diff --git a/.changeset/28156-record-pane-field-escape.md b/.changeset/28156-record-pane-field-escape.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc62362e8b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/28156-record-pane-field-escape.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+'@object-ui/components': patch
+---
+
+fix(components): in the record drawer, an `Esc` a field takes stays the field's — below the stack's root it no longer steps the pane back, and maximized it no longer restores the pane
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+The drawer's dialog layer hears `Esc` on the document in the capture phase, before any field in the record does, and its handler stepped back one level (below the root) or restored the pane (maximized) on every `Esc`. So closing a mention list in the composer, cancelling a cell edit, or leaving an enlarged face also lost the reader's level or the maximized width.
+
+- The drawer now asks what the split pane beside a list already asks: an `Esc` already marked handled, or pressed in a text field, an editable region, or an open menu, list box or dialog inside the record, is not the pane's. The pane stays where it is and the field gets the key.
+- A bare `Esc`, or one pressed on a control that owns no key (a button in the record), still steps back below the root and still restores from maximized; at the root it still closes the drawer.
+- With focus in a text field, `Esc` never steps the pane back, as in the split pane: move focus out of the field, or use `←`.
diff --git a/ui/packages/components/src/__tests__/navigation-overlay-field-escape-28156.test.tsx b/ui/packages/components/src/__tests__/navigation-overlay-field-escape-28156.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..995bfd0a1c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/packages/components/src/__tests__/navigation-overlay-field-escape-28156.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,209 @@
+/**
+ * ObjectUI
+ * Copyright (c) 2024-present ObjectStack Inc.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * objectstack#28156 — an `Esc` a field in the record takes is the field's:
+ * below the stack's root it does not step the pane back, and maximized it
+ * does not restore the pane. A bare `Esc` still does both (the controls).
+ *
+ * The drawer's Radix dialog layer hears `Esc` on the document in the capture
+ * phase, ahead of the record's own handlers, so the fields are pinned in the
+ * shapes they really take the key in:
+ * - a cell editor cancels in a React `onKeyDown` and marks the key handled;
+ * - the composer closes its mention list in a React `onKeyDown` and marks
+ *   nothing;
+ * - an enlarged face, which marks the key handled from a window capture
+ *   listener, ahead of the layer: both its own `Esc` (it closes itself) and
+ *   one pressed in a field inside it.
+ * The split pane beside a list answers the same, from its document listener.
+ */
+
+import * as React from 'react';
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { render, screen, cleanup, fireEvent } from '@testing-library/react';
+import {
+  NavigationOverlay,
+  RECORD_SPLIT_MIN_CONTENT_PX,
+  type NavigationOverlayProps,
+} from '../custom/navigation-overlay';
+
+/** What each field did with the `Esc` it got. */
+let fieldLog: string[] = [];
+
+/** The record's body: the fields, the face, and a control that owns no key. */
+function RecordBody() {
+  const faceRef = React.useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (e.key !== 'Escape' || !(e.target instanceof Node)) return;
+      if (!faceRef.current?.contains(e.target)) return;
+      fieldLog.push('face');
+      e.preventDefault();
+    };
+    window.addEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown, true);
+    return () => window.removeEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown, true);
+  }, []);
+  return (
+    <div>
+      <input
+        aria-label="Cell editor"
+        onKeyDown={(e) => {
+          if (e.key !== 'Escape') return;
+          fieldLog.push('cell editor');
+          e.preventDefault();
+        }}
+      />
+      <textarea
+        aria-label="Composer"
+        onKeyDown={(e) => {
+          if (e.key === 'Escape') fieldLog.push('mention list');
+        }}
+      />
+      <div ref={faceRef} tabIndex={0} aria-label="Enlarged face">
