diff --git a/api/openapi.json b/api/openapi.json
index b62c484c..d463c6cb 100644
--- a/api/openapi.json
+++ b/api/openapi.json
@@ -4045,6 +4045,51 @@
           }
         }
       },
+      "AudioWiring": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "description": "The Windows host's audio wiring verdict — which endpoint carries each role. The names are\nthe endpoints' friendly names as the Sound settings show them (on current hosts the minted\n\"Punktfunk\" instances of Steam's streaming drivers).",
+        "required": [
+          "readiness",
+          "mic_withheld",
+          "last_resort"
+        ],
+        "properties": {
+          "last_resort": {
+            "type": "boolean",
+            "description": "The loopback is the known-degraded last resort — desktop audio may be silent until the\nendpoint set changes."
+          },
+          "loopback": {
+            "type": [
+              "string",
+              "null"
+            ],
+            "description": "Friendly name of the desktop-audio loopback source; absent = desktop audio unavailable."
+          },
+          "mic": {
+            "type": [
+              "string",
+              "null"
+            ],
+            "description": "Friendly name of the virtual-mic write target; absent = mic passthrough unavailable."
+          },
+          "mic_withheld": {
+            "type": "boolean",
+            "description": "The mic was WITHHELD so game audio could keep the only working sink — mic passthrough\nneeds Steam installed (the host mints its own microphone) or a virtual cable."
+          },
+          "narrowing": {
+            "type": [
+              "string",
+              "null"
+            ],
+            "description": "Why the chosen loopback endpoint NARROWS the desktop mix (rate/channels), when it does."
+          },
+          "readiness": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "description": "`full` | `audio_only` | `mic_only` | `none` — whether desktop audio and mic passthrough\neach have an endpoint at all.",
+            "example": "full"
+          }
+        }
+      },
       "AvailableCompositor": {
         "type": "object",
         "description": "A compositor backend the host can drive a virtual output on, and whether it's usable now.",
@@ -6805,6 +6850,17 @@
             "description": "Number of live streaming sessions across BOTH planes (GameStream + native punktfunk/1). The\nnative server admits concurrent sessions, so this can exceed 1; `session`/`stream` below\ndescribe a single representative session for the detail card.",
             "minimum": 0
           },
+          "audio": {
+            "oneOf": [
+              {
+                "type": "null"
+              },
+              {
+                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/AudioWiring",
+                "description": "The audio wiring verdict (Windows hosts; absent on other platforms and before the first\nwiring pass). Present even while idle — the wiring exists for the host's lifetime."
+              }
+            ]
+          },
           "audio_streaming": {
             "type": "boolean",
             "description": "True while the audio stream thread is running."
diff --git a/web/messages/de.json b/web/messages/de.json
index 6e29a9e8..56f2cb49 100644
--- a/web/messages/de.json
+++ b/web/messages/de.json
@@ -73,6 +73,16 @@
 	"status_paired_count": "Gekoppelte Geräte",
 	"status_pin_waiting": "Wartet",
 	"status_pin_none": "Keine",
+	"audio_wiring_title": "Audio-Verkabelung",
+	"audio_output": "Spielaudio",
+	"audio_microphone": "Mikrofon",
+	"audio_unavailable": "Nicht verfügbar",
+	"audio_ready": "Bereit",
+	"audio_ready_no_mic": "Kein Mikrofon",
+	"audio_no_output": "Kein Spielaudio",
+	"audio_none": "Nicht verkabelt",
+	"audio_mic_withheld": "Der Mikrofon-Endpunkt überträgt gerade das Spielaudio — installiere Steam, damit der Host sein eigenes Mikrofon anlegen kann (Steam muss nie laufen).",
+	"audio_last_resort": "Spielaudio läuft über einen eingeschränkten Ersatz-Endpunkt und kann stumm bleiben, bis ein Ausgabegerät erscheint.",
 	"status_pin_pending": "Kopplungs-PIN ausstehend",
 	"stream_codec": "Codec",
 	"stream_resolution": "Auflösung",
