Introduce a persistent LauncherDebugSettingsStore and wire it into ErrorWindow and SplashWindow so dev-mode and custom host path can be saved/loaded. Harden DeploymentLocator/FlexibleHostLocator to safely normalize and validate saved debug paths and log warnings for malformed values. Add a WaitingForShell startup state and recoverable-activation logic across App and LauncherFlowCoordinator (with registry updates) so Launcher can attach to an in-progress desktop shell rather than failing. Clean up ErrorDebugWindow UI/flow (WasAccepted flag, localization fixes, event wiring) and improve splash version population. Improve AppVersionProvider to trim surrounding quotes, robustly parse version.json via JsonDocument and read string properties; add unit tests for AppVersionProvider, DeploymentLocator and LauncherDebugSettingsStore. Also quote Exec commands in the csproj and harden scripts/Generate-VersionFile.ps1 (argument normalization, LiteralPath, error handling).
Add automatic release version stamping and multiple launcher reliability improvements. The Release workflow now runs scripts/Set-ReleaseVersion.ps1 in build jobs to inject tag-derived Version/AssemblyVersion into project metadata; several .csproj/Directory.Build.props and app.manifest files were changed to use a dev placeholder. Introduced AppVersionProvider (and related runtime metadata) to centralize version resolution and updated DeploymentLocator to use it and to prefer package-root/version.json. Launcher startup flow was hardened: added startup success tracking, public-activation recovery path, improved success/fallback semantics, and related IPC handling. UI/UX fixes include OOBE entrance/exit animation improvements (scaling-aware, concurrent fade+translate) and minor window lifecycle reorder in DesktopShellHost. CommandContext now recognizes restart and key=value args. New DesktopTrayService and .trae spec files (spec, checklist, tasks) document shell/tray hardening work. Miscellaneous logging, comments and housekeeping edits across launcher and shared contracts to support the above.
