diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 64e7bb8..97e0095 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ All audio, transcripts, and summaries remain local.
 ## Features
 
 - **System audio capture** — records all system audio natively via Core Audio Taps (macOS 14.2+), no virtual audio drivers needed
-- **Microphone capture** — optionally record system + mic audio simultaneously with `--mic`
+- **Microphone capture** — records system + mic audio simultaneously by default (press `m` to mute/unmute, or use `--no-mic`)
 - **WhisperX transcription** — fast, accurate speech-to-text with word-level timestamps
 - **Speaker diarization** — optional speaker identification via pyannote (requires HuggingFace token)
 - **Pipeline progress** — live checklist showing transcription, diarization sub-steps, and summarization progress
@@ -70,7 +70,14 @@ Works with any app that outputs audio through Core Audio (Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc
 > ```bash
 > open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_ScreenCapture"
 > ```
-> Enable your terminal app, then restart it.
+> Enable your terminal app, then restart it. Both capture modes need this permission, `picker` and `all` alike.
+>
+> The microphone is recorded by default, so macOS also asks for **Microphone** permission on the first run.
+> If you dismissed that prompt, enable your terminal app here:
+> ```bash
+> open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Microphone"
+> ```
+> Recording fails to start while the microphone is unavailable — use `--no-mic` to capture system audio only.
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -135,24 +142,24 @@ then call `ownscribe` directly. The examples in [Usage](#usage) use the bare
 ### Record, transcribe, and summarize a meeting
 
 ```bash
-ownscribe                    # records system audio, Ctrl+C to stop
+ownscribe                    # records system audio + mic, Ctrl+C to stop
 ```
 
 This will:
-1. Capture system audio until you press Ctrl+C (or auto-stop after 5 minutes of silence)
+1. Capture system audio and your microphone until you press Ctrl+C (or auto-stop after 5 minutes of silence); press `m` to mute/unmute the mic while recording
 2. Transcribe with WhisperX
 3. Summarize with your local LLM
-4. Save everything to `~/ownscribe/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS/`
+4. Save everything to `~/ownscribe/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM/`, renamed to `~/ownscribe/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM_meeting-title/` once the summary produces a title
 
-> **Note:** By default, macOS shows a source picker on each launch so you can choose what to capture. To skip it and always record all system audio, set `capture_mode = "all"` in the `[audio]` config section.
+> **Note:** By default, ownscribe records all system audio directly with no prompt. To show a macOS source picker on each launch instead, set `capture_mode = "picker"` in the `[audio]` config section.
 
 On first run, WhisperX / pyannote and the summarization model may download model files. ownscribe shows a `Preparing models` step and best-effort download progress in the TUI while this happens. Use `ownscribe warmup` to pre-download all models.
 
 ### Options
 
 ```bash
-ownscribe --mic                               # capture system audio + default mic (press 'm' to mute/unmute)
-ownscribe --mic-device "MacBook Pro Microphone" # capture system audio + specific mic
+ownscribe --no-mic                            # capture system audio only (the mic is on by default)
+ownscribe --mic-device "MacBook Pro Microphone" # capture system audio + a specific mic instead of the default one
 ownscribe --device "MacBook Pro Microphone"   # use mic instead of system audio
 ownscribe --no-summarize                      # skip LLM summarization
 ownscribe --diarize                           # enable speaker identification
@@ -213,9 +220,9 @@ Config is stored at `~/.config/ownscribe/config.toml`. Run `ownscribe config` to
 [audio]
 backend = "coreaudio"     # "coreaudio" or "sounddevice"
 device = ""               # empty = system audio
-mic = false               # also capture microphone input
+mic = true                # also capture microphone input
 mic_device = ""           # specific mic device name (empty = default)
-capture_mode = "picker"   # "picker" = show source picker; "all" = capture all system audio directly
+capture_mode = "all"      # "all" = capture all system audio directly; "picker" = show source picker
 silence_timeout = 300     # seconds of silence before auto-stop; 0 = disabled
 
 [transcription]
diff --git a/src/ownscribe/audio/coreaudio.py b/src/ownscribe/audio/coreaudio.py
index 53f10b7..53e7e06 100644
--- a/src/ownscribe/audio/coreaudio.py
+++ b/src/ownscribe/audio/coreaudio.py
@@ -102,10 +102,12 @@ def start(self, output_path: Path) -> None:
         cmd = [str(self._binary), "capture", "--output", str(output_path)]
         if self._capture_mode == "all":
             cmd.append("--capture-mode-all")
-        if self._mic or self._mic_device:
+        # A configured mic_device must not re-enable a mic that was turned off,
+        # e.g. via --no-mic or mic = false in config.toml.
