React Preferences Persistence Pattern

Problem

User preferences are successfully saved to the database and loaded into React state, but they're not applied to the UI after page reload. Settings appear correct in the database but the UI shows default values or doesn't reflect the saved preferences.

Common symptoms:

• Accessibility settings (high contrast, font size) not applied on page load
• Theme preferences revert to default despite being saved
• Language/locale settings don't persist across page reloads
• E2E tests fail when verifying settings persistence

Context / Trigger Conditions