Add Clippy marketing image

A migration-checksum mismatch (an edited-after-shipping migration) made
SqliteStore::connect() return Err, which .expect() turned into a panic=abort
fast-fail: the window never opened and the OS reported only a 0xc0000409 crash.
Replace the expect with a blocking MessageBoxW that names the failure and points
at wa.db, then exit(1) cleanly.

README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+<p align="center">
+  <img src="bonus/clippy-says-hej.png" alt="WhispAssist logo with friendly Clippy saying hi there showing open source, private, note taker, and meeting advisor">
+</p>
+
 # WhispAssist (WA)
 
 **A privacy-first, Windows-native meeting assistant that runs entirely on-device.**
@@ -7,7 +11,7 @@ on-device acceleration (**NPU → GPU → CPU**), labels speakers, structures th
 Markdown notes, and optionally augments them with a locally hosted LLM (Ollama). Audio and
 transcripts **never leave the machine** unless you explicitly configure a destination.
 
-> **Status: working application (v0.4.0).** Capture (system audio **+ your microphone**, with a
+> **Status: working application (v0.5.2).** Capture (system audio **+ your microphone**, with a
 > live **dual level meter**), transcription (CPU / Intel NPU / Vulkan GPU) with a **fluid live
 > transcript**, speaker diarization, storage + crash recovery, local-LLM summaries, AI tags,
 > opt-in recording with **in-app playback**, at-rest encryption, self-hosted sync, **Outlook
@@ -27,6 +31,7 @@ transcripts **never leave the machine** unless you explicitly configure a destin
 | **NPU / GPU auto-acceleration** | n/a (cloud) | ⚠️ CPU/GPU, manual | ✅ **NPU→NVIDIA→AMD→Intel→CPU** ladder, one binary |
 | **Speaker diarization** | ✅ cloud | ⚠️ limited | ✅ offline (sherpa-onnx) |
 | **Summaries / notes AI** | ☁️ cloud LLM | ✅ local (Ollama) / BYO | ✅ local (Ollama, localhost **or LAN**) + optional hosted |
+| **Interface localization (UI language)** | ⚠️ English-only UI (multilingual transcription) | ⚠️ English-only UI (more planned) | ✅ **20 languages** + RTL (Arabic/Urdu) |
 | **Default data egress** | ☁️ audio + notes to cloud | 🔒 local (cloud optional) | 🔒 **none** — everything off by default, allowlist-enforced |
 | **Calendar / Outlook `.pst` context** | ✅ cloud calendar | ❌ | ✅ local `.pst` import + **auto-record on events** |
 | **Import an existing recording (file/URL)** | ❌ live capture only | ❌ | ✅ any file or URL (ffmpeg + yt-dlp) |
@@ -51,7 +56,7 @@ accelerated, zero-egress-by-default** option: it exploits the NPU/GPU in modern
 everything on the device unless you opt in, and adds Windows-specific context (Outlook) and a
 coding-agent handoff.
 
-## What's built (v0.4.0)
+## What's built (v0.5.2)
 
 - **Bot-free capture — now both sides, with a live dual meter** — WASAPI loopback records the
   system mix (all participants), and an optional **microphone** path captures your own voice,
@@ -103,6 +108,14 @@ coding-agent handoff.
   (Claude, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode) over a **loopback-only, token-gated** MCP server that is off
   by default, scope-limited, audited, and **adds no egress** — data leaves only via the agent's
   own provider, which WA discloses.
+- **20 interface languages, with RTL** — the whole UI (shell, meetings list, transcript/notes,
+  summary, and Settings) is available in **20 languages**, chosen under **Settings ▸ Language**:
+  Arabic (العربية), Bengali (বাংলা), Simplified Chinese (中文简体), English, Finnish (Suomi),
+  French — France & Canada (Français), German (Deutsch), Hindi (हिन्दी), Korean (한국어),
+  Norwegian Bokmål (Norsk bokmål), Portuguese — Brazil & Portugal (Português), Russian (Русский),
+  Sinhala (සිංහල), Spanish — Spain & Mexico (Español), Swedish (Svenska), Tamil (தமிழ்), and
+  Urdu (اردو). Selecting Arabic or Urdu flips the interface to **right-to-left**; any untranslated
+  string falls back to English rather than showing a raw key. Adding a language is a one-file job.
 - **One universal installer** — a single signed MSI and NSIS `-setup.exe` that covers every
   machine: Vulkan for all GPUs, the Intel NPU path (+ DirectML fallback), and CPU. The Vulkan
   loader is bundled so it launches even on machines without a GPU driver.