+        if self._mic:
             cmd.append("--mic")
-        if self._mic_device:
-            cmd.extend(["--mic-device", self._mic_device])
+            if self._mic_device:
+                cmd.extend(["--mic-device", self._mic_device])
         if self._silence_timeout > 0:
             cmd.extend(["--silence-timeout", str(self._silence_timeout)])
 
diff --git a/src/ownscribe/cli.py b/src/ownscribe/cli.py
index 26c9c87..bbdbabc 100644
--- a/src/ownscribe/cli.py
+++ b/src/ownscribe/cli.py
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ def _dir_size(path: str) -> str:
 @click.option("--language", default=None, help="Language code for transcription (e.g. en, de, fr).")
 @click.option("--initial-prompt", default=None, help="Context text to prime Whisper (vocab, speaker names, etc.)")
 @click.option("--hotwords", default=None, help="Comma-separated words to boost Whisper recognition.")
-@click.option("--mic", is_flag=True, help="Also capture microphone input (mixed with system audio).")
+@click.option(
+    "--mic/--no-mic",
+    default=None,
+    help="Also capture microphone input (mixed with system audio); on by default.",
+)
 @click.option("--mic-device", default=None, help="Specific mic device name (implies --mic).")
 @click.option(
     "--keep-recording/--no-keep-recording",
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ def cli(
     language: str | None,
     initial_prompt: str | None,
     hotwords: str | None,
-    mic: bool,
+    mic: bool | None,
     mic_device: str | None,
     keep_recording: bool | None,
     template: str | None,
@@ -94,9 +98,12 @@ def cli(
         config.transcription.initial_prompt = initial_prompt
     if hotwords:
         config.transcription.hotwords = hotwords
-    if mic or mic_device:
-        config.audio.mic = True
+    if mic is False and mic_device:
+        raise click.UsageError("--no-mic and --mic-device cannot be used together.")
+    if mic is not None:
+        config.audio.mic = mic
     if mic_device:
+        config.audio.mic = True
         config.audio.mic_device = mic_device
     if keep_recording is not None:
         config.output.keep_recording = keep_recording
diff --git a/src/ownscribe/config.py b/src/ownscribe/config.py
index d3ad222..29fb5ac 100644
--- a/src/ownscribe/config.py
+++ b/src/ownscribe/config.py
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
 [audio]
 backend = "coreaudio"     # "coreaudio" (default) or "sounddevice"
 device = ""               # empty = system audio; or device name/index for sounddevice
-mic = false               # also capture microphone input
+mic = true                # also capture microphone input
 mic_device = ""           # specific mic device name (empty = default)
-capture_mode = "picker"   # "picker" = show source picker; "all" = capture all system audio directly
+capture_mode = "all"      # "all" = capture all system audio directly; "picker" = show source picker
 silence_timeout = 300     # seconds of silence before auto-stop; 0 = disabled
 
 [transcription]
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@
 class AudioConfig:
     backend: str = "coreaudio"
     device: str = ""
-    mic: bool = False
+    mic: bool = True
     mic_device: str = ""
-    capture_mode: str = "picker"  # "picker" = show source picker; "all" = all system audio
+    capture_mode: str = "all"  # "all" = all system audio; "picker" = show source picker
     silence_timeout: int = 300  # seconds of silence before auto-stop; 0 = disabled
 
 
diff --git a/src/ownscribe/pipeline.py b/src/ownscribe/pipeline.py
index 1fce786..59564a8 100644
--- a/src/ownscribe/pipeline.py
+++ b/src/ownscribe/pipeline.py
@@ -257,11 +257,15 @@ def on_interrupt(sig, frame):
         click.echo("\n\nStopping recording...")
