diff --git a/src/lib/server/pipeline.ts b/src/lib/server/pipeline.ts
index 3c2686e..059ee98 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/pipeline.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/pipeline.ts
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ async function runJob(
 				status: 'done',
 				progress: 100,
 				segmentsJson: JSON.stringify(captionSegments),
-				outputDir: paths.srt.replace(/\/[^/]+$/, '')
+				outputDir: paths.srt.replace(/\/[^/]+$/, ''),
+				transcriptSource: 'captions'
 			});
 			emitProgress(jobId, { type: 'done' });
 			const { sendNotification } = await import('./push.js');
diff --git a/src/routes/api/webhook/[jobId]/+server.ts b/src/routes/api/webhook/[jobId]/+server.ts
index e7102a4..b1104e5 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/webhook/[jobId]/+server.ts
+++ b/src/routes/api/webhook/[jobId]/+server.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ export async function POST({ params, request }) {
 			status: 'done',
 			progress: 100,
 			segmentsJson: JSON.stringify(segments),
-			outputDir
+			outputDir,
+			transcriptSource: 'whisper'
 		});
 
 		emitProgress(jobId, { type: 'done', status: 'done' });
diff --git a/src/tests/vtt-fallback.test.ts b/src/tests/vtt-fallback.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..240b5c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/vtt-fallback.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { rm } from 'fs/promises';
+import type { TranscriptResponse } from 'youtube-transcript';
+
+const { mockExecFile, mockFetchTranscript, mockSubmitJob, mockStreamJob, TEST_DATA_DIR } = vi.hoisted(() => {
+	const dir = `/tmp/tonemark-vtt-fallback-test-${Date.now()}`;
+	process.env.DATA_DIR = dir;
+	return {
+		mockExecFile: vi.fn(),
+		mockFetchTranscript: vi.fn(),
+		mockSubmitJob: vi.fn(),
+		mockStreamJob: vi.fn(),
+		TEST_DATA_DIR: dir
+	};
+});
+
+vi.mock('child_process', () => ({
+	execFile: mockExecFile
+}));
+
+vi.mock('youtube-transcript', () => ({
+	fetchTranscript: mockFetchTranscript
+}));
+
+vi.mock('$lib/server/whisper.js', async () => {
+	const actual = await vi.importActual('$lib/server/whisper.js');
+	return {
+		...actual,
+		submitJob: mockSubmitJob,
+		streamJob: mockStreamJob,
+		getHealth: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ status: 'ok' }),
+		ensureWhisperRunning: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+	};
+});
+
+vi.mock('$lib/server/audio.js', () => ({
+	prepareAudio: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+		wavPath: '/fake/path/audio.wav',
+		analysis: { meanVolume: -20, maxVolume: -10 }
+	}),
+	cleanup: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+}));
+
+vi.mock('$lib/server/formatter.js', () => ({
+	writeOutputs: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+		srt: '/fake/path/output.srt',
+		vtt: '/fake/path/output.vtt',
+		json: '/fake/path/output.json'
+	})
+}));
+
+vi.mock('$lib/server/push.js', () => ({
+	sendNotification: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+}));
+
+vi.mock('$lib/server/docker.js', () => ({
+	ensureWhisperRunning: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+}));
+
+import { startYouTubeJob } from '$lib/server/pipeline.js';
+import { getJob, createJob, updateJob } from '$lib/server/db.js';
+
+describe('VTT fallback — transcript_source field', () => {
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		vi.clearAllMocks();
+		mockExecFile.mockImplementation((...args: unknown[]) => {
+			const cb = args.at(-1) as (...callbackArgs: unknown[]) => void;
+			cb(null, JSON.stringify({ title: 'Test Video' }), '');
+		});
+	});
+
+	afterEach(async () => {
+		await rm(TEST_DATA_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true }).catch(() => {});
+	});
+
+	it('sets transcript_source to "captions" when VTT captions are non-empty', async () => {
+		mockFetchTranscript.mockResolvedValue([
+			{ text: 'Hello world', offset: 0, duration: 2.5, lang: 'en' },
+			{ text: 'Test caption', offset: 2.5, duration: 2.5, lang: 'en' }
+		] satisfies TranscriptResponse[]);
+
+		const jobId = await startYouTubeJob('https://youtube.com/watch?v=test-captions');
+
+		// Wait for the caption fast path to complete
+		await vi.waitFor(
+			() => {
+				const job = getJob(jobId);
+				expect(job?.status).toBe('done');
+			},
+			{ timeout: 5000, interval: 50 }
+		);
+
+		const job = getJob(jobId)!;
+		expect(job.transcriptSource).toBe('captions');
+		expect(job.segmentsJson).toBeTruthy();
+		expect(job.status).toBe('done');
+	});
+
+	it('stores transcript_source as "whisper" when webhook updates job', async () => {
+		const job = createJob('https://youtube.com/watch?v=test-empty', 'Empty Captions Job', 'auto');
+
+		// Simulate the whisper completion webhook setting transcript_source to whisper
+		updateJob({
+			id: job.id,
+			status: 'done',
+			progress: 100,
+			segmentsJson: JSON.stringify([
+				{ index: 0, start: 0, end: 2, text: 'Whisper output', words: [] }
+			]),
+			outputDir: '/fake/output',
+			transcriptSource: 'whisper'
+		});
+
+		const updated = getJob(job.id)!;
+		expect(updated.transcriptSource).toBe('whisper');
+		expect(updated.status).toBe('done');
+		expect(updated.segmentsJson).toBeTruthy();
+	});
+
+	it('stores transcript_source correctly for different transcript modes', async () => {
+		const job1 = createJob('job-1', 'Captions Job', 'auto');
+		updateJob({ id: job1.id, transcriptSource: 'captions' });
+		expect(getJob(job1.id)!.transcriptSource).toBe('captions');
+
+		const job2 = createJob('job-2', 'Whisper Job', 'auto');
+		updateJob({ id: job2.id, transcriptSource: 'whisper' });
+		expect(getJob(job2.id)!.transcriptSource).toBe('whisper');
+
+		const job3 = createJob('job-3', 'Unset Job', 'auto');
+		expect(getJob(job3.id)!.transcriptSource).toBeNull();
+	});
+});