diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeAIChat.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeAIChat.svelte
index e8bad505d9..0aad0adb1a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeAIChat.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeAIChat.svelte
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 	import { useReducedMotion } from '$lib/svelte5Utils.svelte'
 	import { BROWSER } from 'esm-env'
 	import HomeConnectDrawer from './HomeConnectDrawer.svelte'
+	import HomeComposerSkeleton, {
+		composerHeight,
+		rememberComposerHeight
+	} from './HomeComposerSkeleton.svelte'
 	import { prefersSessionHandoff } from '../copilot/chat/global/gate'
 	import PageHeaderContent from '$lib/components/PageHeaderContent.svelte'
 	import DropdownV2 from '$lib/components/DropdownV2.svelte'
@@ -132,13 +136,23 @@
 			     fork shares its parent's, and remounting for it only flashes the block. -->
 			{#if HomeSessionStarter && sessionState.hydrated && (rulesReady || shownForRoot === $currentWorkspaceRootId)}
 				{#key $currentWorkspaceRootId}
-					<HomeSessionStarter onShown={() => (shownForRoot = $currentWorkspaceRootId)} />
+					<HomeSessionStarter
+						onShown={() => (shownForRoot = $currentWorkspaceRootId)}
+						{placeholder}
+						onSettled={(height) => rememberComposerHeight($workspaceStore ?? undefined, height)}
+					/>
 				{/key}
+			{:else}
+				{@render placeholder()}
 			{/if}
 		{/if}
 	</div>
 </div>
 
+{#snippet placeholder()}
+	<HomeComposerSkeleton height={composerHeight($workspaceStore ?? undefined)} />
+{/snippet}
+
 <HomeConnectDrawer bind:this={homeConnectDrawer} />
 
 <!-- Everything the hero offered beside the composer lives in the band's menu: the connect helper,
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeComposerSkeleton.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeComposerSkeleton.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fee8991894
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/home/HomeComposerSkeleton.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+<script lang="ts" module>
+	import { getLocalSetting, storeLocalSetting } from '$lib/utils'
+
+	const HEIGHT_SETTING = 'home-composer-height:'
+	// The box's 4px top margin and the 8px under the block.
+	const BLOCK_MARGINS = 12
+	const ONE_LINE_HEIGHT = 48 + BLOCK_MARGINS
+	// The suggestion chips' row under an open box. A disabled composer has none, and its box,
+	// the shortest open one, is 78px.
+	const SUGGESTIONS_ROW = 36
+	const OPEN_BOX_MIN = 78
+
+	/** The height Home's composer took when it last appeared in this workspace. */
+	export function composerHeight(workspace: string | undefined): number | undefined {
+		const stored = workspace ? Number(getLocalSetting(HEIGHT_SETTING + workspace)) : NaN
+		return Number.isFinite(stored) && stored > 0 ? stored : undefined
+	}
+
+	export function rememberComposerHeight(workspace: string | undefined, height: number) {
+		if (workspace && height > 0) storeLocalSetting(HEIGHT_SETTING + workspace, String(height))
+	}
+</script>
+
+<script lang="ts">
+	import { ArrowUp, MessagesSquare } from 'lucide-svelte'
+	import { twMerge } from 'tailwind-merge'
+	import Button from '../common/button/Button.svelte'
+	import {
+		composerBoxClass,
+		HERO_BOX_CLASS,
+		STARTER_PLACEHOLDER
+	} from '../copilot/chat/composerBox'
+
+	// Stands in for the composer while its code and config load, drawn as the composer it
+	// replaces: the same box, mark and placeholder, in the shape it last took in this workspace.
+	// Without a remembered height it is the one-line shape, which is what a workspace past a
+	// handful of items rests in.
+	let { height }: { height?: number } = $props()
+
+	const open = $derived(height !== undefined && height > ONE_LINE_HEIGHT)
+	const suggestions = $derived(open && height! - BLOCK_MARGINS - SUGGESTIONS_ROW >= OPEN_BOX_MIN)
+	const boxClass = twMerge(composerBoxClass(), HERO_BOX_CLASS)
+</script>
+
+{#snippet bar(width: string)}
+	<span class="animate-skeleton dark:bg-frost-900/50 rounded h-3 {width}"></span>
+{/snippet}
+
+{#snippet sendButton()}
+	<Button variant="subtle" unifiedSize="sm" iconOnly disabled startIcon={{ icon: ArrowUp }} />
+{/snippet}
+
+<div
+	class="w-full pb-2 flex flex-col"
+	style:height={open ? `${height}px` : undefined}
+	aria-busy="true"
+	aria-label="Loading the AI composer"
+>
+	<!-- The placeholder's `-px` offsets stand for the real field's transparent 1px border. -->
+	{#if open}
+		<div class="mt-1 flex-1 min-h-0 flex flex-col {boxClass}">
+			<div class="flex items-start">
+				<span class="flex items-center h-5 mt-[13px] ml-4 shrink-0">
+					<MessagesSquare size={16} class="text-ai" />
+				</span>
+				<span class="mt-px ml-px pl-2 pr-4 pt-3 text-xs leading-5 text-gray-500 truncate">
+					{STARTER_PLACEHOLDER}
+				</span>
+			</div>
+			<div class="mt-auto flex flex-row items-center gap-1.5 px-3 pb-1.5">
+				<div class="flex-1 min-w-0 flex flex-row items-center gap-3">
+					{@render bar('w-24')}
+					{@render bar('w-20')}
+				</div>
+				{@render bar('w-12')}
+				{@render sendButton()}
+			</div>
+		</div>
+		{#if suggestions}
+			<div class="pt-2 flex flex-row items-center gap-1.5 shrink-0">
+				{#each ['w-20', 'w-24', 'w-24'] as width, i (i)}
+					<span class="h-7 px-3 flex items-center rounded-full border border-border-light">
+						{@render bar(width)}
+					</span>
+				{/each}
+			</div>
+		{/if}
+	{:else}
+		<div class="mt-1 h-12 flex flex-row items-center {boxClass}">
+			<span class="flex items-center ml-4 shrink-0">
+				<MessagesSquare size={16} class="text-ai" />
+			</span>
+			<span class="flex-1 min-w-0 ml-px pl-2 pr-2 text-xs leading-5 text-gray-500 truncate">
+				{STARTER_PLACEHOLDER}
+			</span>
+			<div class="flex flex-row items-center gap-1 pr-3 shrink-0">
+				{@render bar('w-12')}
+				{@render sendButton()}
+			</div>
+		</div>
+	{/if}
+</div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/HomeSessionStarter.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/HomeSessionStarter.svelte
index 92dcc4dc72..9ab68c3742 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/HomeSessionStarter.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/sessions/HomeSessionStarter.svelte
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <script lang="ts">
-	import { onMount, setContext } from 'svelte'
+	import { onMount, setContext, type Snippet } from 'svelte'
 	import AIChat from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChat.svelte'
 	import type { DraftAttachments } from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/messageDraft.svelte'
 	import type { AIChatManager } from '$lib/components/copilot/chat/AIChatManager.svelte'
@@ -27,7 +27,14 @@
 	// Home's block is the empty session's own chat, run by that session's manager: the
 	// composer, its controls and what a send does are the session's, not a copy of them.
 	// Picked once; the parent remounts this on a workspace switch, which changes the family.
-	let { onShown }: { onShown?: () => void } = $props()
+	// `placeholder` stands in while the chat waits on its config; `onSettled` reports the height
+	// the chat first took, for the next placeholder to take.
+	let {
+		onShown,
+		placeholder,
+		onSettled
+	}: { onShown?: () => void; placeholder?: Snippet; onSettled?: (height: number) => void } =
+		$props()
 
