diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 940e60e..9b3bb73 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: mc
 Title: Mail Composer - Email Composition and Delivery
-Version: 0.2.0
+Version: 0.2.1
 Authors@R:
     person("Allan", "Irvine", , "al@newgraphenvironment.com", role = c("aut", "cre"),
            comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-3495-2128"))
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Suggests:
     callr,
     kableExtra,
     knitr,
+    mockery,
     rmarkdown,
     testthat (>= 3.0.0)
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index c257a28..7073a7b 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ importFrom(gmailr,gm_auth)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_bcc)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_cc)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_create_draft)
+importFrom(gmailr,gm_draft)
+importFrom(gmailr,gm_drafts)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_from)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_html_body)
 importFrom(gmailr,gm_id)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index cc48eb6..08f1f80 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# mc 0.2.1
+
+* Add `drafts` parameter to `mc_thread_read()` — includes draft messages
+  with a `status` column (`"sent"` / `"draft"`).
+
 # mc 0.2.0
 
 * Add `attachments` parameter to `mc_send()` for file attachments.
diff --git a/R/mc_thread_find.R b/R/mc_thread_find.R
index a403438..990e2d6 100644
--- a/R/mc_thread_find.R
+++ b/R/mc_thread_find.R
@@ -59,38 +59,49 @@ mc_thread_find <- function(query, n = 5) {
 #' a follow-up with [mc_send()].
 #'
 #' @param thread_id Gmail thread ID (from [mc_thread_find()]).
+#' @param drafts Logical. If `TRUE`, also include draft messages in the
+#'   output and add a `status` column (`"sent"` or `"draft"`).
+#'   Default `FALSE` for backwards compatibility.
 #'
 #' @return A data frame with columns `from`, `date`, `subject`, and `body`,
-#'   ordered oldest to newest.
+#'   ordered oldest to newest. When `drafts = TRUE`, an additional `status`
+#'   column is included.
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
 #' mc_thread_find("from:brandon subject:cottonwood")
 #' mc_thread_read("19adb18351867c34")
+#' mc_thread_read("19adb18351867c34", drafts = TRUE)
 #' }
 #'
-#' @importFrom chk chk_string
-#' @importFrom gmailr gm_thread
+#' @importFrom chk chk_string chk_flag
+#' @importFrom gmailr gm_thread gm_drafts gm_draft
 #' @importFrom jsonlite base64url_dec
 #' @export
-mc_thread_read <- function(thread_id) {
+mc_thread_read <- function(thread_id, drafts = FALSE) {
   chk::chk_string(thread_id)
+  chk::chk_flag(drafts)
 
   thread <- gmailr::gm_thread(id = thread_id)
   msgs <- thread$messages
 
+  empty <- data.frame(
+    from = character(0),
+    date = character(0),
+    subject = character(0),
+    body = character(0),
+    stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+  )
+  if (drafts) empty$status <- character(0)
+
   if (is.null(msgs) || length(msgs) == 0) {
-    message("No messages in thread: ", thread_id)
-    return(data.frame(
-      from = character(0),
-      date = character(0),
-      subject = character(0),
-      body = character(0),
-      stringsAsFactors = FALSE
-    ))
+    if (!drafts) {
+      message("No messages in thread: ", thread_id)
+      return(empty)
+    }
   }
 
-  rows <- lapply(msgs, function(msg) {
+  rows <- lapply(msgs %||% list(), function(msg) {
     body <- extract_body(msg$payload, "text/plain")
     if (!nzchar(body)) {
       body_html <- extract_body(msg$payload, "text/html")
@@ -100,16 +111,70 @@ mc_thread_read <- function(thread_id) {
         body <- trimws(body)
       }
     }
-    data.frame(
+    row <- data.frame(
       from = extract_header(msg, "From"),
       date = extract_header(msg, "Date"),
       subject = extract_header(msg, "Subject"),
       body = body,
       stringsAsFactors = FALSE
     )
+    if (drafts) row$status <- "sent"
+    row
   })
 
-  do.call(rbind, rows)
+  if (drafts) {
+    draft_rows <- fetch_thread_drafts(thread_id)
+    rows <- c(rows, draft_rows)
+  }
+
+  result <- do.call(rbind, rows)
+
+  if (is.null(result) || nrow(result) == 0) {
+    message("No messages in thread: ", thread_id)
+    return(empty)
+  }
+
+  result
+}
+
+
+#' Fetch draft messages belonging to a specific thread
+#'
+#' Scans Gmail drafts and returns rows for any that belong to the given
+#' thread. Used internally by [mc_thread_read()] when `drafts = TRUE`.
+#' @param thread_id Gmail thread ID.
+#' @return List of data frame rows (may be empty).
+#' @noRd
+fetch_thread_drafts <- function(thread_id) {
+  all_drafts <- gmailr::gm_drafts(num_results = 50)
+  draft_list <- all_drafts[[1]]$drafts
+  if (is.null(draft_list) || length(draft_list) == 0) return(list())
+
+  rows <- list()
+  for (d in draft_list) {
+    detail <- gmailr::gm_draft(d$id)
+    msg <- detail$message
+    if (!identical(msg$threadId, thread_id)) next
+
+    body <- extract_body(msg$payload, "text/plain")
+    if (!nzchar(body)) {
+      body_html <- extract_body(msg$payload, "text/html")
+      if (nzchar(body_html)) {
+        body <- gsub("<[^>]+>", " ", body_html)
+        body <- gsub("[ \t]+", " ", body)
+        body <- trimws(body)
+      }
+    }
+    rows[[length(rows) + 1]] <- data.frame(
+      from = extract_header(msg, "From"),
+      date = extract_header(msg, "Date"),
+      subject = extract_header(msg, "Subject"),
+      body = body,
+      status = "draft",
+      stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+    )
+  }
+  rows
 }
 
