diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 451c40cd4..a3807a06d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "world-monitor",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "2.5.22",
+  "version": "2.5.23",
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-only",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index 2622d294f..991ad067a 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -1881,9 +1881,9 @@ checksum = "8eaf4bc02d17cbdd7ff4c7438cafcdf7fb9a4613313ad11b4f8fefe7d3fa0130"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "js-sys"
-version = "0.3.90"
+version = "0.3.91"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "14dc6f6450b3f6d4ed5b16327f38fed626d375a886159ca555bd7822c0c3a5a6"
+checksum = "b49715b7073f385ba4bc528e5747d02e66cb39c6146efb66b781f131f0fb399c"
 dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "wasm-bindgen",
@@ -2014,11 +2014,10 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libredox"
-version = "0.1.12"
+version = "0.1.14"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3d0b95e02c851351f877147b7deea7b1afb1df71b63aa5f8270716e0c5720616"
+checksum = "1744e39d1d6a9948f4f388969627434e31128196de472883b39f148769bfe30a"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags 2.11.0",
  "libc",
 ]
 
@@ -2806,9 +2805,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project-lite"
-version = "0.2.16"
+version = "0.2.17"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3b3cff922bd51709b605d9ead9aa71031d81447142d828eb4a6eba76fe619f9b"
+checksum = "a89322df9ebe1c1578d689c92318e070967d1042b512afbe49518723f4e6d5cd"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-utils"
@@ -2818,9 +2817,9 @@ checksum = "8b870d8c151b6f2fb93e84a13146138f05d02ed11c7e7c54f8826aaaf7c9f184"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "piper"
-version = "0.2.4"
+version = "0.2.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "96c8c490f422ef9a4efd2cb5b42b76c8613d7e7dfc1caf667b8a3350a5acc066"
+checksum = "c835479a4443ded371d6c535cbfd8d31ad92c5d23ae9770a61bc155e4992a3c1"
 dependencies = [
  "atomic-waker",
  "fastrand",
@@ -4677,9 +4676,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen"
-version = "0.2.113"
+version = "0.2.114"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "60722a937f594b7fde9adb894d7c092fc1bb6612897c46368d18e7a20208eff2"
+checksum = "6532f9a5c1ece3798cb1c2cfdba640b9b3ba884f5db45973a6f442510a87d38e"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "once_cell",
@@ -4690,9 +4689,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen-futures"
-version = "0.4.63"
+version = "0.4.64"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8a89f4650b770e4521aa6573724e2aed4704372151bd0de9d16a3bbabb87441a"
+checksum = "e9c5522b3a28661442748e09d40924dfb9ca614b21c00d3fd135720e48b67db8"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "futures-util",
@@ -4704,9 +4703,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen-macro"
-version = "0.2.113"
+version = "0.2.114"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0fac8c6395094b6b91c4af293f4c79371c163f9a6f56184d2c9a85f5a95f3950"
+checksum = "18a2d50fcf105fb33bb15f00e7a77b772945a2ee45dcf454961fd843e74c18e6"
 dependencies = [
  "quote",
  "wasm-bindgen-macro-support",
@@ -4714,9 +4713,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen-macro-support"
-version = "0.2.113"
+version = "0.2.114"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ab3fabce6159dc20728033842636887e4877688ae94382766e00b180abac9d60"
+checksum = "03ce4caeaac547cdf713d280eda22a730824dd11e6b8c3ca9e42247b25c631e3"
 dependencies = [
  "bumpalo",
  "proc-macro2",
@@ -4727,9 +4726,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wasm-bindgen-shared"
-version = "0.2.113"
+version = "0.2.114"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "de0e091bdb824da87dc01d967388880d017a0a9bc4f3bdc0d86ee9f9336e3bb5"
+checksum = "75a326b8c223ee17883a4251907455a2431acc2791c98c26279376490c378c16"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
@@ -4783,9 +4782,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "web-sys"
-version = "0.3.90"
+version = "0.3.91"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "705eceb4ce901230f8625bd1d665128056ccbe4b7408faa625eec1ba80f59a97"
+checksum = "854ba17bb104abfb26ba36da9729addc7ce7f06f5c0f90f3c391f8461cca21f9"
 dependencies = [
  "js-sys",
  "wasm-bindgen",
@@ -5423,7 +5422,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "world-monitor"
-version = "2.5.21"
+version = "2.5.23"
 dependencies = [
  "getrandom 0.2.17",
  "keyring",
@@ -5597,18 +5596,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zerocopy"
-version = "0.8.39"
+version = "0.8.40"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "db6d35d663eadb6c932438e763b262fe1a70987f9ae936e60158176d710cae4a"
+checksum = "a789c6e490b576db9f7e6b6d661bcc9799f7c0ac8352f56ea20193b2681532e5"
 dependencies = [
  "zerocopy-derive",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "zerocopy-derive"
-version = "0.8.39"
+version = "0.8.40"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4122cd3169e94605190e77839c9a40d40ed048d305bfdc146e7df40ab0f3e517"
+checksum = "f65c489a7071a749c849713807783f70672b28094011623e200cb86dcb835953"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 599928a12..0b742902b 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "world-monitor"
-version = "2.5.22"
+version = "2.5.23"
 description = "World Monitor desktop application"
 authors = ["World Monitor"]
 edition = "2021"
diff --git a/src-tauri/sidecar/local-api-server.mjs b/src-tauri/sidecar/local-api-server.mjs
index 2c4b112d9..7f0b3cb86 100644
--- a/src-tauri/sidecar/local-api-server.mjs
+++ b/src-tauri/sidecar/local-api-server.mjs
@@ -1214,9 +1214,11 @@ async function dispatch(requestUrl, req, routes, context) {
     }
 