+        <input aria-label="Face field" />
+      </div>
+      <button type="button">Record action</button>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+const FIELDS: Array<[label: string, logged: string]> = [
+  ['Cell editor', 'cell editor'],
+  ['Composer', 'mention list'],
+  ['Face field', 'face'],
+  ['Enlarged face', 'face'],
+];
+
+/** Rendered widths by test id; everything else measures 0 (unmeasured). */
+let widths: Record<string, number> = {};
+const realRect = HTMLElement.prototype.getBoundingClientRect;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  fieldLog = [];
+  widths = {};
+  HTMLElement.prototype.getBoundingClientRect = function (this: HTMLElement) {
+    const width = widths[this.dataset.testid ?? ''] ?? 0;
+    return { width, height: 0, top: 0, left: 0, right: width, bottom: 0, x: 0, y: 0, toJSON: () => ({}) } as DOMRect;
+  };
+  try { window.localStorage.clear(); } catch { /* private mode */ }
+});
+afterEach(() => {
+  cleanup();
+  HTMLElement.prototype.getBoundingClientRect = realRect;
+});
+
+function renderPane(props: Partial<NavigationOverlayProps> = {}) {
+  const setIsOpen = vi.fn();
+  const close = vi.fn();
+  render(
+    <NavigationOverlay
+      isOpen
+      isOverlay
+      selectedRecord={{ id: 'r1' }}
+      mode="drawer"
+      close={close}
+      setIsOpen={setIsOpen}
+      title="Lead"
+      {...props}
+    >
+      {() => <RecordBody />}
+    </NavigationOverlay>,
+  );
+  return { setIsOpen, close };
+}
+
+/** The split pane beside a list wide enough to keep it there. */
+const besideList: Partial<NavigationOverlayProps> = {
+  mode: 'split',
+  mainContent: <div>list</div>,
+};
+
+const esc = (target: Element | Document = document.body) => fireEvent.keyDown(target, { key: 'Escape' });
+const field = (label: string) => screen.getByLabelText(label);
+const maximize = () => fireEvent.click(screen.getByTestId('record-pane-maximize'));
+const maximizedPane = () => document.querySelector('[data-maximized]');
+
+describe('drawer, below the root: a field keeps its Esc, the level stays', () => {
+  it.each(FIELDS)('Esc in the %s is the field’s; the drawer neither steps back nor closes', (label, logged) => {
+    const onBack = vi.fn();
+    const { setIsOpen, close } = renderPane({ onBack });
+    esc(field(label));
+    expect(fieldLog).toEqual([logged]);
+    expect(onBack).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(setIsOpen).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(close).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('dialog', { name: 'Lead' })).toBeTruthy();
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: a bare Esc steps back one level, and does not close', () => {
+    const onBack = vi.fn();
+    const { setIsOpen } = renderPane({ onBack });
+    esc();
+    expect(onBack).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(setIsOpen).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: an Esc on a control in the record that owns no key steps back too (the sheet’s own dialog owns nothing)', () => {
+    const onBack = vi.fn();
+    renderPane({ onBack });
+    esc(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Record action' }));
+    expect(onBack).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(fieldLog).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('drawer, maximized: a field keeps its Esc, the pane stays maximized', () => {
+  it.each(FIELDS)('Esc in the %s is the field’s; the drawer stays maximized and open', (label, logged) => {
+    const { setIsOpen, close } = renderPane({ maximizable: true });
+    maximize();
+    expect(maximizedPane()).not.toBeNull();
+    esc(field(label));
+    expect(fieldLog).toEqual([logged]);
+    expect(maximizedPane()).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(setIsOpen).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(close).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('CONTROL: a bare Esc restores, and only the next Esc closes the root', () => {
+    const { setIsOpen } = renderPane({ maximizable: true });
+    maximize();
+    esc();
+    expect(maximizedPane()).toBeNull();
+    expect(setIsOpen).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    esc();
+    expect(setIsOpen).toHaveBeenCalledWith(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('split pane beside the list: the same answers', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    widths = { 'record-split-host': RECORD_SPLIT_MIN_CONTENT_PX + 200, 'record-split-list': 600 };