RELEASE_NOTES_0.5.2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# WhispAssist v0.5.2
+
+**Privacy-first, Windows-native meeting assistant — everything on-device, nothing leaves unless you say so.**
+
+A small but important bug-fix release. v0.5.2 fixes a startup crash that could stop WhispAssist
+from opening after an upgrade, and makes any future database problem show a clear message instead
+of failing silently. No feature or privacy changes — everything optional stays off-by-default and
+local-first.
+
+One universal installer (**MSI** and **NSIS**) covers every machine: **Vulkan** for all GPUs
+(NVIDIA/AMD/Intel), the Intel **NPU** (OpenVINO), a **DirectML** fallback, and **CPU**.
+
+---
+
+## 🐛 Fixes
+
+### Fixed: app failing to launch after an upgrade
+On some machines, upgrading could leave the app unable to open at all — no window, no message,
+just nothing. The cause was a database-migration mismatch during startup: WhispAssist would hit
+the error while opening its local database (`wa.db`) and, because the failure happened before the
+window existed, the process exited silently and Windows reported only a generic crash.
+
+### Startup database errors now explain themselves
+Instead of that silent exit, a failure to open `wa.db` now shows a **native error dialog** naming
+the problem and pointing at the database location, then exits cleanly. Your recordings and notes
+are never touched — the message tells you exactly what happened and how to recover, rather than
+leaving you with an app that won't start.
+
+---
+
+## 📦 Install
+
+**Requirements:** Windows 10 or 11 (x64). WhispAssist needs **WebView2** (preinstalled on Windows 11;
+the installer fetches it on Windows 10). Importing from a file/URL additionally needs **`ffmpeg`**
+(and **`yt-dlp`** for URLs) on your PATH — install those separately.
+
+1. Download **`WhispAssist_0.5.2_x64_en-US.msi`** (or the NSIS **`WhispAssist_0.5.2_x64-setup.exe`**).
+2. Run it and accept the UAC prompt. If SmartScreen appears, choose **More info → Run anyway**.
+3. Launch **WhispAssist** from the Start menu.
+
+On first run WA picks the best transcription backend (**NPU → NVIDIA → AMD → Intel → CPU**). It runs
+without admin rights, never adds itself to startup, and keeps all data under
+`%LOCALAPPDATA%\WhispAssist`.
+
+## 🔐 Checksums (SHA-256)
+
+```
+b173b6b15590a65e96d3b24d0ad97666b8d1da905169d807ecc1c51df0584d3e  WhispAssist_0.5.2_x64_en-US.msi
+441b2e7ec7c68be39f9d2381af59ab9eadf916d6d23d0c5541d78bdd88c588b2  WhispAssist_0.5.2_x64-setup.exe
+```
+
+Verify after download:
+
+```powershell
+Get-FileHash .\WhispAssist_0.5.2_x64_en-US.msi -Algorithm SHA256
+```
+
+---
+
+## Privacy, unchanged
+Everything optional is **off by default**. With nothing configured, WhispAssist makes **no content
+egress at all**. Recording is opt-in; sync/AI credentials live only in the OS credential store; the
+MCP server is loopback-only and adds no egress. The reachable-host allowlist is derived from your
+settings and enforced in the core.

