diff --git a/task-launcher/cypress.config.js b/task-launcher/cypress.config.js
index 589b8c18..0c20b995 100644
--- a/task-launcher/cypress.config.js
+++ b/task-launcher/cypress.config.js
@@ -1,8 +1,47 @@
 import { defineConfig } from 'cypress';
 
+const LANGUAGE_OPTIONS_URL =
+  'https://storage.googleapis.com/levante-assets-dev/translations/dashboard-consolidated-flat/languageoptions.json';
+
+async function buildLanguageLocaleTaskMatrix() {
+  const res = await fetch(LANGUAGE_OPTIONS_URL);
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    throw new Error(`Failed to fetch language options: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
+  }
+  const languageOptions = await res.json();
+  const seen = new Set();
+
+  const matrix = Object.entries(languageOptions).flatMap(([locale, cfg]) => {
+    if (locale === 'en-US') {
+      return [];
+    }
+    if (!cfg || !Array.isArray(cfg.taskOptions)) {
+      return [];
+    }
+    return cfg.taskOptions
+      .filter((task) => {
+        const key = `${locale}\0${task}`;
+        if (seen.has(key)) {
+          return false;
+        }
+        seen.add(key);
+        return true;
+      })
+      .map((task) => ({ locale, task }));
+  });
+
+  if (matrix.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'languageoptions.json produced an empty test matrix (no locales with taskOptions).',
+    );
+  }
+
+  return matrix;
+}
+
 export default defineConfig({
   e2e: {
-    setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
+    async setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
       // implement node event listeners here
       on('task', {
         progress(message) {
@@ -12,6 +51,16 @@ export default defineConfig({
           return null;
         },
       });
+
+      const matrix = await buildLanguageLocaleTaskMatrix();
+
+      return {
+        ...config,
+        env: {
+          ...config.env,
+          languageLocaleTaskMatrix: matrix,
+        },
+      };
     },
     // Video recording settings
     video: true,
diff --git a/task-launcher/cypress/e2e/task_locales.cy.js b/task-launcher/cypress/e2e/task_locales.cy.js
index 2225062b..b8b302f7 100644
--- a/task-launcher/cypress/e2e/task_locales.cy.js
+++ b/task-launcher/cypress/e2e/task_locales.cy.js
@@ -1,29 +1,37 @@
-const LOCALES = ['de-DE', 'es-CO', 'es-AR'];
-
-const TASKS = [
-  'intro',
-  'egma-math',
-  'matrix-reasoning',
-  'mental-rotation',
-  'hearts-and-flowers',
-  'memory-game',
-  'same-different-selection',
-  'trog',
-  'vocab',
-  'theory-of-mind',
-  'hostile-attribution',
-  'child-survey',
-];
+/* global cy, describe, expect, it, Cypress */
 
 function visitTaskWithLocaleAndEnterFullscreen(task, lng) {
   cy.visit(`http://localhost:8080/?task=${task}&lng=${lng}`);
   cy.get('button.primary').should('be.visible').first().realClick();
 }
 
