diff --git a/server/middleware/auth.go b/server/middleware/auth.go
index a29b354..2512a2c 100644
--- a/server/middleware/auth.go
+++ b/server/middleware/auth.go
@@ -142,6 +142,21 @@ func parseAndValidateJWT(tokenString string, jwtSecret string) (*Claims, bool) {
 	return claims, true
 }
 
+// UserIDFromCookie extracts the user ID from the sb_token cookie without
+// requiring authentication. Returns "" if no valid token is found.
+// Used by unauthenticated routes that want optional user context.
+func UserIDFromCookie(c *gin.Context, jwtSecret string) string {
+	cookie, err := c.Cookie("sb_token")
+	if err != nil || cookie == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	claims, ok := parseAndValidateJWT(cookie, jwtSecret)
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return claims.UserID
+}
+
 // ─── Auth middleware ─────────────────────────────────────────
 
 // Auth returns a Gin middleware that validates JWT bearer tokens and
diff --git a/server/pages/pages_surfaces.go b/server/pages/pages_surfaces.go
index a3e7088..2a027dd 100644
--- a/server/pages/pages_surfaces.go
+++ b/server/pages/pages_surfaces.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+
+	"switchboard-core/middleware"
 )
 
 // SeedSurfaces writes core surface manifests to the registry table.
@@ -92,9 +94,13 @@ func (e *Engine) EnabledSurfaceIDs() []string {
 // DefaultSurfaceRedirect returns a handler for GET / that redirects to the
 // configured default surface, falling back to the first enabled extension
 // surface, then /welcome.
+//
+// This route has no auth middleware, so we opportunistically read the JWT
+// from the cookie to check user preferences. If the cookie is missing or
+// invalid, user preference is skipped (falls through to global default).
 func (e *Engine) DefaultSurfaceRedirect() gin.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(c *gin.Context) {
-		userID := c.GetString("user_id")
+		userID := middleware.UserIDFromCookie(c, e.cfg.JWTSecret)
 		target := e.resolveDefaultSurface(c.Request.Context(), userID)
 		c.Redirect(http.StatusTemporaryRedirect, e.cfg.BasePath+target)
 	}