 
     if not audio_path.exists() or audio_path.stat().st_size <= _WAV_HEADER_SIZE:
-        click.echo(
+        message = (
             "Error: No audio was captured. Make sure audio is playing on your system, "
-            "or use --device to capture mic-only.",
-            err=True,
+            "or use --device to capture mic-only."
         )
+        # The mic is captured by default, and the helper stops the whole recording
+        # when it cannot open the microphone (no input device, permission denied).
+        if config.audio.mic:
+            message += "\nIf the microphone is unavailable, use --no-mic to record system audio only."
+        click.echo(message, err=True)
         raise SystemExit(1)
 
     click.echo(f"Audio saved to {audio_path}\n")
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 5ab1e40..17e4c8f 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -30,13 +30,49 @@ def test_no_summarize_flag(self):
             config = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
             assert config.summarization.enabled is False
 
-    def test_mic_flag(self):
+    def test_no_mic_flag(self):
         runner = CliRunner()
         with _mock_config(), mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline.run_pipeline") as mock_run:
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, ["--no-mic"])
+            assert result.exit_code == 0
+            config = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
+            assert config.audio.mic is False
+
+    def test_mic_flag_overrides_config(self):
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        config = Config()
+        config.audio.mic = False
+        with _mock_config(config), mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline.run_pipeline") as mock_run:
             result = runner.invoke(cli, ["--mic"])
             assert result.exit_code == 0
+            assert mock_run.call_args[0][0].audio.mic is True
+
+    def test_mic_device_implies_mic(self):
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        config = Config()
+        config.audio.mic = False
+        with _mock_config(config), mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline.run_pipeline") as mock_run:
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, ["--mic-device", "USB Mic"])
+            assert result.exit_code == 0
             config = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
             assert config.audio.mic is True
+            assert config.audio.mic_device == "USB Mic"
+
+    def test_no_mic_wins_over_configured_mic_device(self):
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        config = Config()
+        config.audio.mic_device = "USB Mic"
+        with _mock_config(config), mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline.run_pipeline") as mock_run:
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, ["--no-mic"])
+            assert result.exit_code == 0
+            assert mock_run.call_args[0][0].audio.mic is False
+
+    def test_no_mic_with_mic_device_errors(self):
+        runner = CliRunner()
+        with _mock_config():
+            result = runner.invoke(cli, ["--no-mic", "--mic-device", "USB Mic"])
+            assert result.exit_code != 0
+            assert "--no-mic and --mic-device cannot be used together" in result.output
 
     def test_device_flag(self):
         runner = CliRunner()
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index 1815dfa..99e9b5c 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -29,9 +29,13 @@ def test_default_output_format(self):
 
     def test_default_mic_settings(self):
         cfg = Config()
-        assert cfg.audio.mic is False
+        assert cfg.audio.mic is True
         assert cfg.audio.mic_device == ""
 
+    def test_default_capture_mode(self):
+        cfg = Config()
+        assert cfg.audio.capture_mode == "all"
+
     def test_default_diarization_telemetry_off(self):
         cfg = Config()
         assert cfg.diarization.telemetry is False
diff --git a/tests/test_coreaudio.py b/tests/test_coreaudio.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..819e312
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_coreaudio.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""Tests for the Core Audio helper command line."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest import mock
+
+
+def _make_recorder(**kwargs):
+    from ownscribe.audio.coreaudio import CoreAudioRecorder
+
+    binary = Path("/usr/local/bin/ownscribe-audio")
+    with mock.patch("ownscribe.audio.coreaudio._find_binary", return_value=binary):
+        return CoreAudioRecorder(**kwargs)
+
+
