diff --git a/internal/handlers/component.go b/internal/handlers/component.go
index 9f08a3b..0af5b14 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/component.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/component.go
@@ -90,6 +90,12 @@ func (h *ComponentHandler) Get(c *gin.Context) {
 }
 
 func (h *ComponentHandler) GetCategories(c *gin.Context) {
+	// Build display_order lookup from the canonical list.
+	orderMap := make(map[string]int, len(models.DefaultCategories))
+	for _, cat := range models.DefaultCategories {
+		orderMap[strings.ToUpper(cat.Code)] = cat.DisplayOrder
+	}
+
 	codes, err := h.localDB.GetLocalComponentCategories()
 	if err == nil && len(codes) > 0 {
 		categories := make([]models.Category, 0, len(codes))
@@ -98,7 +104,15 @@ func (h *ComponentHandler) GetCategories(c *gin.Context) {
 			if trimmed == "" {
 				continue
 			}
-			categories = append(categories, models.Category{Code: trimmed, Name: trimmed})
+			order := orderMap[strings.ToUpper(trimmed)]
+			if order == 0 {
+				order = models.MaxKnownDisplayOrder + 1
+			}
+			categories = append(categories, models.Category{
+				Code:         trimmed,
+				Name:         trimmed,
+				DisplayOrder: order,
+			})
 		}
 		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, categories)
 		return