diff --git a/internal/source/errors.go b/internal/source/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d99e3b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/source/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package source
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+type ErrorKind uint8
+
+const (
+	ErrorKindUnknown       ErrorKind = iota
+	ErrorKindTemporary               // timeout or temporarily early/late data i.e. wait or resync
+	ErrorKindUnavailable             // producer/flow disappeared
+	ErrorKindInvalidConfig           // wrong media type, invalid rate, etc.
+)
+
+type SourceError struct {
+	Op   string
+	Kind ErrorKind
+	Err  error
+}
+
+func (e *SourceError) Error() string {
+	if e.Op == "" {
+		return e.Err.Error()
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %v", e.Op, e.Err)
+}
+
+func (e *SourceError) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.Err
+}
+
+func errorKind(err error) ErrorKind {
+	var sourceErr *SourceError
+	if errors.As(err, &sourceErr) {
+		return sourceErr.Kind
+	}
+	return ErrorKindUnknown
+}
+
+func wrapError(op string, kind ErrorKind, err error) error {
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return &SourceError{
+		Op:   op,
+		Kind: kind,
+		Err:  err,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/source/errors_test.go b/internal/source/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb6178f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/source/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package source
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestErrorKindThroughWrapping(t *testing.T) {
+	base := errors.New("producer disappeared")
+	wrapped := wrapError("read video", ErrorKindUnavailable, base)
+	outer := fmt.Errorf("worker failed: %w", wrapped)
+
+	if got := errorKind(outer); got != ErrorKindUnavailable {
+		t.Fatalf("errorKind() = %v, want %v", got, ErrorKindUnavailable)
+	}
+	if !errors.Is(outer, base) {
+		t.Fatal("wrapped error does not preserve its cause")
+	}
+	if wrapError("nil", 0, nil) != nil {
+		t.Fatal("nil error is not wrapped as nil")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestErrorKindUnknown(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := errorKind(errors.New("ordinary error")); got != ErrorKindUnknown {
+		t.Fatalf("errorKind() = %v, want %v", got, ErrorKindUnknown)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSourceErrorWithOperation(t *testing.T) {
+	err := &SourceError{
+		Op:   "read video",
+		Kind: ErrorKindTemporary,
+		Err:  errors.New("timeout"),
+	}
+
+	const want = "read video: timeout"
+	if got := err.Error(); got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("Error() = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSourceErrorWithoutOperation(t *testing.T) {
+	err := &SourceError{
+		Kind: ErrorKindTemporary,
+		Err:  errors.New("timeout"),
+	}
+
+	const want = "timeout"
+	if got := err.Error(); got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("Error() = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}