+  });
+
+  it.each(FIELDS)('below the root, Esc in the %s keeps the level; a bare Esc steps back (CONTROL)', (label, logged) => {
+    const onBack = vi.fn();
+    renderPane({ ...besideList, onBack });
+    expect(screen.getByTestId('record-split-pane')).toBeTruthy();
+    esc(field(label));
+    expect(fieldLog).toEqual([logged]);
+    expect(onBack).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    esc();
+    expect(onBack).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it.each(FIELDS)('maximized, Esc in the %s keeps it maximized; a bare Esc restores (CONTROL)', (label, logged) => {
+    const { close } = renderPane({ ...besideList, maximizable: true });
+    maximize();
+    esc(field(label));
+    expect(fieldLog).toEqual([logged]);
+    expect(maximizedPane()).not.toBeNull();
+    esc();
+    expect(maximizedPane()).toBeNull();
+    expect(close).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/packages/components/src/custom/navigation-overlay.tsx b/ui/packages/components/src/custom/navigation-overlay.tsx
index a4500d1b03a..e169600110a 100644
--- a/ui/packages/components/src/custom/navigation-overlay.tsx
+++ b/ui/packages/components/src/custom/navigation-overlay.tsx
@@ -433,15 +433,17 @@ function useElementWidth(el: HTMLElement | null): number | null {
 
 /**
  * Whether an `Esc` belongs to the element it was pressed in rather than to the
- * split pane: a text field, or an open menu, list box or dialog (which closes
- * itself first and marks the event handled).
+ * pane: a text field, or an open menu, list box or dialog (which closes itself
+ * first and marks the event handled). `pane` is the pane's own dialog — the
+ * drawer's sheet — which never owns the key it is asking about.
  */
-function escapeOwnedByTarget(target: EventTarget | null): boolean {
+function escapeOwnedByTarget(target: EventTarget | null, pane?: Element | null): boolean {
   if (!target || !(target instanceof Element)) return false;
   if (target.closest('input, textarea, select, [contenteditable=""], [contenteditable="true"]')) {
     return true;
   }
-  return !!target.closest('[role="menu"], [role="listbox"], [role="dialog"], [role="alertdialog"]');
+  const owner = target.closest('[role="menu"], [role="listbox"], [role="dialog"], [role="alertdialog"]');
+  return !!owner && owner !== pane;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -647,6 +649,18 @@ export const NavigationOverlay: React.FC<NavigationOverlayProps> = ({
     else close();
   };
   useSplitEscape(hasList && face === 'split' && shown, handleEscape);
+  // The drawer's dialog layer hears `Esc` on the document in the capture
+  // phase, before any field in the record does, so it asks the split pane's
+  // question itself: a key already handled, or pressed where a field or a
+  // menu owns it, is not the pane's. It still holds the sheet open — left
+  // unprevented, the layer would dismiss the whole drawer on it.
+  const sheetRef = React.useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const handleDrawerEscape = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+    if (e.defaultPrevented) return;
+    e.preventDefault();
+    if (escapeOwnedByTarget(e.target, sheetRef.current)) return;
+    handleEscape();
+  };
 
   // Non-overlay modes draw no record (the hook navigates); only the list.
   if (!paneMode && !hasList) {
@@ -801,8 +815,10 @@ export const NavigationOverlay: React.FC<NavigationOverlayProps> = ({
         onOpenAutoFocus={(e) => e.preventDefault()}
         // objectstack#27545 — from maximized, `Esc` restores; objectstack#26679
         // — below the root of an in-place stack, `Esc` goes back one level.
-        // Only the root's `Esc` closes.
-        onEscapeKeyDown={maximized || onBack ? (e) => { e.preventDefault(); handleEscape(); } : undefined}
+        // Only the root's `Esc` closes. objectstack#28156 — a field's `Esc`
+        // stays the field's ({@link escapeOwnedByTarget}).
+        onEscapeKeyDown={maximized || onBack ? handleDrawerEscape : undefined}
+        ref={sheetRef}
         className={cn(
           // Mobile: full width (no inline cap, no max-w from base sheet).
           // sm+: honor the pane width via the `--ov-w` CSS var. The host's