diff --git a/src/app/hooks/useAuth.ts b/src/app/hooks/useAuth.ts
index 720535e..7b22db1 100644
--- a/src/app/hooks/useAuth.ts
+++ b/src/app/hooks/useAuth.ts
@@ -1,39 +1,51 @@
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
-import { useRouter, usePathname } from 'next/navigation';
+import { useRouter } from 'next/navigation';
 import { userService } from '@/app/services/user.service';
 
+/** The user saved by the last successful /users/me, or null. */
+function cachedUser(): any {
+  try {
+    const saved = localStorage.getItem('u');
+    return saved ? JSON.parse(saved) : null;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
- * Custom hook for authentication
- * Automatically fetches user and redirects to login or invite-verify if needed
+ * The signed-in user, loaded once when the component using it mounts.
+ *
+ * A layout keeps its hooks while you move between its child routes, so the
+ * user is not fetched again on every page change. Refetching gave the page a
+ * new user object each time, and everything keyed on the user loaded again.
+ *
+ * No session (no token, or a 401) sends you to /login. A server or network
+ * error does not: the session is still good, so the page carries on with the
+ * user saved by the last successful load, and its own requests report errors.
+ *
  * @returns [user, setUser] tuple - user object (or null) and setter function
  */
 export function useAuth(): [any, (user: any) => void] {
   const [user, setUser] = useState<any>(null);
   const router = useRouter();
-  const pathname = usePathname();
 
   useEffect(() => {
     userService.get().then(u => {
       if (!u) {
         router.push('/login');
       } else {
-        // // Check if user has access (accepted OR premium OR paid)
-        // const hasAccess = userService.checkUserAccess(u);
-
-        // // Don't redirect if already on invite-verify page (to avoid infinite loop)
-        // if (!hasAccess && pathname !== '/invite-verify') {
-        //   // User doesn't have access - redirect to invite request page
-        //   router.push('/invite-verify');
-        // } else {
-        //   setUser(u);
-        // }
         setUser(u);
       }
     }).catch(error => {
       console.error('useAuth: Error fetching user:', error);
-      router.push('/login');
+      const saved = cachedUser();
+      if (saved) {
+        setUser(saved);
+      } else {
+        router.push('/login');
+      }
     });
-  }, [router, pathname]);
+  }, [router]);
 
   return [user, setUser];
 }