diff --git a/components/header.tsx b/components/header.tsx
index 2150683b..c4a65997 100644
--- a/components/header.tsx
+++ b/components/header.tsx
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export default function Header() {
     return pathname.startsWith(path)
   }
 
-  
+
   const navItems = [
     { href: "/", label: "Home" },
     { href: "/about", label: "About" },
@@ -92,19 +92,17 @@ export default function Header() {
               <Link
                 key={item.href}
                 href={item.href}
-                className={`text-sm font-medium transition-colors relative group ${
-                  isActive(item.href)
+                className={`text-sm font-medium transition-colors relative group ${isActive(item.href)
                     ? "text-primary"
                     : "text-foreground hover:text-primary"
-                }`}
+                  }`}
               >
                 {item.label}
                 <span
-                  className={`absolute -bottom-1 left-0 h-0.5 bg-primary transition-all duration-300 ${
-                    isActive(item.href)
+                  className={`absolute -bottom-1 left-0 h-0.5 bg-primary transition-all duration-300 ${isActive(item.href)
                       ? "w-full"
                       : "w-0 group-hover:w-full"
-                  }`}
+                    }`}
                 ></span>
               </Link>
             ))}
@@ -114,9 +112,14 @@ export default function Header() {
           <div className="hidden md:flex items-center space-x-3 flex-shrink-0">
             {/* <ThemeToggle /> */}
             {loading ? (
-              <div className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">Loading...</div>
-            ) : user ? (
               <div className="flex items-center space-x-3">
+                {/* Skeleton for Sign In button */}
+                <div className="w-[70px] h-[34px] bg-muted/50 rounded-md animate-pulse" />
+                {/* Skeleton for Sign Up button */}
+                <div className="w-[75px] h-[34px] bg-muted/50 rounded-md animate-pulse" />
+              </div>
+            ) : user ? (
+              <div className="flex items-center space-x-3" key={user.id}>
                 <PremiumButton user={user} />
                 <UserDisplay userId={user.id} showCodeuniaId={false} />
                 <UserIcon />
@@ -143,9 +146,8 @@ export default function Header() {
               variant="ghost"
               size="icon"
               onClick={() => setIsMenuOpen(!isMenuOpen)}
-              className={`hover:scale-105 transition-all duration-200 ml-1 w-8 h-8 ${
-                isMenuOpen ? 'bg-muted/50' : ''
-              }`}
+              className={`hover:scale-105 transition-all duration-200 ml-1 w-8 h-8 ${isMenuOpen ? 'bg-muted/50' : ''
+                }`}
             >
               {isMenuOpen ? <X className="h-4 w-4" /> : <Menu className="h-4 w-4" />}
             </Button>
@@ -157,11 +159,11 @@ export default function Header() {
       {isMenuOpen && (
         <>
           {/* Backdrop overlay */}
-          <div 
+          <div
             className="fixed inset-0 bg-black/50 backdrop-blur-sm z-[60] md:hidden animate-in fade-in duration-200"
             onClick={() => setIsMenuOpen(false)}
           />
-          
+
           {/* Side drawer */}
           <div className="mobile-menu-container fixed top-0 right-0 bottom-0 w-[280px] max-w-[85vw] bg-background border-l shadow-2xl z-[70] md:hidden animate-in slide-in-from-right duration-300">
             <nav className="flex flex-col h-full">
@@ -186,11 +188,10 @@ export default function Header() {
                     <Link
                       key={item.href}
                       href={item.href}
-                      className={`block text-sm font-medium transition-colors py-2.5 px-3 rounded-md relative ${
-                        isActive(item.href)
+                      className={`block text-sm font-medium transition-colors py-2.5 px-3 rounded-md relative ${isActive(item.href)
                           ? "text-primary font-semibold bg-primary/10"
                           : "text-foreground hover:text-primary hover:bg-muted/50"
-                      }`}
+                        }`}
                       onClick={() => setIsMenuOpen(false)}
                     >
                       {item.label}
@@ -213,7 +214,7 @@ export default function Header() {
                       <Shield className="h-4 w-4" />
                       <span>Dashboard</span>
                     </Link>
-                    
+
                     {/* Logout Button */}
                     <button
                       onClick={handleLogout}
diff --git a/lib/hooks/useAuth.ts b/lib/hooks/useAuth.ts
index 267ec66e..9a1f1303 100644
--- a/lib/hooks/useAuth.ts
+++ b/lib/hooks/useAuth.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ export function useAuth() {
   const [user, setUser] = useState<User | null>(null)
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null)
-  const [isHydrated, setIsHydrated] = useState(false)
   const [is_admin, setIsAdmin] = useState(false)
 
   // Optimized profile fetching with caching
@@ -40,21 +39,15 @@ export function useAuth() {
   }, [])
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    setIsHydrated(true)
-  }, [])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (!isHydrated) return
-
     let mounted = true
 
     const initializeAuth = async () => {
       try {
         const supabase = createClient()
-        
+
         // Get initial session first
         const { data: { session }, error: sessionError } = await supabase.auth.getSession()
-        
+
         if (mounted) {
           if (sessionError) {
             console.error('Session error:', sessionError)
@@ -62,7 +55,7 @@ export function useAuth() {
             setIsAdmin(false)
           } else {
             setUser(session?.user ?? null)
-            
+
             // Check admin status from profiles table with caching
             if (session?.user) {
               const profile = await fetchUserProfile(session.user.id)
@@ -79,7 +72,7 @@ export function useAuth() {
           async (event, session) => {
             if (mounted) {
               setUser(session?.user ?? null)
-              
+
               // Check admin status from profiles table with caching
               if (session?.user) {
                 const profile = await fetchUserProfile(session.user.id)
@@ -87,7 +80,7 @@ export function useAuth() {
               } else {
                 setIsAdmin(false)
               }
-              
+
               setLoading(false)
             }
           }
@@ -108,16 +101,11 @@ export function useAuth() {
     return () => {
       mounted = false
     }
-  }, [isHydrated, fetchUserProfile])
-
-  // Return loading state during hydration
-  if (!isHydrated) {
-    return { user: null, loading: true, error: null, is_admin: false }
-  }
+  }, [fetchUserProfile])
 
