diff --git a/src/app/api/measurements/batch/__tests__/duplicate-prefilter.test.ts b/src/app/api/measurements/batch/__tests__/duplicate-prefilter.test.ts
index 63d2c32bf..09ed7da58 100644
--- a/src/app/api/measurements/batch/__tests__/duplicate-prefilter.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/measurements/batch/__tests__/duplicate-prefilter.test.ts
@@ -493,13 +493,14 @@ describe("a batch of duplicates only (v1.42)", () => {
     await post([weight("uuid-new", new Date(NOW - DAY))]);
     expect(enqueuePrDetection).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(enqueueReminderSatisfy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    // The enqueue is telemetry on the wide event, never an audit row.
     expect(
       vi
         .mocked(auditLog)
         .mock.calls.some(
           ([action]) => action === "personal_records.detection_enqueued",
         ),
-    ).toBe(true);
+    ).toBe(false);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/src/app/api/measurements/batch/route.ts b/src/app/api/measurements/batch/route.ts
index 876d7a75a..bbc465868 100644
--- a/src/app/api/measurements/batch/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/measurements/batch/route.ts
@@ -1302,13 +1302,9 @@ async function postBatch(request: NextRequest): Promise<Response> {
     });
     try {
       await enqueuePrDetection(user.id, { silent });
-      await auditLog("personal_records.detection_enqueued", {
-        userId: user.id,
-        details: {
-          source: "measurement.batch",
-          batchSize: entries.length,
-          silent,
-        },
+      // Telemetry, not an audit event: it rides the wide event.
+      annotate({
+        meta: { pr_detection_enqueued: true, pr_detection_silent: silent },
       });
     } catch (err) {
       // Enqueue failure is non-fatal — the 30-minute fallback cron
diff --git a/src/app/api/workouts/batch/route.ts b/src/app/api/workouts/batch/route.ts
index 6d3e30d85..7e82deb9b 100644
--- a/src/app/api/workouts/batch/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/workouts/batch/route.ts
@@ -893,13 +893,9 @@ async function postBatch(request: NextRequest): Promise<Response> {
     const silent = workouts.length > PR_DETECTION_SILENT_THRESHOLD;
     try {
       await enqueuePrDetection(user.id, { silent });
-      await auditLog("personal_records.detection_enqueued", {
-        userId: user.id,
-        details: {
-          source: "workout.batch",
-          batchSize: workouts.length,
-          silent,
-        },
+      // Telemetry, not an audit event: it rides the wide event.
+      annotate({
+        meta: { pr_detection_enqueued: true, pr_detection_silent: silent },
       });
     } catch (err) {
       annotate({
diff --git a/src/lib/auth/__tests__/audit.test.ts b/src/lib/auth/__tests__/audit.test.ts
index ae4a8b4fe..7372cfce6 100644
--- a/src/lib/auth/__tests__/audit.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/auth/__tests__/audit.test.ts
@@ -320,3 +320,51 @@ describe("auditLog", () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe("auditLog — refused attempts", () => {
+  it("keeps a refusal on the caller's own record out of audit_logs and on the wide event", async () => {
+    const { WideEventBuilder } = await import("@/lib/logging/event-builder");
+    const { eventStorage } = await import("@/lib/logging/context");
+    const evt = new WideEventBuilder("http");
+    evt.setAuth({ user_id: "owner-1", auth_method: "session" });
+
+    await eventStorage.run(evt, () =>
+      auditLog("measurements.list.validation-failed", {
+        userId: "owner-1",
+        details: { issues: [] },
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(prisma.auditLog.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(
+      (evt.toJSON() as { meta?: Record<string, unknown> }).meta
+        ?.rejected_attempt,
+    ).toBe("measurements.list.validation-failed");
+  });
+
+  it("writes a delegate's refusal under the record it targeted, for the owner's feed", async () => {
+    const { WideEventBuilder } = await import("@/lib/logging/event-builder");
+    const { eventStorage } = await import("@/lib/logging/context");
+    const evt = new WideEventBuilder("http");
+    evt.setAuth({ user_id: "delegate-1", auth_method: "session" });
+    evt.setActingAs("owner-1");
+
+    await eventStorage.run(evt, () =>
+      auditLog("measurements.create.validation-failed", { userId: "owner-1" }),
+    );
+
+    expect(prisma.auditLog.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(
+      vi.mocked(prisma.auditLog.create).mock.calls[0][0].data,
+    ).toMatchObject({
+      action: "measurements.create.validation-failed",
+      userId: "owner-1",
+      actorUserId: "delegate-1",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("still writes every other action on the caller's own record", async () => {
+    await auditLog("measurement.create", { userId: "owner-1" });
+    expect(prisma.auditLog.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/auth/audit.ts b/src/lib/auth/audit.ts
index 0a294a3bb..23378f1c0 100644
--- a/src/lib/auth/audit.ts
+++ b/src/lib/auth/audit.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { settleWithin } from "@/lib/async/settle-within";
 import { prisma } from "@/lib/db";
 import { lookupIpGeo } from "@/lib/geo";
-import { getEvent } from "@/lib/logging/context";
+import { annotate, getEvent } from "@/lib/logging/context";
 
