diff --git a/src/components/article/ArticleEditor.tsx b/src/components/article/ArticleEditor.tsx
index 227ae15..e0680cd 100644
--- a/src/components/article/ArticleEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/components/article/ArticleEditor.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useState, useEffect, useRef, useCallback } from "react";
+import { useState, useEffect, useRef, useCallback, useMemo } from "react";
 import { renderMarkdown } from "../../lib/markdown";
 import { publishArticle } from "../../lib/nostr";
 import { useUIStore } from "../../stores/ui";
@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@ import { readFile } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-fs";
 import { uploadBytes, uploadImage } from "../../lib/upload";
 import { getCurrentWindow } from "@tauri-apps/api/window";
 
+/** Extract image URLs from markdown ![alt](url) patterns */
+function extractImages(md: string): { alt: string; url: string }[] {
+  const re = /!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g;
+  const images: { alt: string; url: string }[] = [];
+  let m;
+  while ((m = re.exec(md))) {
+    images.push({ alt: m[1], url: m[2] });
+  }
+  return images;
+}
+
 export function ArticleEditor() {
   const { goBack } = useUIStore();
   const { activeDraftId, drafts, updateDraft, deleteDraft, setActiveDraft, createDraft } = useDraftStore();
@@ -103,6 +114,7 @@ export function ArticleEditor() {
   const renderedHtml = renderMarkdown(content || "*Nothing to preview yet.*");
   const wordCount = content.trim() ? content.trim().split(/\s+/).length : 0;
   const canPublish = title.trim().length > 0 && content.trim().length > 0;
+  const inlineImages = useMemo(() => extractImages(content), [content]);
 
   const handlePublish = async () => {
     if (!canPublish || publishing) return;
@@ -398,6 +410,23 @@ export function ArticleEditor() {
           />
         )}
 
+        {/* Inline image previews (write mode only) */}
+        {mode === "write" && inlineImages.length > 0 && (
+          <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-6 py-2 border-b border-border bg-bg-raised/50 overflow-x-auto shrink-0">
+            <span className="text-text-dim text-[10px] shrink-0">{inlineImages.length} {inlineImages.length === 1 ? "image" : "images"}</span>
+            {inlineImages.map((img, i) => (
+              <div key={i} className="relative shrink-0 group">
+                <img
+                  src={img.url}
+                  alt={img.alt}
+                  className="h-12 w-auto rounded-sm border border-border object-cover"
+                  onError={(e) => { (e.target as HTMLImageElement).style.display = "none"; }}
+                />
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         {/* Content area */}
         <div className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-6 pb-6">
           {mode === "write" ? (
@@ -407,7 +436,32 @@ export function ArticleEditor() {
               onChange={(e) => setContent(e.target.value)}
               onKeyDown={(e) => handleEditorKeyDown(e, textareaRef, content, setContent)}
               onPaste={handleArticlePaste}
-              placeholder="Write your article in Markdown…"
+              onDrop={async (e) => {
+                const file = Array.from(e.dataTransfer.files).find((f) => f.type.startsWith("image/"));
+                if (!file) return;
+                e.preventDefault();
+                e.stopPropagation();
+                setUploading(true);
+                setError(null);
+                try {
+                  const url = await uploadImage(file);
+                  const ta = textareaRef.current;
+                  if (ta) {
+                    const start = ta.selectionStart ?? content.length;
+                    const end = ta.selectionEnd ?? content.length;
+                    const md = `![image](${url})`;
+                    setContent(content.slice(0, start) + md + content.slice(end));
+                  }
+                } catch (err) {
+                  setError(`Image upload failed: ${err}`);
+                } finally {
+                  setUploading(false);
+                }
+              }}
+              onDragOver={(e) => {
+                if (Array.from(e.dataTransfer.types).includes("Files")) e.preventDefault();
+              }}
+              placeholder="Write your article in Markdown… (paste or drop images)"
               className="w-full h-full min-h-[400px] bg-transparent text-text text-[14px] leading-relaxed placeholder:text-text-dim resize-none focus:outline-none font-mono"
             />
           ) : (
diff --git a/src/components/article/MarkdownToolbar.tsx b/src/components/article/MarkdownToolbar.tsx
index 25057ec..af0722f 100644
--- a/src/components/article/MarkdownToolbar.tsx
+++ b/src/components/article/MarkdownToolbar.tsx
@@ -116,15 +116,15 @@ function applyMarkdown(
   });
 }
 
