diff --git a/bridge/.env.example b/bridge/.env.example
index 2da85c5..3b855aa 100644
--- a/bridge/.env.example
+++ b/bridge/.env.example
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ VAD_MIN_SPEECH_MS=300
 MQTT_VAD_TOPIC=evs/+/vad_segment
 MQTT_TRANSCRIPT_TOPIC_TEMPLATE=evs/{device_id}/transcript
 MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE=evs/{device_id}/stt_error
+STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN=true
+STT_ERROR_RETAIN=false
 STT_MODEL=small
 STT_DEVICE=cpu
 STT_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8
diff --git a/bridge/README.md b/bridge/README.md
index 767500e..6b39027 100644
--- a/bridge/README.md
+++ b/bridge/README.md
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ You can build automations on these events (for STT/TTS pipelines or Node-RED han
   - reads `wav_path` from event JSON
   - transcribes with `faster-whisper`
   - publishes transcript to `evs/<device_id>/transcript`
+  - `STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN=true` keeps latest transcript visible in MQTT UIs
 
 ## 6.1) STT Worker Config
 
diff --git a/bridge/docker-compose.yml b/bridge/docker-compose.yml
index 0b432b0..ad62705 100644
--- a/bridge/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/bridge/docker-compose.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ services:
       MQTT_VAD_TOPIC: "${MQTT_VAD_TOPIC:-evs/+/vad_segment}"
       MQTT_TRANSCRIPT_TOPIC_TEMPLATE: "${MQTT_TRANSCRIPT_TOPIC_TEMPLATE:-evs/{device_id}/transcript}"
       MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE: "${MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE:-evs/{device_id}/stt_error}"
+      STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN: "${STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN:-true}"
+      STT_ERROR_RETAIN: "${STT_ERROR_RETAIN:-false}"
       STT_MODEL: "${STT_MODEL:-small}"
       STT_DEVICE: "${STT_DEVICE:-cpu}"
       STT_COMPUTE_TYPE: "${STT_COMPUTE_TYPE:-int8}"
diff --git a/stt-worker/Dockerfile b/stt-worker/Dockerfile
index 949d24b..1adc7a7 100644
--- a/stt-worker/Dockerfile
+++ b/stt-worker/Dockerfile
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ ENV LOG_LEVEL=INFO \
     MQTT_VAD_TOPIC=evs/+/vad_segment \
     MQTT_TRANSCRIPT_TOPIC_TEMPLATE=evs/{device_id}/transcript \
     MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE=evs/{device_id}/stt_error \
+    STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN=true \
+    STT_ERROR_RETAIN=false \
     STT_MODEL=small \
     STT_DEVICE=cpu \
     STT_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8 \
diff --git a/stt-worker/README.md b/stt-worker/README.md
index bc257bf..d7abae3 100644
--- a/stt-worker/README.md
+++ b/stt-worker/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ Flow:
 - reads: `wav_path` from JSON payload
 - output topic: `evs/<device_id>/transcript`
 - error topic: `evs/<device_id>/stt_error`
+- default retain:
+  - transcript retained (`STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN=true`)
+  - error non-retained (`STT_ERROR_RETAIN=false`)
 
 Default model:
 - `STT_MODEL=small`
diff --git a/stt-worker/app.py b/stt-worker/app.py
index b9ff1d3..0064883 100644
--- a/stt-worker/app.py
+++ b/stt-worker/app.py
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ MQTT_TRANSCRIPT_TOPIC_TEMPLATE = os.getenv(
 MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE = os.getenv(
     "MQTT_STT_ERROR_TOPIC_TEMPLATE", f"{MQTT_BASE_TOPIC}" + "/{device_id}/stt_error"
 )
+STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN = getenv_bool("STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN", True)
+STT_ERROR_RETAIN = getenv_bool("STT_ERROR_RETAIN", False)
 
 STT_MODEL = os.getenv("STT_MODEL", "small")
 STT_DEVICE = os.getenv("STT_DEVICE", "cpu")
@@ -66,11 +68,22 @@ class WorkerState:
 state = WorkerState()
 
 
-def publish_json(topic: str, payload: dict) -> None:
+def publish_json(topic: str, payload: dict, retain: bool = False) -> None:
     if not state.client:
         return
     try:
-        state.client.publish(topic, json.dumps(payload), qos=0, retain=False)
+        body = json.dumps(payload)
+        info = state.client.publish(topic, body, qos=0, retain=retain)
+        rc = getattr(info, "rc", "n/a")
+        mid = getattr(info, "mid", "n/a")
+        log.info(
+            "mqtt publish: topic=%s retain=%s rc=%s mid=%s bytes=%s",
+            topic,
+            retain,
+            rc,
+            mid,
+            len(body),
+        )
     except Exception:
         log.exception("mqtt publish failed: topic=%s", topic)
 
@@ -93,7 +106,7 @@ def transcribe_wav(device_id: str, wav_path: str) -> None:
             "wav_path": wav_path,
             "error": "wav_not_found",
         }
-        publish_json(topic_for_error(device_id), payload)
+        publish_json(topic_for_error(device_id), payload, retain=STT_ERROR_RETAIN)
         log.warning("wav not found: device=%s path=%s", device_id, wav_path)
         return
 
@@ -122,7 +135,7 @@ def transcribe_wav(device_id: str, wav_path: str) -> None:
             "language_probability": getattr(info, "language_probability", 0.0),
             "model": STT_MODEL,
         }
-        publish_json(topic_for_transcript(device_id), payload)
+        publish_json(topic_for_transcript(device_id), payload, retain=STT_TRANSCRIPT_RETAIN)
         log.info("transcript: device=%s chars=%s wav=%s", device_id, len(text), wav_path)
     except Exception as exc:
         payload = {
@@ -132,7 +145,7 @@ def transcribe_wav(device_id: str, wav_path: str) -> None:
             "wav_path": wav_path,
             "error": str(exc),
         }
-        publish_json(topic_for_error(device_id), payload)
+        publish_json(topic_for_error(device_id), payload, retain=STT_ERROR_RETAIN)
         log.exception("transcription failed: device=%s wav=%s", device_id, wav_path)