diff --git a/web/messages/en.json b/web/messages/en.json
index 3e5f70f2..da6286ae 100644
--- a/web/messages/en.json
+++ b/web/messages/en.json
@@ -73,6 +73,16 @@
 	"status_paired_count": "Paired clients",
 	"status_pin_waiting": "Waiting",
 	"status_pin_none": "None",
+	"audio_wiring_title": "Audio wiring",
+	"audio_output": "Game audio",
+	"audio_microphone": "Microphone",
+	"audio_unavailable": "Unavailable",
+	"audio_ready": "Ready",
+	"audio_ready_no_mic": "No microphone",
+	"audio_no_output": "No game audio",
+	"audio_none": "Not wired",
+	"audio_mic_withheld": "The microphone endpoint is carrying game audio — install Steam so the host can mint its own microphone (Steam never has to run).",
+	"audio_last_resort": "Game audio is on a degraded fallback endpoint and may be silent until an output device appears.",
 	"status_pin_pending": "Pairing PIN pending",
 	"stream_codec": "Codec",
 	"stream_resolution": "Resolution",
diff --git a/web/src/sections/Dashboard/view.tsx b/web/src/sections/Dashboard/view.tsx
index 81d3dd9b..792b3994 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/Dashboard/view.tsx
+++ b/web/src/sections/Dashboard/view.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import Section from "@unom/ui/section";
 import { MonitorPlay, RefreshCw, Video, Volume2, ZapOff } from "lucide-react";
 import type { FC, ReactNode } from "react";
 import type { ActiveGame } from "@/api/gen/model/activeGame";
+import type { AudioWiring } from "@/api/gen/model/audioWiring";
 import type { GameEntry } from "@/api/gen/model/gameEntry";
 import type { RuntimeStatus } from "@/api/gen/model/runtimeStatus";
 import { QueryState } from "@/components/query-state";
@@ -87,6 +88,12 @@ export const DashboardView: FC<{
 								</Card>
 							</div>
 
+							{/* The wiring verdict (Windows hosts): WHICH endpoints carry game
+							    audio and the microphone, and the degradations that used to be
+							    visible only in the host log — a silent host looks identical to a
+							    quiet game without this. */}
+							{s.audio && <AudioWiringCard audio={s.audio} />}
+
 							{/* Above the session card: a game the host is about to close is the most
 							    time-sensitive thing on this page. */}
 							<RunningGames
@@ -193,6 +200,57 @@ export const DashboardView: FC<{
 	);
 };
 
+/**
+ * One line per role plus a readiness badge; the degradation notes are spelled out because the
+ * failure they describe (silent audio, a mic that quietly vanished) is invisible everywhere
+ * else except the host log.
+ */
+const AudioWiringCard: FC<{ audio: AudioWiring }> = ({ audio }) => {
+	const badge: { variant: "success" | "secondary" | "destructive"; text: string } =
+		audio.readiness === "full"
+			? { variant: "success", text: m.audio_ready() }
+			: audio.readiness === "audio_only"
+				? { variant: "secondary", text: m.audio_ready_no_mic() }
+				: audio.readiness === "mic_only"
+					? { variant: "destructive", text: m.audio_no_output() }
+					: { variant: "destructive", text: m.audio_none() };
+	const notes = [
+		audio.mic_withheld ? m.audio_mic_withheld() : undefined,
+		audio.last_resort ? m.audio_last_resort() : undefined,
+		audio.narrowing,
+	].filter((n): n is string => !!n);
+	return (
+		<Card>
+			<CardHeader className="flex flex-row items-center justify-between space-y-0">
+				<CardTitle className="flex items-center gap-2">
+					<Volume2 className="size-4" />
+					{m.audio_wiring_title()}
+				</CardTitle>
+				<Badge variant={badge.variant}>{badge.text}</Badge>
+			</CardHeader>
+			<CardContent className="flex flex-col gap-3">
+				<dl className="grid gap-4 sm:grid-cols-2">
+					<Field
+						label={m.audio_output()}
+						value={audio.loopback ?? m.audio_unavailable()}
+					/>
+					<Field
+						label={m.audio_microphone()}
+						value={audio.mic ?? m.audio_unavailable()}
+					/>
+				</dl>
+				{notes.length > 0 && (
+					<ul className="flex flex-col gap-1 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+						{notes.map((n) => (
+							<li key={n}>{n}</li>
+						))}
+					</ul>
+				)}
+			</CardContent>
+		</Card>
+	);
+};
+
 const StatCard: FC<{ icon: ReactNode; label: string; on: boolean }> = ({
 	icon,
 	label,