {
+            guard let draft = try await room.loadComposerDraft(threadRoot: timeline.focusedThreadId) else {
+                // no draft to load
+                isDraftLoaded = true
+                return
+            }
+            self.chatInput = draft.plainText
+            switch draft.draftType {
+            case .reply(eventId: let eventId):
+                // we need a timeline to be able to populate the reply; return false so we can try again
+                guard let innerTimeline = timeline.timeline else {
+                    isDraftLoaded = false
+                    return
+                }
+
+                do {
+                    let item = try await innerTimeline.getEventTimelineItemByEventId(eventId: eventId)
+                    self.timeline.sendReplyTo = item
+                } catch {
+                    Logger.viewCycle.error("failed to resolve reply target: \(error)")
+                }
+            case .newMessage, .edit:
+                // nothing to do
+                isDraftLoaded = true
+                return
+            }
+        } catch {
+            Logger.viewCycle.error("failed to load draft: \(error)")
+        }
+        isDraftLoaded = true  // so we don't try again
+    }
+
+    private func chatInputChanged() async {
+        guard isDraftLoaded else { return } // avoid working on a draft that's being restored
+        if !chatInput.isEmpty {
+            do {
+                try await room.typingNotice(isTyping: !chatInput.isEmpty)
+            } catch {
+                Logger.viewCycle.warning("Failed to send typing notice: \(error)")
+            }
+        }
+        await saveDraft()
+    }
+
     var replyEmbeddedDetails: EmbeddedEventDetails? {
         guard let replyTo else { return nil }
 
@@ -54,13 +132,13 @@ struct ChatInputView: View {
                 .scrollContentBackground(.hidden)
                 .background(.clear)
                 .padding(10)
+                .disabled(!isDraftLoaded)  // avoid inputs until we've tried to load a draft
         }
         .font(.system(size: .init(fontSize)))
         .background(
             GeometryReader { proxy in
                 Color(NSColor.textBackgroundColor)
                     .onChange(of: proxy.size.height) { _, inputHeight in
-                        print("Input height: \(inputHeight)")
                         self.height = inputHeight
                     }
             }
@@ -76,13 +154,16 @@ struct ChatInputView: View {
         .onTapGesture {
             chatFocused = true
         }
-        .task(id: !chatInput.isEmpty) {
-            let isTyping = !chatInput.isEmpty
-            do {
-                try await room.typingNotice(isTyping: isTyping)
-            } catch {
-                Logger.viewCycle.error("Failed to set typing notice: \(error)")
-            }
+        .task(id: chatInput) {
+            await chatInputChanged()
+        }
+        .task(id: replyTo?.eventOrTransactionId) {
+            await saveDraft()
+        }
+        .task(id: timeline.timeline != nil) {
+            // we need the timeline to be populated before we load a draft
+            // (in case the draft holds a reply)
+            await loadDraft()
         }
         .pointerStyle(.horizontalText)
         .padding([.horizontal, .bottom], 10)