package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "whispassist",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.5.1",
+  "version": "0.5.2",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Privacy-first, fully local Windows meeting assistant.",
   "license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0",

src-tauri/Cargo.lock

@@ -6043,7 +6043,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "whispassist"
-version = "0.5.1"
+version = "0.5.2"
 dependencies = [
  "argon2",
  "async-trait",

src-tauri/Cargo.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "whispassist"
-version = "0.5.1"
+version = "0.5.2"
 description = "Privacy-first, fully local Windows meeting assistant"
 authors = ["WhispAssist contributors"]
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ windows = { version = "0.58", features = [
     "Win32_Devices_DeviceAndDriverInstallation",  # SetupAPI: NPU detection (Phase 3, T3.4)
     "Win32_System_Com",
     "Win32_UI_Shell",             # SetCurrentProcessExplicitAppUserModelID (Phase 8, T8.6)
+    "Win32_UI_WindowsAndMessaging",  # MessageBoxW: fatal-startup error dialog (see run())
     "UI_Notifications",           # scheduled toast reminders (Phase 8, T8.6, FR-CAL-5) — the
     "Data_Xml_Dom",               # OS delivers these itself at the due time, no polling timer
     "Foundation",

src-tauri/src/lib.rs

@@ -98,14 +98,55 @@ pub struct RecordingSession {
 /// tooltip on recording state changes (FR-CAP-4).
 pub struct TrayHandle(pub TrayIcon);
 
+/// Show a blocking native error dialog and exit non-zero. Used for failures
+/// that happen before the Tauri app (and its window) exist, where a silent
+/// `panic=abort` fast-fail would otherwise close with no explanation. Exits
+/// cleanly (code 1) rather than aborting so the OS reports no crash.
+fn fatal_startup_error(body: &str) -> ! {
+    tracing::error!("fatal startup error: {body}");
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    {
+        use windows::core::PCWSTR;
+        use windows::Win32::UI::WindowsAndMessaging::{
+            MessageBoxW, MB_ICONERROR, MB_OK, MB_SYSTEMMODAL,
+        };
+        // Null-terminated UTF-16 for the Win32 wide API.
+        let to_wide = |s: &str| s.encode_utf16().chain(std::iter::once(0)).collect::<Vec<u16>>();
+        let text = to_wide(body);
+        let caption = to_wide("WhispAssist can't start");
+        // SAFETY: both buffers are null-terminated and outlive the call.
+        unsafe {
+            MessageBoxW(
+                None,
+                PCWSTR(text.as_ptr()),
+                PCWSTR(caption.as_ptr()),
+                MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR | MB_SYSTEMMODAL,
+            );
+        }
+    }
+    #[cfg(not(windows))]
+    eprintln!("WhispAssist can't start: {body}");
+    std::process::exit(1);
+}
+
 /// Build state, register commands/events, and run the app.
 pub fn run() {
     tracing_subscriber::fmt().with_env_filter("info").init();
 
-    let store: Arc<dyn storage::Store> = Arc::new(
-        tauri::async_runtime::block_on(storage::SqliteStore::connect())
-            .expect("failed to initialize storage (wa.db)"),
-    );
+    let store: Arc<dyn storage::Store> =
+        match tauri::async_runtime::block_on(storage::SqliteStore::connect()) {
+            Ok(s) => Arc::new(s),
+            // A migration checksum mismatch (an edited-after-shipping migration)
+            // or a locked/corrupt file lands here. Tell the user instead of
+            // fast-failing into a silent no-launch.
+            Err(e) => fatal_startup_error(&format!(
+                "WhispAssist couldn't open its database (wa.db):\n\n{e}\n\n\
+                 Your recordings and notes are not deleted. This usually means the \
+                 database is from a newer version of WhispAssist, or a data migration \
+                 is incompatible. Reinstalling the matching version, or moving wa.db \
+                 aside from %LOCALAPPDATA%\\WhispAssist, will let the app start."
+            )),
+        };
     let store_for_setup = store.clone();
 
     tauri::Builder::default()

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
   "productName": "WhispAssist",
-  "version": "0.5.1",
+  "version": "0.5.2",
   "identifier": "bet.dou.whispassist",
   "build": {
     "frontendDist": "../dist",