diff --git a/docs/writeback-evolution.md b/docs/writeback-evolution.md
index 42f1e29..28e84a5 100644
--- a/docs/writeback-evolution.md
+++ b/docs/writeback-evolution.md
@@ -360,6 +360,12 @@ fclt ai evolve verify EV-00001 \
   --note "The producing loop no longer repeats the failure"
 ```
 
+`evolve show <id> --json` inspects a proposal without changing it. Repeating
+`evolve draft <id>` preserves an existing draft, patch, and review state; use
+`--append` only for an intentional substantive revision. If a patch is missing,
+drafting rebuilds it from the existing authored draft rather than replacing that
+draft with generated boilerplate.
+
 Applying a proposal moves its source writebacks into an awaiting-verification state. Verification
 then records one of `improved`, `unchanged`, `regressed`, or `inconclusive`. Improved evidence
 resolves the writebacks; unchanged or regressed evidence returns them to the pending queue;
diff --git a/src/ai.test.ts b/src/ai.test.ts
index 52ab829..292e67b 100644
--- a/src/ai.test.ts
+++ b/src/ai.test.ts
@@ -1367,12 +1367,48 @@ describe("ai writeback", () => {
       "Require post-apply effectiveness verification."
     );
 
+    const beforeRepeat = await showProposal(proposal!.id, {
+      homeDir: tempHome,
+      rootDir,
+    });
+    const authoredDraftPath = join(
+      facultAiDraftDir(tempHome, rootDir),
+      `${proposal!.id}.md`
+    );
+    const authoredPatchPath = join(
+      facultAiDraftDir(tempHome, rootDir),
+      `${proposal!.id}.patch`
+    );
+    const authoredDraft = await readFile(authoredDraftPath, "utf8");
+    const journalBefore = await readFile(
+      facultAiJournalPath(tempHome, rootDir),
+      "utf8"
+    );
+    expect(
+      await draftProposal(proposal!.id, { homeDir: tempHome, rootDir })
+    ).toEqual(beforeRepeat!);
+    expect(await readFile(authoredDraftPath, "utf8")).toBe(authoredDraft);
+    expect(await readFile(authoredPatchPath, "utf8")).toBe(revisedPatch);
+    expect(await readFile(facultAiJournalPath(tempHome, rootDir), "utf8")).toBe(
+      journalBefore
+    );
+
+    await rm(authoredPatchPath);
+    await draftProposal(proposal!.id, { homeDir: tempHome, rootDir });
+    expect((await readFile(authoredDraftPath, "utf8")).trimEnd()).toBe(
+      authoredDraft.trimEnd()
+    );
+    expect(await readFile(authoredPatchPath, "utf8")).toBe(revisedPatch);
+
     const accepted = await acceptProposal(proposal!.id, {
       homeDir: tempHome,
       rootDir,
     });
     expect(accepted.status).toBe("accepted");
     expect(accepted.review?.status).toBe("accepted");
+    expect(
+      await draftProposal(proposal!.id, { homeDir: tempHome, rootDir })
+    ).toEqual(accepted);
 
     const applied = await applyProposal(proposal!.id, {
       homeDir: tempHome,
diff --git a/src/ai.ts b/src/ai.ts
index cded875..6185c85 100644
--- a/src/ai.ts
+++ b/src/ai.ts
@@ -2205,6 +2205,20 @@ export async function draftProposal(
   if (!current) {
     throw new Error(`Proposal not found: ${id}`);
   }
+  const draftPath = draftRefForProposal(homeDir, args.rootDir, id);
+  const patchPath = patchRefForProposal(homeDir, args.rootDir, id);
+  const existingDraftPath = await firstExistingFile([
+    draftPath,
+    ...current.draftRefs.filter((pathValue) => pathValue.endsWith(".md")),
+  ]);
+  if (
+    current.status !== "proposed" &&
+    !args.append &&
+    existingDraftPath &&
+    (await fileExists(patchPath))
+  ) {
+    return current;
+  }
   const writebacks = (
     await Promise.all(
       current.sourceWritebacks.map(async (writebackId) => {
@@ -2220,24 +2234,17 @@ export async function draftProposal(
     homeDir,
     rootDir: args.rootDir,
   });
-  const draftPath = draftRefForProposal(homeDir, args.rootDir, id);
-  const patchPath = patchRefForProposal(homeDir, args.rootDir, id);
   await mkdir(dirname(draftPath), { recursive: true });
   const generatedBody = renderDraftBody(current, writebacks);
-  const existingDraftPath = await firstExistingFile([
-    draftPath,
-    ...current.draftRefs.filter((pathValue) => pathValue.endsWith(".md")),
-  ]);
-  const priorDraft =
-    args.append && existingDraftPath
-      ? await readFile(existingDraftPath, "utf8")
-      : null;
+  const priorDraft = existingDraftPath
+    ? await readFile(existingDraftPath, "utf8")
+    : null;
   const baseDraft = priorDraft ?? generatedBody;
   const draftBody = args.append
     ? isAppendProposalKind(current.kind)
       ? insertDraftRevision(id, baseDraft, args.append)
       : `${baseDraft.trimEnd()}\n\n## Draft Revision\n${args.append.trim()}\n`
-    : generatedBody;
+    : baseDraft;
   await Bun.write(draftPath, `${draftBody}\n`);
   const currentText = (await fileExists(targetNode.path!))
     ? await readFile(targetNode.path!, "utf8")