diff --git a/src/index.css b/src/index.css
index 986e666..6e28fe5 100644
--- a/src/index.css
+++ b/src/index.css
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ html, body, #root {
 }
 
 a {
-  font-weight: 500;
   color: canvastext;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.module.css b/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.module.css
index 250fba6..5f2aa78 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.module.css
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.module.css
@@ -126,4 +126,3 @@
     outline: red solid 2pt;
     filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem red);
 }
-
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.tsx
index 81f95bb..0933d28 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/VisProg.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import useFlowStore from './visualProgrammingUI/VisProgStores.tsx';
 import type {FlowState} from './visualProgrammingUI/VisProgTypes.tsx';
 import styles from './VisProg.module.css'
 import { NodeReduces, NodeTypes } from './visualProgrammingUI/NodeRegistry.ts';
+import SaveLoadPanel from './visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.tsx';
 
 // --| config starting params for flow |--
 
@@ -103,7 +104,10 @@ const VisProgUI = () => {
       >
         <Panel position="top-center" className={styles.dndPanel}>
           <DndToolbar/> {/* contains the drag and drop panel for nodes */}
-        </Panel>
+          </Panel>
+          <Panel position = "bottom-left" className={styles.saveLoadPanel}>
+            <SaveLoadPanel></SaveLoadPanel>
+          </Panel>
         <Panel position="bottom-center">
           <button onClick={() => undo()}>undo</button>
           <button onClick={() => redo()}>Redo</button>
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.module.css b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.module.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9dbafa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.module.css
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+.save-load-panel {
+  border-radius: 0 0 5pt 5pt;
+  background-color: canvas;
+}
+
+label.file-input-button {
+  cursor: pointer;
+  outline: forestgreen solid 2pt;
+  filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem forestgreen);
+  transition: filter 200ms;
+
+  input[type="file"] {
+    display: none;
+  }
+
+  &:hover {
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.5rem forestgreen);
+  }
+}
+
+.save-button {
+  text-decoration: none;
+  outline: dodgerblue solid 2pt;
+  filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem dodgerblue);
+  transition: filter 200ms;
+
+  &:hover {
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.5rem dodgerblue);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..baac724
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import {type ChangeEvent, useRef, useState} from "react";
+import useFlowStore from "../VisProgStores";
+import visProgStyles from "../../VisProg.module.css";
+import styles from "./SaveLoadPanel.module.css";
+import { makeProjectBlob, type SavedProject } from "../../../../utils/SaveLoad";
+
+export default function SaveLoadPanel() {
+  const nodes = useFlowStore((s) => s.nodes);
+  const edges = useFlowStore((s) => s.edges);
+  const setNodes = useFlowStore((s) => s.setNodes);
+  const setEdges = useFlowStore((s) => s.setEdges);
+
+  const [saveUrl, setSaveUrl] = useState<string | null>(null);
+
+  // ref to the file input
+  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement | null>(null);
+
+  const onSave = async (nameGuess = "visual-program") => {
+    const blob = makeProjectBlob(nameGuess, nodes, edges);
+    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+    setSaveUrl(url);
+  };
+
+  // input change handler updates the graph with a parsed JSON file
+  const handleFileChange = async (e: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
+    const file = e.target.files?.[0];
+    if (!file) return;
+    try {
+      const text = await file.text();
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(text) as SavedProject;
+      if (!parsed.nodes || !parsed.edges) throw new Error("Invalid file format");
+      setNodes(parsed.nodes);
+      setEdges(parsed.edges);
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error(e);
+      alert("Loading failed. See console.");
+    } finally {
+      // allow re-selecting same file next time
+      if (inputRef.current) inputRef.current.value = "";
+    }
+  };
+
+  const defaultName = "visual-program";
+  return (
+    <div className={`flex-col gap-lg padding-md border-lg ${styles.saveLoadPanel}`}>
+      <div className="description">You can save and load your graph here.</div>
+      <div className={`flex-row gap-lg justify-center`}>
+        <a
+          href={saveUrl ?? "#"}
+          onClick={() => onSave(defaultName)}
+          download={`${defaultName}.json`}
+          className={`${visProgStyles.draggableNode} ${styles.saveButton}`}
+        >
+          Save Graph
+        </a>
+
+        <label className={`${visProgStyles.draggableNode} ${styles.fileInputButton}`}>
+          <input
+            ref={inputRef}
+            type="file"
+            accept=".visprog.json,.json,.txt,application/json,text/plain"
+            onChange={handleFileChange}
+          />
+          Load Graph
+        </label>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/SaveLoad.ts b/src/utils/SaveLoad.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ea9666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/SaveLoad.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import {type Edge, type Node } from "@xyflow/react";
+
+export type SavedProject = {
+  name: string;
+  savedASavedProject: string; // ISO timestamp
+  nodes: Node[];
+  edges: Edge[];
+};
+
+// Creates a JSON Blob containing the current visual program (nodes + edges)
+export function makeProjectBlob(name: string, nodes: Node[], edges: Edge[]): Blob {
+  const payload = {
+    name,
