[BUG] Desktop Code tab: long unsent prompt disappears during composition; Cmd+Z and history navigation cannot restore it
What's Wrong?
On 2026-09-11, a long unsent prompt disappeared while the user was composing it in the Code tab of Claude Desktop on macOS. Cmd+Z did not restore it. Down arrow did nothing. Up arrow recalled the previous prompt rather than the missing draft.
The exact preceding keystroke or UI event is unknown. A deterministic reproducer has not been established. This report does not attribute the loss to an update, authentication event, or history shortcut.
What Should Happen?
The app should automatically preserve unsent drafts per conversation, retain a recoverable copy before replacing or clearing input, and provide a reliable Restore draft/undo path after unexpected loss. This should work without per-prompt copying, external-editor composition, or routine confirmation dialogs.
Steps to Reproduce
Observed sequence, not a reliable reproducer:
- Compose a long prompt in an existing Desktop Code conversation without submitting it.
- The composed text disappears.
- Try Cmd+Z, Down, and Up; the draft is not restored.
Impact
The user writes hundreds of prompts daily. Manual backup steps add unacceptable cumulative friction, and losing long composed instructions creates substantial rework.
Environment
- Claude Desktop: 1.52386.0 (read from the installed app bundle).
- macOS: 26.6.2, arm64.
- Surface: Desktop Code tab, not terminal or VS Code.
- Active affected session's bundled Claude Code version and model: not established.
- Regression / last working version: unknown. The app was not restarted or upgraded for diagnosis, to preserve possible draft remnants.
Error Messages / Diagnostics
A limited recent-log search found no matching crash or reload indicators; that does not rule out a UI state reset. Local app storage was preserved privately, and composer-draft records exist, but the target draft has not been recovered. No prompt content, raw logs, or identifying session details are attached.
Related Reports
Possibly related: #82291, especially https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/82291#issuecomment-5119321903. Its reporter later identified Ctrl+R history search followed by Escape accepting a previous prompt, and reported inability to disable the shortcut. That sequence has NOT been confirmed here. This incident is filed separately because the observed behavior was the draft disappearing; the older prompt was recalled only during the subsequent recovery attempt.
Please investigate whether these share a cause and route to the Desktop composer owner if needed. The requested outcome is automatic protection of unsent input and recovery from destructive input replacement, with no recurring manual backup burden.
Follow-up: Ctrl+R preserves the draft
The user confirms that pressing Ctrl+R opens Search history and does not remove the prompt. Ctrl+R alone does not reproduce the reported loss. The related report above should not be treated as a diagnosis of this incident; its additional Escape sequence has not been established here. The trigger remains unknown.