validate general.language in config and use effective language for model compatibility

internal/config/config_test.go

@@ -2039,3 +2039,100 @@ func TestConfig_EffectiveLanguage(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+func TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage(t *testing.T) {
+	baseConfig := func() *Config {
+		return &Config{
+			Recording: RecordingConfig{
+				SampleRate:        16000,
+				Channels:          1,
+				Format:            "s16",
+				BufferSize:        8192,
+				ChannelBufferSize: 30,
+				Timeout:           time.Minute,
+			},
+			Transcription: TranscriptionConfig{
+				Provider: "openai",
+				APIKey:   "test-key",
+				Model:    "whisper-1",
+			},
+			Injection: InjectionConfig{
+				Backends:         []string{"clipboard"},
+				YdotoolTimeout:   5 * time.Second,
+				WtypeTimeout:     5 * time.Second,
+				ClipboardTimeout: 3 * time.Second,
+			},
+			Notifications: NotificationsConfig{Type: "log"},
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Run("valid general.language passes validation", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := baseConfig()
+		config.General.Language = "es"
+
+		err := config.Validate()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Validate() should pass with valid general.language: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("general.language validated against model", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := baseConfig()
+		config.General.Language = "es"
+		config.Transcription.Provider = "groq-transcription"
+		config.Transcription.Model = "distil-whisper-large-v3-en" // english-only model
+		config.Transcription.APIKey = "gsk-test-key"
+
+		err := config.Validate()
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Error("Validate() should fail when general.language incompatible with model")
+		}
+		if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not support Spanish") {
+			t.Errorf("error should mention Spanish, got: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("transcription.language override validated against model", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := baseConfig()
+		config.General.Language = "en"       // compatible
+		config.Transcription.Language = "es" // override with incompatible
+		config.Transcription.Provider = "groq-transcription"
+		config.Transcription.Model = "distil-whisper-large-v3-en" // english-only model
+		config.Transcription.APIKey = "gsk-test-key"
+
+		err := config.Validate()
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Error("Validate() should fail when transcription.language override is incompatible")
+		}
+		if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not support Spanish") {
+			t.Errorf("error should mention Spanish, got: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("valid override with compatible language", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := baseConfig()
+		config.General.Language = "es"       // would be incompatible
+		config.Transcription.Language = "en" // override with compatible
+		config.Transcription.Provider = "groq-transcription"
+		config.Transcription.Model = "distil-whisper-large-v3-en" // english-only model
+		config.Transcription.APIKey = "gsk-test-key"
+
+		err := config.Validate()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Validate() should pass when transcription.language override is compatible: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("auto language always passes", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := baseConfig()
+		config.General.Language = "" // auto
+		config.Transcription.Provider = "groq-transcription"
+		config.Transcription.Model = "distil-whisper-large-v3-en" // english-only model
+		config.Transcription.APIKey = "gsk-test-key"
+
+		err := config.Validate()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Validate() should pass with auto language: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+}

internal/config/validate.go

@@ -85,9 +85,12 @@ func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// validate language code - warn if not recognized but don't error
+	// validate language codes - warn if not recognized but don't error
+	if c.General.Language != "" && !language.IsValidCode(c.General.Language) {
+		log.Printf("warning: unrecognized language code '%s' in general.language, will be passed as-is to provider", c.General.Language)
+	}
 	if c.Transcription.Language != "" && !language.IsValidCode(c.Transcription.Language) {
-		log.Printf("warning: unrecognized language code '%s', will be passed as-is to provider", c.Transcription.Language)
+		log.Printf("warning: unrecognized language code '%s' in transcription.language, will be passed as-is to provider", c.Transcription.Language)
 	}
 
 	// validate model exists
@@ -111,8 +114,9 @@ func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid model for %s: %s (available: %s)", c.Transcription.Provider, c.Transcription.Model, strings.Join(modelIDs, ", "))
 	}
 
-	// validate language-model compatibility
+	// validate language-model compatibility using effective language (transcription overrides general)
-	if err := ValidateModelLanguageCompatibility(registryName, c.Transcription.Model, c.Transcription.Language); err != nil {
+	effectiveLanguage := c.resolveEffectiveLanguage()
+	if err := ValidateModelLanguageCompatibility(registryName, c.Transcription.Model, effectiveLanguage); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 

progress.txt

@@ -596,3 +596,16 @@ Started: Sun Feb  1 12:22:47 AM CET 2026
 - Added TestValidateModelLanguage_ErrorFormat test verifying error includes model name, docs URL, and language
 - Updated test expectations in config_test.go for new error format
 - All tests passing, typecheck passes
+
+### Task 11: Update config validation for general language
+- Updated `internal/config/validate.go` to validate `general.language` if set
+- Added warning for unrecognized `general.language` code (warns but doesn't error)
+- Changed language-model compatibility check to use effective language (`resolveEffectiveLanguage()`)
+- Effective language = transcription.language override, or general.language if no override
+- Added comprehensive tests in config_test.go:
+  - `TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage/valid_general.language_passes_validation`
+  - `TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage/general.language_validated_against_model`
+  - `TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage/transcription.language_override_validated_against_model`
+  - `TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage/valid_override_with_compatible_language`
+  - `TestConfig_Validate_GeneralLanguage/auto_language_always_passes`
+- All tests passing, typecheck passes

tasks/prd.jsonc

@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@
 				"Config with general.language='invalid' warns but doesn't hard fail",
 				"Typecheck passes"
 			],
-			"passes": false
+			"passes": true
 		},
 		{
 			"title": "Update README and docs for general language setting",