+    savedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+    nodes,
+    edges,
+  };
+  return new Blob([JSON.stringify(payload, null, 2)], { type: "application/json" });
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.test.tsx b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d85323
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+// SaveLoadPanel.all.test.tsx
+import { act, fireEvent, render, screen, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+import useFlowStore from '../../../../../src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/VisProgStores.tsx';
+import SaveLoadPanel from '../../../../../src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/SaveLoadPanel.tsx';
+import { makeProjectBlob } from '../../../../../src/utils/SaveLoad.ts';
+import { mockReactFlow } from "../../../../setupFlowTests.ts"; // optional helper if present
+
+// helper to read Blob contents in tests (works in Node/Jest env)
+async function blobToText(blob: Blob): Promise<string> {
+  if (typeof (blob as any).text === "function") return await (blob as any).text();
+  if (typeof (blob as any).arrayBuffer === "function") {
+    const buf = await (blob as any).arrayBuffer();
+    return new TextDecoder().decode(buf);
+  }
+  return await new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
+    const fr = new FileReader();
+    fr.onload = () => resolve(String(fr.result));
+    fr.onerror = () => reject(fr.error);
+    fr.readAsText(blob);
+  });
+}
+
+beforeAll(() => {
+  // if you have a mockReactFlow helper used in other tests, call it
+  if (typeof mockReactFlow === "function") mockReactFlow();
+});
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  // clear and seed the zustand store to a known empty state
+  act(() => {
+    const { setNodes, setEdges } = useFlowStore.getState();
+    setNodes([]);
+    setEdges([]);
+  });
+
+  // Ensure URL.createObjectURL exists so jest.spyOn works
+  if (!URL.createObjectURL) URL.createObjectURL = jest.fn();
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  jest.restoreAllMocks();
+});
+
+describe("SaveLoadPanel - combined tests", () => {
+  test("makeProjectBlob creates a valid JSON blob", async () => {
+    const nodes = [
+      {
+        id: "n1",
+        type: "start",
+        position: { x: 0, y: 0 },
+        data: { label: "Start" },
+      } as any,
+    ];
+    const edges: any[] = [];
+
+    const blob = makeProjectBlob("my-project", nodes, edges);
+    expect(blob).toBeInstanceOf(Blob);
+
+    const text = await blobToText(blob);
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(text);
+
+    expect(parsed.name).toBe("my-project");
+    expect(typeof parsed.savedAt).toBe("string");
+    expect(Array.isArray(parsed.nodes)).toBe(true);
+    expect(Array.isArray(parsed.edges)).toBe(true);
+    expect(parsed.nodes).toEqual(nodes);
+    expect(parsed.edges).toEqual(edges);
+  });
+
+  test("onSave creates a blob URL and sets anchor href", async () => {
+    // Seed the store so onSave has nodes to save
+    act(() => {
+      useFlowStore.getState().setNodes([
+        { id: "start", type: "start", position: { x: 0, y: 0 }, data: { label: "start" } } as any,
+      ]);
+      useFlowStore.getState().setEdges([]);
+    });
+
+    // Ensure createObjectURL exists and spy it
+    if (!URL.createObjectURL) URL.createObjectURL = jest.fn();
+    const createObjectURLSpy = jest.spyOn(URL, "createObjectURL").mockReturnValue("blob:fake-url");
+
+    render(<SaveLoadPanel />);
+
+    const saveAnchor = screen.getByText(/Save Graph/i) as HTMLAnchorElement;
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      fireEvent.click(saveAnchor);
+    });
+
+    expect(createObjectURLSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const blobArg = createObjectURLSpy.mock.calls[0][0];
+    expect(blobArg).toBeInstanceOf(Blob);
+
+    expect(saveAnchor.getAttribute("href")).toBe("blob:fake-url");
+
+    const text = await blobToText(blobArg as Blob);
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(text);
+
+    expect(parsed.name).toBeDefined();
+    expect(parsed.nodes).toBeDefined();
+    expect(parsed.edges).toBeDefined();
+
+    createObjectURLSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  test("onLoad with invalid JSON does not update store", async () => {
+    const file = new File(["not json"], "bad.json", { type: "application/json" });
+    file.text = jest.fn(() => Promise.resolve(`{"bad json`));
+
+    window.alert = jest.fn();
+
+    render(<SaveLoadPanel />);
+    const input = document.querySelector('input[type="file"]') as HTMLInputElement;
+    expect(input).toBeTruthy();
+
+    // Give some input
+    act(() => {
+      fireEvent.change(input, { target: { files: [file] } });
+    });
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(window.alert).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+      const nodesAfter = useFlowStore.getState().nodes;
+      expect(nodesAfter).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect(input.value).toBe("");
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("onLoad resolves to null when no file is chosen (user cancels) and does not update store", async () => {
+    render(<SaveLoadPanel />);
+    const input = document.querySelector('input[type="file"]') as HTMLInputElement;
+    expect(input).toBeTruthy();
+
+    // Click Load to set resolver
+    const loadButton = screen.getByLabelText(/load graph/i);
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      fireEvent.click(loadButton);
+      // simulate user cancelling: change with empty files
+      fireEvent.change(input, { target: { files: [] } });
+      await Promise.resolve();
+    });
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      const nodesAfter = useFlowStore.getState().nodes;
+      const edgesAfter = useFlowStore.getState().edges;
+      expect(nodesAfter).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect(edgesAfter).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect(input.value).toBe("");
+    });
+  });
+});