fix: Skip onboarding calls in podcast-only demo mode

- Add demoMode utility for consistent demo mode detection
- Skip onboarding API calls in OnboardingContext when in demo mode
- Redirect to /podcast-maker instead of /onboarding in demo mode

frontend/src/App.tsx

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { Box, CircularProgress, Typography } from '@mui/material';
 import { CopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-core";
 import { ClerkProvider, useAuth } from '@clerk/clerk-react';
 import "@copilotkit/react-ui/styles.css";
+import { shouldSkipOnboarding } from './utils/demoMode';
 import Wizard from './components/OnboardingWizard/Wizard';
 import MainDashboard from './components/MainDashboard/MainDashboard';
 import SEODashboard from './components/SEODashboard/SEODashboard';
@@ -406,6 +407,11 @@ const InitialRouteHandler: React.FC = () => {
 
   // 4. Has active subscription, check onboarding status
   if (!isOnboardingComplete) {
+    // In demo mode, skip onboarding and go directly to podcast-maker
+    if (shouldSkipOnboarding()) {
+      console.log('InitialRouteHandler: Demo mode - skipping onboarding → Podcast Maker');
+      return <Navigate to="/podcast-maker" replace />;
+    }
     console.log('InitialRouteHandler: Subscription active but onboarding incomplete → Onboarding');
     return <Navigate to="/onboarding" replace />;
   }

frontend/src/contexts/OnboardingContext.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React, { createContext, useContext, useState, useEffect, useCallback, ReactNode } from 'react';
 import { useAuth } from '@clerk/clerk-react';
 import { apiClient } from '../api/client';
+import { shouldSkipOnboarding } from '../utils/demoMode';
 
 /**
  * Onboarding Context
@@ -102,6 +103,13 @@ export const OnboardingProvider: React.FC<OnboardingProviderProps> = ({ children
       setLoading(true);
       setError(null);
       
+      // Skip onboarding fetch in demo mode - onboarding is disabled
+      if (shouldSkipOnboarding()) {
+        console.log('OnboardingContext: Skipping onboarding fetch in demo mode');
+        setLoading(false);
+        return;
+      }
+      
       console.log('OnboardingContext: Fetching onboarding data for authenticated user...');
       
       // Call batch init endpoint
@@ -159,6 +167,12 @@ export const OnboardingProvider: React.FC<OnboardingProviderProps> = ({ children
   // Separate effect to fetch data when explicitly requested
   const initializeOnboarding = useCallback(() => {
     if (isSignedIn && clerkLoaded) {
+      // Skip onboarding initialization in demo mode
+      if (shouldSkipOnboarding()) {
+        console.log('OnboardingContext: Skipping onboarding init in demo mode');
+        setLoading(false);
+        return;
+      }
       console.log('OnboardingContext: Initializing onboarding data...');
       fetchOnboardingData();
     }

frontend/src/utils/demoMode.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * Demo mode detection utilities for podcast-only demo mode.
+ */
+
+const DEMO_MODE_STORAGE_KEYS = [
+  'app_mode',
+  'demo_mode',
+  'podcast_only_demo_mode',
+];
+
+const DEMO_MODE_ENV_KEYS = [
+  'REACT_APP_APP_MODE',
+  'REACT_APP_DEMO_MODE',
+  'REACT_APP_PODCAST_ONLY_DEMO_MODE',
+];
+
+/**
+ * Check if podcast-only demo mode is enabled.
+ * Checks localStorage first, then environment variables.
+ */
+export function isPodcastOnlyDemoMode(): boolean {
+  // Check localStorage
+  for (const key of DEMO_MODE_STORAGE_KEYS) {
+    const value = (localStorage.getItem(key) || '').toLowerCase();
+    if (value === 'true' || value === 'podcast-only' || value === 'podcast_only') {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Check environment variables
+  for (const key of DEMO_MODE_ENV_KEYS) {
+    const value = (process.env[key] || '').toLowerCase();
+    if (value === 'true' || value === 'podcast-only' || value === 'podcast_only') {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return false;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if the app should skip onboarding entirely.
+ * Returns true in podcast-only demo mode.
+ */
+export function shouldSkipOnboarding(): boolean {
+  return isPodcastOnlyDemoMode();
+}