diff --git a/static/js/chatRenderer.js b/static/js/chatRenderer.js
index 400632f..063889e 100644
--- a/static/js/chatRenderer.js
+++ b/static/js/chatRenderer.js
@@ -1217,6 +1217,17 @@ export function showWelcomeScreen() {
   const cc = document.getElementById('chat-container');
   if (ws) ws.classList.remove('hidden');
   if (cc) cc.classList.add('welcome-active');
+  // Entering the New Chat / welcome state: discard any stale draft left in the
+  // composer from the previous session so the input starts empty (issue #1343).
+  // Switching between existing sessions loads them directly and does NOT call
+  // this, so genuine drafts are not erased. Reset the autosized height and fire
+  // an `input` event so the send button + autosize listeners update.
+  const _msg = document.getElementById('message');
+  if (_msg) {
+    _msg.value = '';
+    _msg.style.height = '';
+    _msg.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
+  }
   // Re-trigger the L→R clip-wipe reveal on the welcome name each time the
   // welcome screen is shown (new session, deleted last session, etc.) — without
   // this, the CSS animation only fires on initial DOM insertion.
diff --git a/tests/test_new_chat_clears_input.py b/tests/test_new_chat_clears_input.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7467d5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_new_chat_clears_input.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+"""Regression guard for issue #1343 — clicking "New chat" left the previous
+session's draft text in the composer.
+
+The direct model-picker path (sessions.js:createDirectChat) already cleared the
+input, but the brand/welcome New-Chat navigation path did not. The shared entry
+point for that state is chatRenderer.js:showWelcomeScreen(), which now clears the
+`#message` composer. Switching between existing sessions loads them directly and
+does not call showWelcomeScreen, so real drafts aren't erased.
+
+chatRenderer.js pulls in browser globals, so it can't be imported under node;
+this guards the fix at the source level so it can't be silently dropped.
+"""
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+SRC = (Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "static/js/compare").parent / "chatRenderer.js"
+
+
+def _show_welcome_body() -> str:
+    text = SRC.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    start = text.index("export function showWelcomeScreen()")
+    # Body runs until the next top-level `export function` / `function ` decl.
+    rest = text[start + len("export function showWelcomeScreen()"):]
+    m = re.search(r"\nexport function |\nfunction ", rest)
+    return rest[: m.start()] if m else rest
+
+
+def test_new_chat_welcome_clears_the_composer():
+    body = _show_welcome_body()
+    # Clears the draft value...
+    assert re.search(r"getElementById\(['\"]message['\"]\)", body)
+    assert re.search(r"\.value\s*=\s*['\"]['\"]", body), "must reset #message value"
+    # ...and notifies listeners (send button icon / autosize) of the change.
+    assert "new Event('input'" in body or 'new Event("input"' in body