[Feature Request] Message Draft Auto-Save Per Room

[Devnil434]

Summary

Automatically save unsent message drafts per room / channel / DM so users do not lose typed messages when switching rooms, navigating away, or refreshing the page.

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Problem Statement

Currently, if a user types a message in a room and:

• switches to another room,
• accidentally refreshes the page,
• navigates away and comes back,

the unsent message draft is lost.

This can be frustrating, especially for:

• long messages,
• technical discussions,
• support conversations,
• multi-room workflows.

Most modern chat platforms (e.g., Slack, Discord) preserve drafts per conversation, and users expect similar behavior.

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Proposed Solution

Implement per-room message draft persistence on the client side.

Basic Behavior

• Save the message input content automatically as the user types.
• Store drafts separately for each room / DM / thread.
• Restore the draft when the user revisits the same room.

Suggested Initial Scope

• Client-side only implementation (no server changes required initially).
• Use localStorage or IndexedDB for persistence.
• Key drafts by roomId (and optionally threadId).
• Clear the stored draft once the message is successfully sent.

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Why This Feature Matters

• Prevents accidental data loss.
• Improves overall user experience and reliability.
• Aligns Rocket.Chat with modern chat UX standards.
• Low-risk, incremental improvement with high user impact.

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Acceptance Criteria

• Draft text is preserved when switching between rooms.
• Draft text is restored on page refresh.
• Drafts are isolated per room (no cross-room leakage).
• Draft is cleared after successful message send.
• No impact on message sending performance.

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Possible Enhancements (Future Work)

• Sync drafts across devices (server-side persistence).
• Support drafts in message threads.
• Add an indicator when a draft exists in a room.

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Willingness to Contribute

I am willing to work on this feature and submit a pull request if the maintainers agree with the approach.

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Additional Context

This feature can be implemented incrementally and is suitable as a good first issue while still delivering meaningful value to end users.

[Rafiaminhaj]

This feature would be a big UX improvement, especially for longer messages.

The client-side per-room draft persistence approach sounds reasonable.
I’d be happy to help implement this incrementally if the maintainers agree.
Please let me know if there are any preferences or constraints before starting.

[dikshaa2909]

Hi @Devnil434
I’d love to work on this issue if it’s still open. Planning a client-side draft persistence using localStorage, scoped per room, and cleared on send. Happy to follow any guidance before starting. Thanks!

[Devnil434]

thanks for linking it @dikshaa2909.