Carerealm auto-saves every diary entry as you type. Close the tab, lose your battery, swap devices — your draft is waiting when you come back.
How auto-save works
Local — your browser saves to localStorage every half-second.
Server — every five seconds (debounced), the draft syncs to Carerealm's server so it follows you across devices.
Scope — drafts are per-person, per-area, per-diary-day. Two staff on the same shift can each have their own in-progress draft for the same area without overwriting each other.
No "Save draft" button — saving is automatic and silent. You'll see no toast or banner during normal typing.
Resuming a draft
When you re-open the diary on a day where you have an unsaved draft, the entry-type chooser dialog shows a banner: Resume your unsaved draft with a "Last edited X ago" timestamp. Click the banner to open the editor with your draft loaded.
Once you're in the editor, the same banner shows again at the top of the slideover: Resumed an unsaved draft from [time]. Edits will be saved automatically. with a Start fresh link to discard the draft and start over.
Closing with unsaved changes
If you close the slideover while the editor has content different from the draft, a dialog appears:
Continue Editing — go back to the editor.
Discard Changes (red) — wipe the local + server draft.
Close for Now (primary) — keep the draft alive across devices. Default safe option.
Note — Drafts are private to you until you submit. Colleagues can't see your in-progress text — only finalised entries show in the diary view.
When a draft seems stuck
If the editor's save indicator hangs for more than 10 seconds, your network might be flaky. The local copy is safe; check your connection and refresh.
If you can't restore an older draft, the server-side draft may have expired (the day has passed) or someone has submitted on your behalf.