-describe('tasks load in non-English locales (fullscreen only)', () => {
-  TASKS.forEach((task) => {
+function groupLocalesByTask(matrix) {
+  const byTask = {};
+  matrix.forEach(({ locale, task }) => {
+    if (!byTask[task]) {
+      byTask[task] = [];
+    }
+    byTask[task].push(locale);
+  });
+  return byTask;
+}
+
+describe('tasks load per languageoptions.json (fullscreen only)', () => {
+  const matrix = Cypress.env('languageLocaleTaskMatrix');
+
+  if (!Array.isArray(matrix) || matrix.length === 0) {
+    it('fails when languageLocaleTaskMatrix is not preloaded (see cypress.config.js)', () => {
+      expect(matrix).to.be.an('array');
+      expect(matrix).to.have.length.greaterThan(0);
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const byTask = groupLocalesByTask(matrix);
+
+  Object.entries(byTask).forEach(([task, locales]) => {
     describe(task, () => {
-      LOCALES.forEach((lng) => {
+      locales.forEach((lng) => {
         it(`lng=${lng}`, () => {
           visitTaskWithLocaleAndEnterFullscreen(task, lng);
         });
diff --git a/task-launcher/package-lock.json b/task-launcher/package-lock.json
index a41fcbbf..c52c37c6 100644
--- a/task-launcher/package-lock.json
+++ b/task-launcher/package-lock.json
@@ -23043,24 +23043,6 @@
         }
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/vitest/node_modules/yaml": {
-      "version": "2.8.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/yaml/-/yaml-2.8.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-AvbaCLOO2Otw/lW5bmh9d/WEdcDFdQp2Z2ZUH3pX9U2ihyUY0nvLv7J6TrWowklRGPYbB/IuIMfYgxaCPg5Bpg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "license": "ISC",
-      "optional": true,
-      "peer": true,
-      "bin": {
-        "yaml": "bin.mjs"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 14.6"
-      },
-      "funding": {
-        "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/eemeli"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/vm-browserify": {
       "version": "1.1.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/vm-browserify/-/vm-browserify-1.1.2.tgz",
diff --git a/task-launcher/serve/firebaseConfig.js b/task-launcher/serve/firebaseConfig.js
deleted file mode 100644
index e28adf41..00000000
--- a/task-launcher/serve/firebaseConfig.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-// ONLY FOR STANDALONE (WEB APP)
-
-// Change this to use your projects database API keys
-const devFirebaseConfig = {
-  apiKey: 'AIzaSyCOzRA9a2sDHtVlX7qnszxrgsRCBLyf5p0',
-  authDomain: 'hs-levante-admin-dev.firebaseapp.com',
-  projectId: 'hs-levante-admin-dev',
-  storageBucket: 'hs-levante-admin-dev.firebasestorage.app',
-  messagingSenderId: '41590333418',
-  appId: '1:41590333418:web:3468a7caadab802d6e5c93',
-};
-
-const productionFirebaseConfig = {
-  apiKey: 'AIzaSyCcnmBCojjK0_Ia87f0SqclSOihhKVD3f8',
-  authDomain: 'hs-levante-admin-prod.firebaseapp.com',
-  projectId: 'hs-levante-admin-prod',
-  storageBucket: 'hs-levante-admin-prod.firebasestorage.app',
-  messagingSenderId: '348449903279',
-  appId: '1:348449903279:web:a1b9dad734e2237c7ffa5a',
-};
-
-export const firebaseConfig = ENV === 'production' ? productionFirebaseConfig : devFirebaseConfig;
diff --git a/task-launcher/serve/serve.js b/task-launcher/serve/serve.js
index 87bb9e11..3b9de8b7 100644
--- a/task-launcher/serve/serve.js
+++ b/task-launcher/serve/serve.js
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
-import { RoarAppkit, initializeFirebaseProject } from '@levante-framework/firekit';
-import { onAuthStateChanged, signInAnonymously } from 'firebase/auth';
 import * as Sentry from '@sentry/browser';
 import i18next from 'i18next';
 import { TaskLauncher } from '../src';
-import { firebaseConfig } from './firebaseConfig';
 import { stringToBoolean } from '../src/tasks/shared/helpers/stringToBoolean';
 import firebaseJSON from '../firebase.json';
 
@@ -68,63 +65,40 @@ const emulatorConfig = EMULATORS ? firebaseJSON.emulators : undefined;
 const demoMode = DEMO;
 
 async function startWebApp() {
-  const appKit = await initializeFirebaseProject(firebaseConfig, 'admin', emulatorConfig, 'none');
 