 
diff --git a/man/mc_thread_read.Rd b/man/mc_thread_read.Rd
index 8293d5e..52995bb 100644
--- a/man/mc_thread_read.Rd
+++ b/man/mc_thread_read.Rd
@@ -4,14 +4,19 @@
 \alias{mc_thread_read}
 \title{Read all messages in a Gmail thread}
 \usage{
-mc_thread_read(thread_id)
+mc_thread_read(thread_id, drafts = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{thread_id}{Gmail thread ID (from \code{\link[=mc_thread_find]{mc_thread_find()}}).}
+
+\item{drafts}{Logical. If \code{TRUE}, also include draft messages in the
+output and add a \code{status} column (\code{"sent"} or \code{"draft"}).
+Default \code{FALSE} for backwards compatibility.}
 }
 \value{
 A data frame with columns \code{from}, \code{date}, \code{subject}, and \code{body},
-ordered oldest to newest.
+ordered oldest to newest. When \code{drafts = TRUE}, an additional \code{status}
+column is included.
 }
 \description{
 Fetches a thread by ID and returns each message's sender, date, subject,
@@ -22,6 +27,7 @@ a follow-up with \code{\link[=mc_send]{mc_send()}}.
 \dontrun{
 mc_thread_find("from:brandon subject:cottonwood")
 mc_thread_read("19adb18351867c34")
+mc_thread_read("19adb18351867c34", drafts = TRUE)
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-mc_thread_read.R b/tests/testthat/test-mc_thread_read.R
index a82a8e2..b3d2b65 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-mc_thread_read.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-mc_thread_read.R
@@ -3,6 +3,106 @@ test_that("mc_thread_read rejects bad types", {
   expect_error(mc_thread_read(thread_id = NULL))
 })
 
+test_that("mc_thread_read rejects bad drafts param", {
+  expect_error(mc_thread_read(thread_id = "abc", drafts = "yes"))
+  expect_error(mc_thread_read(thread_id = "abc", drafts = 1))
+})
+
+test_that("mc_thread_read without drafts has no status column", {
+  # Mock gm_thread to return one message
+  mock_msg <- list(
+    payload = list(
+      mimeType = "text/plain",
+      body = list(
+        size = 5,
+        data = jsonlite::base64url_enc(charToRaw("Hello"))
+      ),
+      headers = list(
+        list(name = "From", value = "test@test.com"),
+        list(name = "Date", value = "Mon, 1 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000"),
+        list(name = "Subject", value = "Test")
+      )
+    )
+  )
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "gmailr::gm_thread",
+    list(messages = list(mock_msg)))
+  result <- mc_thread_read("fake_id")
+  expect_equal(names(result), c("from", "date", "subject", "body"))
+  expect_false("status" %in% names(result))
+})
+
+test_that("mc_thread_read with drafts=TRUE adds status column", {
+  mock_msg <- list(
+    payload = list(
+      mimeType = "text/plain",
+      body = list(
+        size = 5,
+        data = jsonlite::base64url_enc(charToRaw("Hello"))
+      ),
+      headers = list(
+        list(name = "From", value = "test@test.com"),
+        list(name = "Date", value = "Mon, 1 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000"),
+        list(name = "Subject", value = "Test")
+      )
+    )
+  )
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "gmailr::gm_thread",
+    list(messages = list(mock_msg)))
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "fetch_thread_drafts", list())
+  result <- mc_thread_read("fake_id", drafts = TRUE)
+  expect_true("status" %in% names(result))
+  expect_equal(result$status, "sent")
+})
+
+test_that("mc_thread_read with drafts=TRUE includes draft messages", {
+  mock_sent <- list(
+    payload = list(
+      mimeType = "text/plain",
+      body = list(
+        size = 4,
+        data = jsonlite::base64url_enc(charToRaw("sent"))
+      ),
+      headers = list(
+        list(name = "From", value = "al@test.com"),
+        list(name = "Date", value = "Mon, 1 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000"),
+        list(name = "Subject", value = "Test thread")
+      )
+    )
+  )
+  mock_draft_row <- data.frame(
+    from = "al@test.com",
+    date = "Tue, 2 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000",
+    subject = "Re: Test thread",
+    body = "draft reply",
+    status = "draft",
+    stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+  )
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "gmailr::gm_thread",
+    list(messages = list(mock_sent)))
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "fetch_thread_drafts", list(mock_draft_row))
+  result <- mc_thread_read("fake_id", drafts = TRUE)
+  expect_equal(nrow(result), 2)
+  expect_equal(result$status, c("sent", "draft"))
+  expect_equal(result$body, c("sent", "draft reply"))
+})
+
+test_that("mc_thread_read empty thread with drafts=FALSE returns empty df", {
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "gmailr::gm_thread",
+    list(messages = NULL))
+  result <- mc_thread_read("fake_id", drafts = FALSE)
+  expect_equal(nrow(result), 0)
+  expect_equal(names(result), c("from", "date", "subject", "body"))
+})
+
+test_that("mc_thread_read empty thread with drafts=TRUE returns empty df with status", {
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "gmailr::gm_thread",
+    list(messages = NULL))
+  mockery::stub(mc_thread_read, "fetch_thread_drafts", list())
+  result <- mc_thread_read("fake_id", drafts = TRUE)
+  expect_equal(nrow(result), 0)
+  expect_equal(names(result), c("from", "date", "subject", "body", "status"))
+})
+
 test_that("extract_body finds plain text in simple payload", {
   payload <- list(
     mimeType = "text/plain",