diff --git a/v2/operator-app/src/routes/briefs/edit.tsx b/v2/operator-app/src/routes/briefs/edit.tsx
index 7cdc44b..56cab57 100644
--- a/v2/operator-app/src/routes/briefs/edit.tsx
+++ b/v2/operator-app/src/routes/briefs/edit.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,44 @@
-// Brief edit page — reuses the same Zod-shape JSON the server expects on PATCH.
-// Minimal UI: pre-fills a JSON textarea with the current brief's full shape and
-// submits the parsed JSON. Avoids duplicating the 7-section form from `new.tsx`.
-import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+// Brief edit page. Prefills a JSON textarea from the current brief's full shape
+// and submits the parsed JSON via PATCH. Robust to the brief data arriving late
+// or to `full` being missing — falls back to reconstructing the brief shape
+// from the public columns. Doesn't clobber user-typed content on data refetch.
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useNavigate, useParams } from 'react-router-dom';
-import { useBrief, useUpdateBrief, type BriefCreateInput } from '../../api/briefs';
+import { useBrief, useUpdateBrief, type BriefCreateInput, type BriefSummary } from '../../api/briefs';
 import { ApiError } from '../../api/client';
 import { useMe } from '../../auth/useMe';
 
+function reconstructFromPublic(b: BriefSummary): BriefCreateInput {
+  // When the server's `full` field is absent (older briefs, or any stored
+  // shape we can't trust), build a valid BRIEF_INPUT from the public columns.
+  const positioning = (b.positioning && typeof b.positioning === 'object'
+    ? b.positioning as { positioning?: string; brand?: { name?: string; handle?: string } }
+    : null);
+  return {
+    client_name: b.client_name,
+    category: b.category,
+    brand: {
+      name: positioning?.brand?.name ?? b.client_name,
+      handle: positioning?.brand?.handle ?? '',
+      ...(positioning?.positioning ? { positioning: positioning.positioning } : {}),
+    },
+    competitors: [],
+    audience: { primary: '', age_range: '', gender: '', interests: [] },
+    geo: '',
+    language: 'en',
+    business_question: b.business_question,
+    kpis: Array.isArray(b.kpis) ? b.kpis : [],
+    budget_usd: b.budget_usd,
+    date_window_days: b.date_window_days,
+    platforms: (b.platforms as 'tiktok'[]) ?? ['tiktok'],
+    context_vision: b.context_vision ?? undefined,
+    prior_report_id: b.prior_report_id ?? null,
+    min_likes: b.min_likes,
+    min_plays: b.min_plays,
+    min_stl_pct: b.min_stl_pct,
+  };
+}
+
 export default function BriefEdit() {
   const { id } = useParams();
   const navigate = useNavigate();
@@ -16,17 +48,30 @@ export default function BriefEdit() {
   const [text, setText] = useState('');
   const [err, setErr] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [issues, setIssues] = useState<{ path: (string | number)[]; message: string }[] | null>(null);
+  const seededRef = useRef(false);
 
+  // Initialise the textarea exactly once when data first arrives. Subsequent
+  // refetches (window focus, invalidation) MUST NOT overwrite what the user
+  // has typed. If `full` is missing, fall back to the public-columns view.
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (data?.brief?.full) setText(JSON.stringify(data.brief.full, null, 2));
+    if (seededRef.current || !data?.brief) return;
+    const source = data.brief.full ?? reconstructFromPublic(data.brief);
+    setText(JSON.stringify(source, null, 2));
+    seededRef.current = true;
   }, [data]);
 
-  if (isLoading) return <div className="text-text-muted text-sm">Loading…</div>;
+  if (isLoading) return <div className="text-text-muted text-sm">Loading brief…</div>;
   if (error || !data) return <div className="text-red-400 text-sm">Failed to load brief.</div>;
 
   const role = me?.active_team?.role;
   if (role !== 'editor' && role !== 'admin' && role !== 'owner') {
-    return <div className="text-red-400 text-sm">Editor or higher role required to edit briefs.</div>;
+    return <div className="text-red-400 text-sm">Editor, admin, or owner role required to edit briefs.</div>;
+  }
+
+  function resetFromCurrent() {
+    if (!data?.brief) return;
+    const source = data.brief.full ?? reconstructFromPublic(data.brief);
+    setText(JSON.stringify(source, null, 2));
   }
 
   function onSubmit(e: React.FormEvent) {
@@ -37,7 +82,7 @@ export default function BriefEdit() {
     catch (e2) { setErr(`Invalid JSON: ${(e2 as Error).message}`); return; }
     update.mutate(parsed, {
       onSuccess: () => navigate(`/briefs/${id}`),
-      onError: (e2) => {
+      onError: (e2: Error) => {
         if (e2 instanceof ApiError) {
           setErr(e2.message);
           if (e2.issues) setIssues(e2.issues);
@@ -50,16 +95,34 @@ export default function BriefEdit() {
 
   return (
     <div className="space-y-6 max-w-3xl">
-      <header>
-        <h1 className="text-2xl font-semibold">Edit brief</h1>
-        <p className="text-sm text-text-muted mt-1">{data.brief.client_name} · {data.brief.slug}</p>
+      <header className="flex items-baseline justify-between gap-3 flex-wrap">
+        <div>
+          <h1 className="text-2xl font-semibold">Edit brief</h1>
+          <p className="text-sm text-text-muted mt-1">{data.brief.client_name} · {data.brief.slug}</p>
+        </div>
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          onClick={resetFromCurrent}
+          className="text-xs text-text-muted hover:text-accent"
+          title="Discard local changes and reload the brief from the server"
+        >
+          Reset to saved
+        </button>
       </header>
+      {!data.brief.full && (
+        <div className="bg-amber-500/10 border border-amber-500/30 rounded p-3 text-xs text-amber-300">
+          This brief's full Zod shape wasn't returned by the server (older brief?).
+          The textarea below has been reconstructed from public columns —
+          competitors / audience / geo are blank and will need re-entering.
+        </div>
+      )}
       <form onSubmit={onSubmit} className="space-y-3">
         <textarea
           value={text}
           onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
           rows={28}
           className="w-full bg-bg-field border border-border-input rounded p-3 text-xs font-mono text-text-body focus:outline-none focus:border-accent"
+          spellCheck={false}
         />
         {err && <div className="text-red-400 text-sm">{err}</div>}
         {issues && (
@@ -72,7 +135,7 @@ export default function BriefEdit() {
         <div className="flex gap-2">
           <button
             type="submit"
-            disabled={update.isPending}
+            disabled={update.isPending || text.trim().length === 0}
             className="bg-accent hover:bg-accent-hover text-black font-medium px-4 py-2 rounded text-sm disabled:opacity-60"
           >
             {update.isPending ? 'Saving…' : 'Save changes'}