diff --git a/internal/flinger/flinger.go b/internal/flinger/flinger.go
index 7fb7ff5..fdd3e07 100644
--- a/internal/flinger/flinger.go
+++ b/internal/flinger/flinger.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"strconv"
+	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
@@ -91,6 +92,9 @@ type Status struct {
 	Frames  int64
 	Dropped int64
 	Conns   int
+	// Err is the most recent runtime error encountered (capture, encode,
+	// packet or audio), or nil if the stream is healthy.
+	Err error
 }
 
 // Engine owns the capture, encode and send pipeline.
@@ -106,7 +110,16 @@ type Engine struct {
 	start time.Time
 	stop  chan struct{}
 
-	frames atomic.Int64
+	frames  atomic.Int64
+	errMu   sync.RWMutex
+	lastErr error
+}
+
+// setErr records the most recent runtime error. Pass nil to clear it.
+func (e *Engine) setErr(err error) {
+	e.errMu.Lock()
+	e.lastErr = err
+	e.errMu.Unlock()
 }
 
 // New creates an engine from cfg. Capture is opened eagerly so that
@@ -208,11 +221,15 @@ func (e *Engine) Stop() {
 
 // Status returns a snapshot of the running engine.
 func (e *Engine) Status() Status {
+	e.errMu.RLock()
+	err := e.lastErr
+	e.errMu.RUnlock()
 	return Status{
 		Running: e.stop != nil,
 		Frames:  e.frames.Load(),
 		Dropped: e.sender.Dropped(),
 		Conns:   e.sender.NumConns(),
+		Err:     err,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -237,6 +254,7 @@ func (e *Engine) audioLoop(src io.ReadCloser) {
 			ts := uint64(time.Since(e.start))
 			packet, perr := protocol.BuildWavePacket(ts, protocol.AudioFormatS16, sampleRate, speakers, int32(frames), buf[:n])
 			if perr != nil {
+				e.setErr(perr)
 				log.Printf("flinger: wave: %v", perr)
 			} else {
 				e.sender.Send(packet)
@@ -249,6 +267,7 @@ func (e *Engine) audioLoop(src io.ReadCloser) {
 			default:
 			}
 			if !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) && !errors.Is(err, io.ErrClosedPipe) {
+				e.setErr(err)
 				log.Printf("flinger: audio: %v", err)
 			}
 		}
@@ -269,6 +288,7 @@ func (e *Engine) videoLoop() {
 			default:
 			}
 			if !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) && !errors.Is(err, io.ErrClosedPipe) {
+				e.setErr(err)
 				log.Printf("flinger: capture: %v", err)
 			}
 			continue
@@ -285,6 +305,7 @@ func (e *Engine) videoLoop() {
 		ts := uint64(now.Sub(e.start))
 		buf, err := e.encoder.EncodeBGRA(frame.Pix, frame.Width, frame.Height, e.cfg.Quality)
 		if err != nil {
+			e.setErr(err)
 			log.Printf("flinger: jpeg: %v", err)
 			continue
 		}
@@ -296,6 +317,7 @@ func (e *Engine) videoLoop() {
 			buf,
 		)
 		if err != nil {
+			e.setErr(err)
 			log.Printf("flinger: packet: %v", err)
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/internal/flinger/flinger_test.go b/internal/flinger/flinger_test.go
index c0ba4ea..0fd06aa 100644
--- a/internal/flinger/flinger_test.go
+++ b/internal/flinger/flinger_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package flinger
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"net"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -77,6 +78,34 @@ func TestNewRejectsBadSource(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSetErrStatus verifies runtime errors are exposed via Status and can be
+// cleared.
+func TestSetErrStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := DefaultConfig()
+	cfg.Source = "pattern"
+	cfg.Port = 19757
+
+	eng, err := New(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("New: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if st := eng.Status(); st.Err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no error initially, got %v", st.Err)
+	}
+
+	sentinel := errors.New("test capture failure")
+	eng.setErr(sentinel)
+	if st := eng.Status(); st.Err != sentinel {
+		t.Errorf("expected sentinel error, got %v", st.Err)
+	}
+
+	eng.setErr(nil)
+	if st := eng.Status(); st.Err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected cleared error, got %v", st.Err)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestValidate rejects out-of-range values.
 func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
 	bad := []func(*Config){