 /**
  * v1.36.0 — the action a delegated request records against the record it read.
@@ -46,6 +46,26 @@ function actingActorFor(filedUnder: string | null): string | null {
   return filedUnder === owner ? actor : null;
 }
 
+/**
+ * A request that was refused before it did anything: `<surface>.validation-failed`.
+ *
+ * Every route that parses a body or a query files one of these when the parse
+ * fails, through `auditLog`, and until v1.43.7 every one of them became an
+ * `audit_logs` row, on the owner's own requests too. A person's app sending a
+ * malformed query is not a security event, and nothing reads those rows: the
+ * activity feed shows refusals only where somebody else acted, and the wide
+ * event already carries the refusal. They were telemetry in the audit table,
+ * a few per sync on a busy client, growing the one table a self-hoster keeps.
+ *
+ * So a refused attempt is written only where it means something to someone
+ * other than the caller: a delegated request, filed under the record it
+ * targeted, which is what the owner's activity feed reads. Everywhere else it
+ * stays on the wide event (`meta.rejected_attempt`).
+ */
+export function isRejectedAttemptAction(action: string): boolean {
+  return action.endsWith(".validation-failed");
+}
+
 export async function auditLog(
   action: string,
   opts: {
@@ -60,14 +80,17 @@ export async function auditLog(
 ) {
   const userId = opts.userId ?? null;
   const client = opts.client ?? prisma;
+  const actorUserId =
+    opts.actorUserId === undefined ? actingActorFor(userId) : opts.actorUserId;
+  if (isRejectedAttemptAction(action) && actorUserId === null) {
+    annotate({ meta: { rejected_attempt: action } });
+    return;
+  }
   const entry = await client.auditLog.create({
     data: {
       action,
       userId,
-      actorUserId:
-        opts.actorUserId === undefined
-          ? actingActorFor(userId)
-          : opts.actorUserId,
+      actorUserId,
       details: opts.details ? JSON.stringify(opts.details) : null,
       ipAddress: opts.ipAddress ?? null,
     },
diff --git a/tests/integration/dashboard-widgets-save.test.ts b/tests/integration/dashboard-widgets-save.test.ts
index 4f6354a41..8239afb40 100644
--- a/tests/integration/dashboard-widgets-save.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/dashboard-widgets-save.test.ts
@@ -377,8 +377,9 @@ describe("PUT /api/dashboard/widgets — Save persists full layouts", () => {
   // v1.4.42 W2 — the route used to return only `issues[0].message`,
   // which forced one round-trip per wrong field during iOS contract
   // debugging. The route now returns every issue under `details.issues`
-  // AND writes a `dashboard.widgets.validation-failed` row to the
-  // append-only audit ledger so the operator can grep `/api/admin/audit`.
+  // and keeps the refusal on the wide event (`meta.rejected_attempt`);
+  // since v1.43.7 a refusal on the caller's own record no longer writes an
+  // audit row.
   describe("PUT 422 — multi-issue envelope (v1.4.42 W2)", () => {
     it("surfaces TWO simultaneous validation errors", async () => {
       const { userId } = await seedUser();
@@ -406,25 +407,15 @@ describe("PUT /api/dashboard/widgets — Save persists full layouts", () => {
       const paths = body.details.issues.map((i) => i.path).sort();
       expect(paths).toEqual(["version", "widgets"]);
 
-      // Audit-ledger breadcrumb. The route emits the row fire-and-forget,
-      // so poll until it materialises instead of asserting after one fixed
-      // tick — under container load the detached insert can land well past
-      // 25 ms, which made this assertion flaky. Bounded at ~2 s.
-      const deadline = Date.now() + 2_000;
-      let audit: { details: string | null } | null = null;
-      while (audit === null && Date.now() < deadline) {
-        audit = await getPrismaClient().auditLog.findFirst({
-          where: { userId, action: "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed" },
-        });
-        if (audit === null) {
-          await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 50));
-        }
-      }
-      expect(audit).not.toBeNull();
-      const details = JSON.parse(audit?.details ?? "{}") as {
-        issues: Array<{ path: string }>;
-      };
-      expect(details.issues.length).toBe(2);
+      // A refusal on the caller's own record is telemetry, not an audit
+      // event: it stays on the wide event and never reaches the ledger
+      // (only a delegate's refusal is filed, for the owner's feed). Give a
+      // detached insert time to land before asserting it did not.
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 300));
+      const audit = await getPrismaClient().auditLog.findFirst({
+        where: { userId, action: "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed" },
+      });
+      expect(audit).toBeNull();
     });
 
     it("surfaces THREE simultaneous validation errors", async () => {