     const body = ['GET', 'HEAD'].includes(req.method) ? undefined : await readBody(req);
+    const hdrs = toHeaders(req.headers, { stripOrigin: true });
+    hdrs.set('Origin', `http://127.0.0.1:${context.port}`);
     const request = new Request(requestUrl.toString(), {
       method: req.method,
-      headers: toHeaders(req.headers, { stripOrigin: true }),
+      headers: hdrs,
       body,
     });
 
diff --git a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index dd4a78a6f..3c884c0c0 100644
--- a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
   "productName": "World Monitor",
   "mainBinaryName": "world-monitor",
-  "version": "2.5.22",
+  "version": "2.5.23",
   "identifier": "app.worldmonitor.desktop",
   "build": {
     "beforeDevCommand": "npm run build:sidecar-sebuf && npm run dev",
diff --git a/src/config/variant.ts b/src/config/variant.ts
index 243ec4703..e742e77e9 100644
--- a/src/config/variant.ts
+++ b/src/config/variant.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
 export const SITE_VARIANT: string = (() => {
   const env = import.meta.env.VITE_VARIANT || 'full';
-  // Build-time variant (non-full) takes priority — each deployment is variant-specific.
-  // Only fall back to localStorage when env is 'full' (allows desktop app variant switching).
+  // Desktop app: always respect localStorage so variant switcher works
+  // (desktop builds may inherit VITE_VARIANT from .env.local).
+  if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
+    const isTauri = '__TAURI_INTERNALS__' in window || '__TAURI__' in window;
+    if (isTauri) {
+      const stored = localStorage.getItem('worldmonitor-variant');
+      if (stored === 'tech' || stored === 'full' || stored === 'finance' || stored === 'happy') return stored;
+    }
+  }
+  // Web deployments: build-time variant (non-full) takes priority — each deployment is variant-specific.
   if (env !== 'full') return env;
   if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
     const stored = localStorage.getItem('worldmonitor-variant');
diff --git a/src/settings-main.ts b/src/settings-main.ts
index 6a2eabff6..0e33136d7 100644
--- a/src/settings-main.ts
+++ b/src/settings-main.ts
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ function renderOverview(area: HTMLElement): void {
   const wmState = getSecretState('WORLDMONITOR_API_KEY');
   const wmStatusText = wmState.present ? 'Active' : 'Not set';
   const wmStatusClass = wmState.present ? 'ok' : 'warn';
-  const alreadyRegistered = localStorage.getItem('wm-waitlist-registered') === '1';
+  const alreadyRegistered = false; // Force-show form for email testing
 
   const catCards = SETTINGS_CATEGORIES.map(cat => {
     const { ready: catReady, total: catTotal } = getFeatureStatusCounts(cat);