-  return { 
-    user, 
-    loading, 
+  return {
+    user,
+    loading,
     error,
     is_admin
   }
diff --git a/next.config.ts b/next.config.ts
index 8625f12f..44008a70 100644
--- a/next.config.ts
+++ b/next.config.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
   generateBuildId: async () => {
     // Use environment-specific build IDs for better cache control
     const timestamp = Date.now()
-    const gitCommit = process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA?.substring(0, 7) || 
-                     process.env.GITHUB_SHA?.substring(0, 7) || 
-                     Math.random().toString(36).substring(7)
+    const gitCommit = process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA?.substring(0, 7) ||
+      process.env.GITHUB_SHA?.substring(0, 7) ||
+      Math.random().toString(36).substring(7)
     const buildId = `${timestamp}-${gitCommit}`
     console.log(`🏗️  Build ID: ${buildId}`)
     return buildId
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
         crypto: false,
       }
     }
-    
+
     return config
   },
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
     const isDev = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development'
     const isProd = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production'
     const buildId = process.env.BUILD_ID || Date.now().toString()
-    
+
     return [
       // STATIC IMMUTABLE: Static assets (build files, immutable resources)
       {
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
         headers: [
           {
             key: 'Cache-Control',
-            value: isDev 
+            value: isDev
               ? 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'
               : 'public, max-age=31536000, immutable', // 1 year immutable
           },
@@ -137,14 +137,14 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
           },
         ],
       },
-      
+
       // STATIC IMMUTABLE: Images and media files
       {
         source: '/(images|media|assets)/:path*.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp|svg|ico|woff|woff2|ttf|eot)',
         headers: [
           {
             key: 'Cache-Control',
-            value: isDev 
+            value: isDev
               ? 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'
               : 'public, max-age=2592000, immutable', // 30 days immutable
           },
@@ -158,14 +158,41 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
           },
         ],
       },
-      
+
+      // HOMEPAGE: No caching to ensure auth state is always fresh
+      {
+        source: '/',
+        headers: [
+          {
+            key: 'Cache-Control',
+            value: 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate',
+          },
+          {
+            key: 'CDN-Cache-Control',
+            value: 'no-cache',
+          },
+          {
+            key: 'Pragma',
+            value: 'no-cache',
+          },
+          {
+            key: 'Vary',
+            value: 'Cookie, Accept-Encoding',
+          },
+          {
+            key: 'X-Build-ID',
+            value: buildId,
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+
       // DYNAMIC CONTENT: Dynamic pages (events, hackathons, etc.)
       {
         source: '/(hackathons|events|leaderboard|opportunities)/:path*',
         headers: [
           {
             key: 'Cache-Control',
-            value: isDev 
+            value: isDev
               ? 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'
               : 'public, max-age=60, stale-while-revalidate=300', // 1min cache, 5min SWR
           },
@@ -181,16 +208,20 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
             key: 'Cache-Tag',
             value: 'content',
           },
+          {
+            key: 'Vary',
+            value: 'Cookie, Accept-Encoding',
+          },
         ],
       },
-      
+
       // DATABASE QUERIES: API routes that query database
       {
         source: '/api/(hackathons|leaderboard|tests|verify-certificate)/:path*',
         headers: [
           {
             key: 'Cache-Control',
-            value: isDev 
+            value: isDev
               ? 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'
               : 'public, max-age=300, stale-while-revalidate=600', // 5min cache, 10min SWR
           },
@@ -208,7 +239,7 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
           },
         ],
       },
-      
+
       // USER PRIVATE: Auth and user-specific routes
       {
         source: '/(protected|admin|profile|dashboard|auth)/:path*',
@@ -227,20 +258,20 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
           },
         ],
       },
-      
+
       // API STANDARD: General API routes and public pages
       {
         source: '/((?!_next|protected|admin|profile|dashboard|auth).*)',
         headers: [
           {
             key: 'Cache-Control',
-            value: isDev 
+            value: isDev
               ? 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'
-              : 'public, max-age=120, stale-while-revalidate=300', // 2min cache, 5min SWR
+              : 'public, max-age=0, must-revalidate', // Always revalidate HTML
           },
           {
             key: 'CDN-Cache-Control',
-            value: isProd ? 'public, max-age=120, stale-while-revalidate=300' : 'no-cache',
+            value: isProd ? 'public, max-age=60, stale-while-revalidate=300' : 'no-cache',
           },
           {
             key: 'Cache-Tag',
@@ -250,6 +281,10 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
             key: 'X-Build-ID',
             value: buildId,
           },
+          {
+            key: 'Vary',
+            value: 'Cookie, Accept-Encoding',
+          },
           // Security headers
           { key: 'X-Content-Type-Options', value: 'nosniff' },
           { key: 'X-Frame-Options', value: 'DENY' },
@@ -261,13 +296,13 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
   },
 
   reactStrictMode: false,
-  
+
   // Optimize for production builds
   // swcMinify is now default in Next.js 15
-  
+
   // Enable static optimization
   trailingSlash: false,
-  
+
   // Optimize for faster builds
   onDemandEntries: {
     maxInactiveAge: 25 * 1000,