diff --git a/packages/core/realtime/use-realtime-sync.ts b/packages/core/realtime/use-realtime-sync.ts
index a1572c64d3..b380642c40 100644
--- a/packages/core/realtime/use-realtime-sync.ts
+++ b/packages/core/realtime/use-realtime-sync.ts
@@ -28,8 +28,7 @@ import {
 } from "../issues/ws-updaters";
 import { onInboxNew, onInboxInvalidate, onInboxIssueStatusChanged, onInboxIssueDeleted } from "../inbox/ws-updaters";
 import { inboxKeys } from "../inbox/queries";
-import { notificationPreferenceKeys } from "../notification-preferences/queries";
-import type { NotificationPreferenceResponse } from "../types";
+import { notificationPreferenceOptions } from "../notification-preferences/queries";
 import { workspaceKeys, workspaceListOptions } from "../workspace/queries";
 import { chatKeys } from "../chat/queries";
 import { useChatStore } from "../chat";
@@ -270,7 +269,7 @@ export function useRealtimeSync(
       if (wsId) onIssueLabelsChanged(qc, wsId, issue_id, labels ?? []);
     });
 
-    const unsubInboxNew = ws.on("inbox:new", (p) => {
+    const unsubInboxNew = ws.on("inbox:new", async (p) => {
       const { item } = p as InboxNewPayload;
       if (!item) return;
       const wsId = getCurrentWsId();
@@ -280,14 +279,21 @@ export function useRealtimeSync(
       // styling is enough — no need to interrupt with a banner. `desktopAPI`
       // is injected by the preload script; its absence (web app) skips silently.
       if (typeof document !== "undefined" && document.hasFocus()) return;
-      // Respect the user's system-notification preference. Read from the
-      // Query cache so we don't have to plumb it through hook params; if the
-      // pref hasn't loaded yet the default ("all") fires the banner.
+      // Respect the user's system-notification preference. The Settings page
+      // owns the only `useQuery` for this resource, so on a fresh app start
+      // (or any session that hasn't visited Settings) the React Query cache
+      // is empty — using `getQueryData` would silently default to "all" and
+      // ignore the user's saved choice. `ensureQueryData` resolves to the
+      // cached value if present and otherwise fetches once, populating the
+      // cache for subsequent events. On network failure we fall through to
+      // the default ("all") rather than swallow the banner entirely.
       if (wsId) {
-        const prefData = qc.getQueryData<NotificationPreferenceResponse>(
-          notificationPreferenceKeys.all(wsId),
-        );
-        if (prefData?.preferences?.system_notifications === "muted") return;
+        try {
+          const prefData = await qc.ensureQueryData(notificationPreferenceOptions(wsId));
+          if (prefData?.preferences?.system_notifications === "muted") return;
+        } catch {
+          // Fall through with default behavior.
+        }
       }
       // Capture the source workspace slug at emit time. The user may switch
       // workspaces before clicking the banner (macOS Notification Center