-const TOOLS: { action: MarkdownAction; label: string; title: string }[] = [
-  { action: "bold", label: "B", title: "Bold (Ctrl+B)" },
-  { action: "italic", label: "I", title: "Italic (Ctrl+I)" },
+const TOOLS: { action: MarkdownAction; label: string; title: string; bold?: boolean; italic?: boolean }[] = [
+  { action: "bold", label: "B", title: "Bold (Ctrl+B)", bold: true },
+  { action: "italic", label: "I", title: "Italic (Ctrl+I)", italic: true },
   { action: "heading", label: "H", title: "Heading" },
-  { action: "link", label: "🔗", title: "Link (Ctrl+K)" },
-  { action: "image", label: "🖼", title: "Image" },
-  { action: "quote", label: "❝", title: "Quote" },
-  { action: "code", label: "</>", title: "Code" },
-  { action: "list", label: "☰", title: "List" },
+  { action: "link", label: "Link", title: "Insert link (Ctrl+K)" },
+  { action: "image", label: "Image", title: "Upload image" },
+  { action: "quote", label: "Quote", title: "Block quote" },
+  { action: "code", label: "Code", title: "Code block" },
+  { action: "list", label: "List", title: "Bullet list" },
 ];
 
 export function MarkdownToolbar({ textareaRef, content, setContent, setUploading, setError }: ToolbarProps) {
@@ -175,13 +175,13 @@ export function MarkdownToolbar({ textareaRef, content, setContent, setUploading
 
   return (
     <div className="flex items-center gap-0.5 border-b border-border px-2 py-1 bg-bg-raised shrink-0">
-      {TOOLS.map(({ action, label, title }) => (
+      {TOOLS.map(({ action, label, title, bold, italic }) => (
         <button
           key={action}
           onClick={() => handleClick(action)}
           title={title}
-          className="px-2 py-0.5 text-[12px] text-text-muted hover:text-text hover:bg-bg-hover transition-colors rounded-sm"
-          style={action === "bold" ? { fontWeight: "bold" } : action === "italic" ? { fontStyle: "italic" } : undefined}
+          className="px-2 py-0.5 text-[11px] text-text-muted hover:text-text hover:bg-bg-hover transition-colors rounded-sm"
+          style={{ fontWeight: bold ? "bold" : undefined, fontStyle: italic ? "italic" : undefined }}
         >
           {label}
         </button>
diff --git a/src/components/thread/ThreadNode.tsx b/src/components/thread/ThreadNode.tsx
index 1a3f814..778cc2c 100644
--- a/src/components/thread/ThreadNode.tsx
+++ b/src/components/thread/ThreadNode.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { publishReply } from "../../lib/nostr";
 import { useProfile } from "../../hooks/useProfile";
 import { shortenPubkey } from "../../lib/utils";
 import { EmojiPicker } from "../shared/EmojiPicker";
+import { useAutoResize } from "../../hooks/useAutoResize";
 
 interface ThreadNodeProps {
   node: ThreadNodeType;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ function InlineThreadReply({ replyTo, rootEvent, onPublished }: {
   const [sent, setSent] = useState(false);
   const [showEmoji, setShowEmoji] = useState(false);
   const ref = useRef<HTMLTextAreaElement>(null);
+  const autoResize = useAutoResize(2, 8);
 
   const handleSubmit = async () => {
     if (!text.trim() || replying) return;
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ function InlineThreadReply({ replyTo, rootEvent, onPublished }: {
       <textarea
         ref={ref}
         value={text}
-        onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
+        onChange={(e) => { setText(e.target.value); autoResize(e); }}
         onKeyDown={handleKeyDown}
         placeholder="Write a reply..."
         rows={2}
diff --git a/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx b/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
index ec5443f..a95a4f2 100644
--- a/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ export function ThreadView() {
   const { selectedNote, goBack } = useUIStore();
   const { loggedIn } = useUserStore();
   const { mutedPubkeys, contentMatchesMutedKeyword } = useMuteStore();
-  if (!selectedNote) { goBack(); return null; }
-  const focusedEvent = selectedNote;
 
   const [rootEvent, setRootEvent] = useState<NDKEvent | null>(null);
   const [ancestors, setAncestors] = useState<NDKEvent[]>([]);
@@ -32,9 +30,12 @@ export function ThreadView() {
   const autoResize = useAutoResize(2, 8);
   const replyRef = useRef<HTMLTextAreaElement>(null);
   const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
-
   const [retryCount, setRetryCount] = useState(0);
 
+  // Guard AFTER all hooks to satisfy React rules of hooks
+  if (!selectedNote) { goBack(); return null; }
+  const focusedEvent = selectedNote;
+
   useEffect(() => {
     let cancelled = false;