diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6cc9d0..3eaf6e2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,3 +56,5 @@ cd app
 npm install
 npm run dev
 ```
+
+If you skip the build step above, the repository ships small placeholder modules so the app still builds, but Whisper will not run until you generate the real WASM binaries.
diff --git a/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.js b/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05cf858
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// Placeholder Whisper WASM factory used when the real bundle is not built.
+// Run ./scripts/build-wasm.sh to generate the optimized version.
+export default async function whisperFactory() {
+  console.warn('Using placeholder Whisper WASM bundle. Run ./scripts/build-wasm.sh to build the real binary.');
+  return {
+    FS_writeFile: () => {
+      // no-op placeholder
+    }
+  };
+}
diff --git a/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.single.js b/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.single.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa53cc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/public/wasm/whisper-web.single.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Placeholder single-threaded Whisper WASM factory.
+import whisperFactory from './whisper-web.js';
+export default whisperFactory;