+def _capture_cmd(recorder, tmp_path: Path) -> list[str]:
+    with mock.patch("ownscribe.audio.coreaudio.subprocess.Popen") as mock_popen:
+        recorder.start(tmp_path / "recording.wav")
+    return mock_popen.call_args[0][0]
+
+
+class TestCoreAudioRecorderCommand:
+    def test_mic_and_device_passed_when_mic_enabled(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(mic=True, mic_device="USB Mic"), tmp_path)
+
+        assert "--mic" in cmd
+        assert cmd[cmd.index("--mic-device") + 1] == "USB Mic"
+
+    def test_mic_device_ignored_when_mic_disabled(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(mic=False, mic_device="USB Mic"), tmp_path)
+
+        assert "--mic" not in cmd
+        assert "--mic-device" not in cmd
+
+    def test_capture_mode_all(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(capture_mode="all"), tmp_path)
+
+        assert "--capture-mode-all" in cmd
+
+    def test_capture_mode_picker(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(capture_mode="picker"), tmp_path)
+
+        assert "--capture-mode-all" not in cmd
+
+    def test_silence_timeout_passed(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(silence_timeout=120), tmp_path)
+
+        assert cmd[cmd.index("--silence-timeout") + 1] == "120"
+
+    def test_silence_timeout_omitted_when_disabled(self, tmp_path):
+        cmd = _capture_cmd(_make_recorder(silence_timeout=0), tmp_path)
+
+        assert "--silence-timeout" not in cmd
diff --git a/tests/test_pipeline.py b/tests/test_pipeline.py
index 0dab2d8..b6d0973 100644
--- a/tests/test_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/test_pipeline.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def test_silence_timeout_passed_to_coreaudio(self):
         with mock.patch("ownscribe.audio.coreaudio.CoreAudioRecorder") as mock_cls:
             mock_cls.return_value.is_available.return_value = True
             _create_recorder(config)
-            mock_cls.assert_called_once_with(mic=False, mic_device="", capture_mode="picker", silence_timeout=120)
+            mock_cls.assert_called_once_with(mic=True, mic_device="", capture_mode="all", silence_timeout=120)
 
     def test_capture_mode_passed_to_coreaudio(self):
         from ownscribe.pipeline import _create_recorder
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ def test_capture_mode_passed_to_coreaudio(self):
         config = Config()
         config.audio.backend = "coreaudio"
         config.audio.device = ""
-        config.audio.capture_mode = "all"
+        config.audio.capture_mode = "picker"
 
         with mock.patch("ownscribe.audio.coreaudio.CoreAudioRecorder") as mock_cls:
             mock_cls.return_value.is_available.return_value = True
             _create_recorder(config)
-            mock_cls.assert_called_once_with(mic=False, mic_device="", capture_mode="all", silence_timeout=300)
+            mock_cls.assert_called_once_with(mic=True, mic_device="", capture_mode="picker", silence_timeout=300)
 
     def test_silence_timeout_passed_to_sounddevice(self):
         from ownscribe.pipeline import _create_recorder
@@ -557,6 +557,41 @@ def test_audio_recorded_into_separate_audio_dir(self, tmp_path):
         assert called_out_dir.is_relative_to(tmp_path / "notes")
         assert called_out_dir.name == audio_path.parent.name
 
+    def test_no_audio_captured_hints_at_no_mic(self, tmp_path, capsys):
+        from ownscribe.pipeline import run_pipeline
+
+        config = Config()
+        config.output.dir = str(tmp_path / "notes")
+
+        recorder = self._make_recorder_mock()
+        recorder.start.side_effect = lambda path: path.write_bytes(b"")
+
+        with (
+            mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline._create_recorder", return_value=recorder),
+            contextlib.suppress(SystemExit),
+        ):
+            run_pipeline(config)
+
+        assert "--no-mic" in capsys.readouterr().err
+
+    def test_no_audio_captured_without_mic_omits_hint(self, tmp_path, capsys):
+        from ownscribe.pipeline import run_pipeline
+
+        config = Config()
+        config.output.dir = str(tmp_path / "notes")
+        config.audio.mic = False
+
+        recorder = self._make_recorder_mock()
+        recorder.start.side_effect = lambda path: path.write_bytes(b"")
+
+        with (
+            mock.patch("ownscribe.pipeline._create_recorder", return_value=recorder),
+            contextlib.suppress(SystemExit),
+        ):
+            run_pipeline(config)
+
+        assert "--no-mic" not in capsys.readouterr().err
+
     def test_audio_recorded_into_dir_when_audio_dir_unset(self, tmp_path):
         from ownscribe.pipeline import run_pipeline