diff --git a/internal/api/rest.go b/internal/api/rest.go
index b374aa9..077a705 100644
--- a/internal/api/rest.go
+++ b/internal/api/rest.go
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ func (api *RestApi) updateConfiguration(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 
 	fmt.Printf("KEY: %#v\nVALUE: %#v\n", key, value)
 
-	if err := repository.GetUserCfgRepo().UpdateConfig(key, value, r.Context()); err != nil {
+	if err := repository.GetUserCfgRepo().UpdateConfig(key, value, auth.GetUser(r.Context())); err != nil {
 		http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusUnprocessableEntity)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/internal/repository/user.go b/internal/repository/user.go
index c0b7f9b..2e036d9 100644
--- a/internal/repository/user.go
+++ b/internal/repository/user.go
@@ -5,14 +5,13 @@
 package repository
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"log"
-	"net/http"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/internal/auth"
+	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/internal/config"
 	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/pkg/lrucache"
 	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
 )
@@ -52,9 +51,10 @@ func GetUserCfgRepo() *UserCfgRepo {
 		}
 
 		userCfgRepoInstance = &UserCfgRepo{
-			DB:     db.DB,
-			Lookup: lookupConfigStmt,
-			cache:  lrucache.New(1024),
+			DB:         db.DB,
+			Lookup:     lookupConfigStmt,
+			uiDefaults: config.Keys.UiDefaults,
+			cache:      lrucache.New(1024),
 		}
 	})
 
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ func GetUserCfgRepo() *UserCfgRepo {
 
 // Return the personalised UI config for the currently authenticated
 // user or return the plain default config.
-func (uCfg *UserCfgRepo) GetUIConfig(r *http.Request) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
-	user := auth.GetUser(r.Context())
+func (uCfg *UserCfgRepo) GetUIConfig(user *auth.User) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 	if user == nil {
 		uCfg.lock.RLock()
 		copy := make(map[string]interface{}, len(uCfg.uiDefaults))
@@ -116,8 +115,10 @@ func (uCfg *UserCfgRepo) GetUIConfig(r *http.Request) (map[string]interface{}, e
 // If the context does not have a user, update the global ui configuration
 // without persisting it!  If there is a (authenticated) user, update only his
 // configuration.
-func (uCfg *UserCfgRepo) UpdateConfig(key, value string, ctx context.Context) error {
-	user := auth.GetUser(ctx)
+func (uCfg *UserCfgRepo) UpdateConfig(
+	key, value string,
+	user *auth.User) error {
+
 	if user == nil {
 		var val interface{}
 		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(value), &val); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/repository/user_test.go b/internal/repository/user_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e43090a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/repository/user_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2022 NHR@FAU, University Erlangen-Nuremberg.
+// All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+package repository
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/internal/auth"
+	"github.com/ClusterCockpit/cc-backend/internal/config"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	Connect("sqlite3", "../../test/test.db")
+}
+
+func setupUserTest(t *testing.T) *UserCfgRepo {
+	const testconfig = `{
+	"addr":            "0.0.0.0:8080",
+	"archive": {
+		"kind": "file",
+		"path": "./var/job-archive"
+	},
+	"clusters": [
+	{
+	   "name": "testcluster",
+	   "metricDataRepository": {"kind": "test"}
+	}
+	]
+}`
+	tmpdir := t.TempDir()
+	cfgFilePath := filepath.Join(tmpdir, "config.json")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(cfgFilePath, []byte(testconfig), 0666); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	config.Init(cfgFilePath)
+	return GetUserCfgRepo()
+}
+func TestGetUIConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	r := setupUserTest(t)
+	u := auth.User{Username: "jan"}
+
+	cfg, err := r.GetUIConfig(&u)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("No config")
+	}
+
+	tmp := cfg["plot_list_selectedMetrics"]
+	metrics := tmp.([]interface{})
+
+	str := metrics[2].(string)
+	if str != "mem_bw" {
+		t.Errorf("wrong config\ngot: %s \nwant: mem_bw", str)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/routerConfig/routes.go b/internal/routerConfig/routes.go
index 669aaf6..9a4557a 100644
--- a/internal/routerConfig/routes.go
+++ b/internal/routerConfig/routes.go
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ func SetupRoutes(router *mux.Router) {
 	for _, route := range routes {
 		route := route
 		router.HandleFunc(route.Route, func(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-			conf, err := userCfgRepo.GetUIConfig(r)
+			conf, err := userCfgRepo.GetUIConfig(auth.GetUser(r.Context()))
 			if err != nil {
 				http.Error(rw, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 				return