From ac8ff6f97d5f72d1ba05583f937dd9f07fc7b722 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Micah Alpern <malpern@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2026 09:37:40 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Prevent preference defaults startup crash

---
 .../Services/Configuration/PreferencesService.swift    |  8 +++++++-
 Tests/KeyPathTests/PreferencesServiceTests.swift       | 10 ++++++++++
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Sources/KeyPathAppKit/Services/Configuration/PreferencesService.swift b/Sources/KeyPathAppKit/Services/Configuration/PreferencesService.swift
index 0713694ad..f6050b51b 100644
--- a/Sources/KeyPathAppKit/Services/Configuration/PreferencesService.swift
+++ b/Sources/KeyPathAppKit/Services/Configuration/PreferencesService.swift
@@ -179,7 +179,13 @@ final class PreferencesService: @unchecked Sendable {
     static var canonicalDefaults: UserDefaults {
         TestEnvironment.isRunningTests
             ? .standard
-            : UserDefaults(suiteName: "com.keypath.KeyPath")!
+            : canonicalDefaults(using: UserDefaults(suiteName: "com.keypath.KeyPath"))
+    }
+
+    /// The suite can be unavailable during early app launch. Preferences must
+    /// still initialize so launchd does not restart the app in a crash loop.
+    static func canonicalDefaults(using suiteDefaults: UserDefaults?) -> UserDefaults {
+        suiteDefaults ?? .standard
     }
 
     static let leaderKeyPreferenceKey = "KeyPath.LeaderKey.Preference"
diff --git a/Tests/KeyPathTests/PreferencesServiceTests.swift b/Tests/KeyPathTests/PreferencesServiceTests.swift
index 3b8b830e7..c1b5ad853 100644
--- a/Tests/KeyPathTests/PreferencesServiceTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/KeyPathTests/PreferencesServiceTests.swift
@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@ import XCTest
 
 @MainActor
 final class PreferencesServiceTests: XCTestCase {
+    func testCanonicalDefaultsFallsBackToStandardWhenSuiteIsUnavailable() {
+        let key = "PreferencesServiceTests.canonicalDefaultsFallback"
+        let defaults = PreferencesService.canonicalDefaults(using: nil)
+        defer { UserDefaults.standard.removeObject(forKey: key) }
+
+        defaults.set(true, forKey: key)
+
+        XCTAssertTrue(UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: key))
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Port Validation
 
     func testIsValidPort_AcceptsUserPorts() {