diff --git a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Composer.swift b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Composer.swift
index 7d9cadd..7560555 100644
--- a/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Composer.swift
+++ b/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Views/Composer.swift
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ struct NewChatAffordance: ViewModifier {
     var project: WireProject? = nil
     /// Owned by the caller so it can also open the composer programmatically (iPad ⌘N on Home).
     @Binding var isPresented: Bool
+    /// Prompt text and its focus live here so the scrim tap and auto-focus can coordinate with the
+    /// composer (whether it's empty, whether the keyboard is up).
+    @State private var draft = ""
+    @FocusState private var draftFocused: Bool
 
     /// The button only makes sense when this device can control a Mac and there's a project to
     /// start a chat in; otherwise the composer it opens would be inert.
@@ -151,6 +155,8 @@ struct NewChatAffordance: ViewModifier {
         store.canControl && (project != nil || !store.dashboard.projects.isEmpty)
     }
 
+    private var isEmpty: Bool { draft.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces).isEmpty }
+
     func body(content: Content) -> some View {
         content
             // The "+" disc — hidden while the composer is up so it doesn't sit over the bar.
@@ -175,7 +181,7 @@ struct NewChatAffordance: ViewModifier {
                 }
             }
             // The composer itself, floating up from the bottom over a light scrim — no modal pane,
-            // no nav chrome, just the entry box. Tapping the scrim dismisses it.
+            // no nav chrome, just the entry box.
             .overlay {
                 if isPresented {
                     ZStack(alignment: .bottom) {
@@ -183,8 +189,14 @@ struct NewChatAffordance: ViewModifier {
                             .fill(.black.opacity(0.2))
                             .ignoresSafeArea()
                             .transition(.opacity)
-                            .onTapGesture { isPresented = false }
-                        StartChatComposer(onStart: { isPresented = false }, lockedProject: project)
+                            // Tapping away drops the keyboard; with nothing typed there's nothing to
+                            // keep the bar around for, so close it. A draft in progress stays open
+                            // (keyboard down) so a stray tap doesn't discard it.
+                            .onTapGesture {
+                                if isEmpty { isPresented = false } else { draftFocused = false }
+                            }
+                        StartChatComposer(draft: $draft, focus: $draftFocused,
+                                          onStart: { isPresented = false }, lockedProject: project)
                             .padding(.horizontal, 12)
                             .padding(.bottom, 8)
                             .transition(.move(edge: .bottom).combined(with: .opacity))
@@ -192,6 +204,20 @@ struct NewChatAffordance: ViewModifier {
                 }
             }
             .animation(.spring(response: 0.35, dampingFraction: 0.86), value: isPresented)
+            .onChange(of: isPresented) { _, open in
+                if open {
+                    draft = ""
+                    // Focus once the bar has sprung into place, so the keyboard rises against a
+                    // settled layout — otherwise its avoidance inset is computed mid-animation and
+                    // the keyboard lands overlapping the bar until the next re-layout.
+                    DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.35) {
+                        if isPresented { draftFocused = true }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    draftFocused = false
+                    draft = ""
+                }
+            }
     }
 }