fix(wallet-adapter-react): support async autoConnect and late wallet injection

[0xmaayan]

Summary

Fixes multiple issues with autoConnect functionality that prevented automatic wallet reconnection in certain scenarios.

Problems Fixed

1. Async autoConnect prop not working

If autoConnect started as false and later became true (e.g., after fetching user preferences from an API or localStorage hydration in SSR apps), auto-connect would never trigger.

2. Late wallet injection not working

If a wallet extension injected after the initial render (due to network latency, slow script loading, etc.), auto-connect would fail because the attempt was already marked as "done" before the wallet registered.

3. localStorage race condition in example apps

The AutoConnectProvider in the example apps had a race condition where localStorage.removeItem was called on initial mount before localStorage.getItem could read the stored value.

Solution

Moved didAttemptAutoConnectRef.current = true to only be set when:

1. There's no stored wallet name (nothing to connect to)
2. We actually find the wallet and are about to connect

This allows the autoConnect effect to retry when:

• autoConnect prop changes from false to true
• New wallets register via the standardWalletsAdded event

Changes

File	Change
packages/wallet-adapter-react/src/WalletProvider.tsx	Fix autoConnect logic to support async and late wallet scenarios
packages/wallet-adapter-react/tests/WalletProvider.test.tsx	Added 3 new tests for async autoConnect scenarios
apps/nextjs-example/src/components/AutoConnectProvider.tsx	Fix localStorage race condition
apps/nextjs-x-chain/src/components/AutoConnectProvider.tsx	Fix localStorage race condition

Testing

• ✅ 61 unit tests pass
• ✅ Manual testing with Petra wallet confirms auto-reconnect works

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Note

Medium Risk
Changes connection initialization and isLoading behavior in WalletProvider, which can affect wallet reconnection timing and UX across dApps. Added tests reduce regression risk but behavior changes are user-facing.

Overview
Improves auto-connect reliability in wallet-adapter-react. The provider now delays marking auto-connect as “attempted” until there’s either no stored wallet to reconnect to or an installed wallet is actually found, enabling retries when autoConnect is enabled asynchronously and when a wallet extension injects late.

Stabilizes loading state and examples. Adds an initialLoadCompleted guard to avoid the auto-connect effect resetting isLoading during user-initiated connect() calls, and fixes example app AutoConnectProvider localStorage initialization so the stored preference isn’t deleted on first mount. Expanded WalletProvider tests cover async prop changes, late wallet registration, and the loading-state regression.

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