-  onAuthStateChanged(appKit.auth, (user) => {
-    if (user) {
-      const userInfo = {
-        assessmentUid: user.uid,
-        userMetadata: {},
-      };
+  const firekit = null;
+  const gameParams = {
+    taskName,
+    skipInstructions,
+    sequentialPractice,
+    sequentialStimulus,
+    corpus,
+    buttonLayout,
+    numOfPracticeTrials,
+    numberOfTrials,
+    maxIncorrect,
+    stimulusBlocks,
+    keyHelpers,
+    language: language ?? i18next.language,
+    age,
+    maxTime,
+    storeItemId,
+    cat,
+    inferenceNumStories,
+    numberOfStories,
+    semThreshold,
+    startingTheta,
+    heavyInstructions,
+    demoMode,
+    version,
+    debug,
+  };
+  const userParams = {
+    pid,
+  };
+  const task = new TaskLauncher(firekit, gameParams, userParams);
+  task.run();
 
-      const userParams = {
-        pid,
-      };
-
-      const gameParams = {
-        taskName,
-        skipInstructions,
-        sequentialPractice,
-        sequentialStimulus,
-        corpus,
-        buttonLayout,
-        numOfPracticeTrials,
-        numberOfTrials,
-        maxIncorrect,
-        stimulusBlocks,
-        keyHelpers,
-        language: language ?? i18next.language,
-        age,
-        maxTime,
-        storeItemId,
-        cat,
-        inferenceNumStories,
-        numberOfStories,
-        semThreshold,
-        startingTheta,
-        heavyInstructions,
-        demoMode,
-        version,
-        debug,
-      };
-
-      const taskInfo = {
-        taskId: taskName,
-        variantParams: gameParams,
-      };
-
-      const firekit = new RoarAppkit({
-        firebaseProject: appKit,
-        taskInfo,
-        userInfo,
-      });
-
-      const task = new TaskLauncher(firekit, gameParams, userParams);
-      task.run();
-    }
-  });
-
-  await signInAnonymously(appKit.auth);
 }
 
 await startWebApp();
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/index.ts b/task-launcher/src/index.ts
index 3ac2fe9e..a7ecd1d3 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/index.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/index.ts
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ let sharedVisualAssets: MediaAssetsType;
 export class TaskLauncher {
   gameParams: GameParamsType;
   userParams: UserParamsType;
-  firekit: RoarAppkit;
+  firekit: RoarAppkit | null;
   logger?: LevanteLogger;
-  constructor(firekit: RoarAppkit, gameParams: GameParamsType, userParams: UserParamsType, logger?: LevanteLogger) {
+  constructor(firekit: RoarAppkit | null, gameParams: GameParamsType, userParams: UserParamsType, logger?: LevanteLogger) {
     this.gameParams = gameParams;
     this.userParams = userParams;
     this.firekit = firekit;
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export class TaskLauncher {
   }
 
   async init() {
-    if (!this.gameParams.demoMode) {
+    if (!this.gameParams.demoMode && this.firekit) {
       await this.firekit.startRun();
     }
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export class TaskLauncher {
     const { setConfig, getCorpus, buildTaskTimeline, getTranslations } =
       taskConfig[dashToCamelCase(taskName) as keyof typeof taskConfig];
 
-    const isDev = this.firekit.firebaseProject?.firebaseApp?.options?.projectId === 'hs-levante-admin-dev';
+    const isDev = this.firekit ? this.firekit.firebaseProject?.firebaseApp?.options?.projectId === 'hs-levante-admin-dev' : !!this.gameParams.demoMode;
     const taskVisualBucket = getBucketName(taskName, isDev, 'visual', language);
     const sharedVisualBucket = getBucketName('shared', isDev, 'visual', language);
     const languageAudioBucket = getBucketName('shared', isDev, 'audio', language);
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ export class TaskLauncher {
     const translations = taskStore().translations;
     const pageSetup = new InitPageSetup(4000, translations);
     pageSetup.init();
-    const checkTaskFinished = this.gameParams.demoMode
+    const checkTaskFinished = (this.gameParams.demoMode || this.firekit === null)
       ? () => taskStore().taskComplete
       : () => this.firekit?.run?.completed === true && taskStore().taskComplete;
 