 	const initialSession = homeStarterSession()
 	const sessionId = initialSession.id
@@ -70,6 +77,19 @@
 	}
 
 	let aiChat: AIChat | undefined = $state(undefined)
+	let chatWrapper: HTMLDivElement | undefined = $state(undefined)
+	// A seeded draft holds the composer open, which is not the shape it rests in once the
+	// draft is sent, so only a mount with an empty draft is measured.
+	const initialAttachments = getSessionDraftAttachments(sessionId)
+	let settled =
+		!!getSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId)?.trim() ||
+		(!!initialAttachments && Object.values(initialAttachments).some((lane) => lane.length > 0))
+	$effect(() => {
+		if (!aiChat || !chatWrapper || settled) return
+		settled = true
+		const wrapper = chatWrapper
+		requestAnimationFrame(() => onSettled?.(wrapper.offsetHeight))
+	})
 	onMount(() => {
 		onShown?.()
 		if (takeComposerFocus()) setTimeout(() => aiChat?.focusInput(), 0)
@@ -92,22 +112,26 @@
      The item count decides whether the composer rests collapsed, so it waits for that too
      rather than open and fold up a moment later. -->
 {#if session && $copilotWorkspace !== undefined && starterPrompts.fewItems !== undefined}
-	<AIChat
-		bind:this={aiChat}
-		hideHeader
-		hideModeSelector
-		wideLayout
-		initialInstructions={getSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId)}
-		{onDraftChange}
-		initialAttachments={getSessionDraftAttachments(sessionId)}
-		{onAttachmentsChange}
-		starter={{
-			where: 'home',
-			suggestions: starterPrompts.suggestions,
-			fewItems: starterPrompts.fewItems
-		}}
-		viewTransitionNames
-		{onSent}
-		{actingOn}
-	/>
+	<div bind:this={chatWrapper}>
+		<AIChat
+			bind:this={aiChat}
+			hideHeader
+			hideModeSelector
+			wideLayout
+			initialInstructions={getSessionDraftPrompt(sessionId)}
+			{onDraftChange}
+			initialAttachments={getSessionDraftAttachments(sessionId)}
+			{onAttachmentsChange}
+			starter={{
+				where: 'home',
+				suggestions: starterPrompts.suggestions,
+				fewItems: starterPrompts.fewItems
+			}}
+			viewTransitionNames
+			{onSent}
+			{actingOn}
+		/>
+	</div>
+{:else}
+	{@render placeholder?.()}
 {/if}