diff --git a/webui2/src/lib/auth.tsx b/webui2/src/lib/auth.tsx
index 239c3e71e626d9cdc61018b91156aa5b0c0727e4..3cdcb531dbe1faa2d0a27ff60bcb48d49c0c59a9 100644
--- a/webui2/src/lib/auth.tsx
+++ b/webui2/src/lib/auth.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 // auth.tsx — current user hook for the webui.
 //
-// Fetches the user identity from git config via GraphQL. Apollo handles
-// deduplication and caching, so no Provider/Context is needed.
+// The UserIdentity query is preloaded in the root route loader and consumed
+// via useSuspenseQuery, so useAuth() always returns a resolved user.
 
 import { gql } from "@apollo/client";
-import { useQuery } from "@apollo/client/react";
+import { useSuspenseQuery } from "@apollo/client/react";
 
-const USER_IDENTITY_QUERY = gql`
+export const USER_IDENTITY_QUERY = gql`
   query UserIdentity {
     repository {
       userIdentity {
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ export interface AuthUser {
   login: string | null;
 }
 
-export function useAuth(): { user: AuthUser | null; loading: boolean } {
-  const { data, loading } = useQuery<{ repository: { userIdentity: AuthUser | null } }>(
+export function useAuth(): { user: AuthUser } {
+  const { data } = useSuspenseQuery<{ repository: { userIdentity: AuthUser } }>(
     USER_IDENTITY_QUERY,
   );
-  return { user: data?.repository?.userIdentity ?? null, loading };
+  return { user: data.repository.userIdentity };
 }
diff --git a/webui2/src/routes/__root.tsx b/webui2/src/routes/__root.tsx
index 5972a00013556b12ae30971fb659b54afdde4aae..e327b6797a9c75e38f8034505569ed65023d3b38 100644
--- a/webui2/src/routes/__root.tsx
+++ b/webui2/src/routes/__root.tsx
@@ -5,12 +5,17 @@ import { Shell } from "@/components/layout/shell";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { ButtonLink } from "@/components/ui/button-link";
 import type { preloadQuery } from "@/lib/apollo";
+import { USER_IDENTITY_QUERY } from "@/lib/auth";
 
 export interface RouterContext {
   preloadQuery: typeof preloadQuery;
 }
 
 export const Route = createRootRouteWithContext<RouterContext>()({
+  async loader({ context }) {
+    const ref = context.preloadQuery(USER_IDENTITY_QUERY);
+    await context.preloadQuery.toPromise(ref);
+  },
   component: Shell,
   errorComponent: ErrorPage,
 });