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/baseTimeline.ts b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/baseTimeline.ts
index 5acff508..66041fd5 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/baseTimeline.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/baseTimeline.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ export const initTimeline = (
   const beginningTimeline = {
     timeline: initialTimeline,
     on_timeline_finish: async () => {
-      await config.firekit.updateUser({
-        assessmentPid: config.pid || makePid(),
-        ...config.userMetadata,
-      });
+      if (config.firekit) {
+        await config.firekit.updateUser({
+            assessmentPid: config.pid || makePid(),
+            ...config.userMetadata,
+          });
+      }
 
       startAppTimer(config.maxTime, finishExperiment);
     },
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/config.ts b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/config.ts
index 6d9d5b96..35ae7018 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/config.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/config.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ const defaultCorpus: Record<string, string> = {
 };
 
 export const setSharedConfig = async (
-  firekit: RoarAppkit,
+  firekit: RoarAppkit | null,
   gameParams: GameParamsType,
   userParams: UserParamsType,
 ): Promise<TaskStoreDataType> => {
@@ -138,9 +138,5 @@ export const setSharedConfig = async (
     config.corpus = defaultCorpus[camelize(taskName)];
   }
 
-  const updatedGameParams = Object.fromEntries(
-    Object.entries(gameParams).map(([key, value]) => [key, config[key as keyof typeof config] ?? value]),
-  );
-
   return config;
 };
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/isRoarApp.ts b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/isRoarApp.ts
index 13d0237e..e6835dcf 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/isRoarApp.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/isRoarApp.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ const roarFirebaseProjects = [
   'gse-roar-admin-dev',
 ];
 
-export function isRoarApp(_firekit: RoarAppkit) {
+export function isRoarApp(_firekit: RoarAppkit | null) {
+  if (!_firekit) {
+    return false;
+  }
   const projectId = _firekit?.firebaseProject?.firebaseApp?.options?.projectId ?? '';
   return roarFirebaseProjects.includes(projectId);
 }
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/recordCompletion.ts b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/recordCompletion.ts
index b51b97cf..47e76716 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/recordCompletion.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/recordCompletion.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { taskStore } from '../../../taskStore';
 
 export function recordCompletion(config: Record<string, any>) {
-  if (!config?.firekit?.run?.completed && !taskStore().demoMode) {
+  if (!taskStore().demoMode && config.firekit && !config.firekit?.run?.completed) {
     config.firekit.finishRun();
   }
 }
diff --git a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/trialSaving.ts b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/trialSaving.ts
index b74b4c9a..e4eb9f3b 100644
--- a/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/trialSaving.ts
+++ b/task-launcher/src/tasks/shared/helpers/trialSaving.ts
@@ -119,21 +119,8 @@ export const initTrialSaving = (config: Record<string, any>) => {
 
   // @ts-ignore
   jsPsych.opts.on_finish = extend(jsPsych.opts.on_finish, () => {
-    // Add finishing metadata to run doc
-    // const finishingMetadata = {}
-    // const { maxTimeReached, numIncorrect, maxIncorrect } = taskStore();
 
-    // if (maxTimeReached) {
-    //   finishingMetadata.reasonTaskEnded = 'Max Time'
-    // } else if (numIncorrect >= maxIncorrect) {
-    //   finishingMetadata.reasonTaskEnded = 'Max Incorrect Trials'
-    // } else {
-    //   finishingMetadata.reasonTaskEnded = 'Completed Task'
-    // }
-
-    // config.firekit.finishRun(finishingMetadata);
-
-    if (!taskStore().demoMode) {
+    if (!taskStore().demoMode && config.firekit) {
       config.firekit.finishRun();
     }
   });
@@ -154,7 +141,7 @@ export const initTrialSaving = (config: Record<string, any>) => {
 
   // @ts-ignore
   jsPsych.opts.on_data_update = extend(jsPsych.opts.on_data_update, (data) => {
-    if (data.save_trial && !taskStore().demoMode) {
+    if (data.save_trial && !taskStore().demoMode && config.firekit) {
       // save_trial is a flag that indicates whether the trial should
       // be saved to Firestore. No point in writing it to the db.
       // creating a deep copy to prevent modifying of original data