Background / Problem Description

In Jira Cloud issues today:

• When a user starts typing a top-level comment (in the main “Add a comment” box) and then:
  • Navigates away, or
  • Refreshes the page
• ...the draft is retained and is restored when they return to the issue.
• However, when a user starts typing a threaded reply (replying to an existing comment) and:
  • Refreshes the page, or
  • Navigates away and comes back
• ...the reply draft is lost. There is no autosave or draft recovery for these threaded replies.

This creates an inconsistent experience within the same commenting UI and can lead to data loss and user frustration, especially in long, detailed replies.

Proposed Solution

Add autosave & draft restoration for threaded replies, matching the behavior of the main comment box:

• Autosave behavior
  • As the user types in a “Reply” / threaded comment field:
    • Save the draft locally (and/or to the backend) periodically and on key events (e.g., on blur, on interval, on text change).
• Draft restoration on refresh/navigation
  • On returning to the issue:
    • If there is an unfinished draft reply for a specific comment, automatically restore it when the user opens that reply editor again.
    • Optionally: visually indicate that a draft exists on that comment (e.g., a “Continue draft reply” action or auto-expanded reply editor with draft loaded).