diff --git a/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/__tests__/route.test.ts b/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/__tests__/route.test.ts
index 4ebb3840c..da27da073 100644
--- a/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ vi.mock("next/headers", () => ({
   })),
 }));
 
-import { PUT } from "../route";
+import { PUT, __resetAuditDedupMemoForTests } from "../route";
 import { prisma } from "@/lib/db";
 import { getSession } from "@/lib/auth/session";
 import { __resetAllCachesForTests } from "@/lib/cache/server-cache";
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ function makeReq(body: unknown): NextRequest {
 beforeEach(() => {
   vi.resetAllMocks();
   __resetAllCachesForTests();
+  __resetAuditDedupMemoForTests();
   vi.mocked(getSession).mockResolvedValue(SESSION_OK as never);
   vi.mocked(prisma.auditLog.create).mockResolvedValue({} as never);
 });
@@ -144,6 +145,26 @@ describe("PUT /api/dashboard/widgets — 422 multi-issue envelope (v1.4.42 W2)",
     }
   });
 
+  it("dedups the audit-ledger write across two sequential 422s for the same user (v1.4.43 B2)", async () => {
+    // First 422 writes one row; the second 422 inside the 60 s window
+    // returns the same envelope but skips the audit insert.
+    const res1 = await callPut(makeReq({ version: 2, widgets: [] }));
+    expect(res1.status).toBe(422);
+    const res2 = await callPut(makeReq({ version: 2, widgets: [] }));
+    expect(res2.status).toBe(422);
+
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 5));
+
+    expect(prisma.auditLog.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    // The full multi-issue envelope still rides on every 422 — the
+    // dedup only suppresses the breadcrumb write, never the response.
+    const body2 = (await res2.json()) as {
+      details: { issues: Array<unknown> };
+    };
+    expect(body2.details.issues.length).toBe(2);
+  });
+
   it("does not block the 422 response when the audit-row write rejects", async () => {
     vi.mocked(prisma.auditLog.create).mockRejectedValueOnce(
       new Error("db down"),
diff --git a/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/route.ts b/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/route.ts
index dec1978be..17af5d029 100644
--- a/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/dashboard/widgets/route.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,40 @@ import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
 // the enum from `DASHBOARD_WIDGET_IDS` so the two lists cannot drift.
 const widgetIdEnum = z.enum(DASHBOARD_WIDGET_IDS);
 
+// v1.4.43 B2 — in-process dedup memo for the validation-failed audit row.
+// A misbehaving iOS client looping on a 422 can otherwise write thousands
+// of identical audit rows per minute. We dedup on `(userId, action)` with
+// a 60 s window: only the first 422 inside the window writes; subsequent
+// 422s still return the full multi-issue envelope but skip the breadcrumb.
+// In-memory only — a process restart resets the map, which is the safe
+// failure mode (worst case: one extra audit row per restart). Cluster
+// deployments still get one row per process per minute, which is fine for
+// the operator-grep use case the audit row exists for.
+const AUDIT_DEDUP_WINDOW_MS = 60_000;
+const auditDedupMemo = new Map<string, number>();
+
+function shouldEmitAuditRow(userId: string, action: string, now: number): boolean {
+  const key = `${userId}:${action}`;
+  const last = auditDedupMemo.get(key);
+  if (last !== undefined && now - last < AUDIT_DEDUP_WINDOW_MS) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  auditDedupMemo.set(key, now);
+  // Opportunistic GC — drop entries older than the window on every miss so
+  // the map cannot grow unbounded across a long-running process.
+  if (auditDedupMemo.size > 512) {
+    for (const [k, t] of auditDedupMemo) {
+      if (now - t >= AUDIT_DEDUP_WINDOW_MS) auditDedupMemo.delete(k);
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+/** @internal — exported for the dedup unit test only. */
+export function __resetAuditDedupMemoForTests(): void {
+  auditDedupMemo.clear();
+}
+
 const layoutSchema = z.object({
   version: z.literal(1),
   widgets: z
@@ -143,18 +177,29 @@ export const PUT = apiHandler(async (request: NextRequest) => {
       action: { name: "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed" },
       meta: { issue_count: issues.length },
     });
-    // Best-effort breadcrumb — never block the 422 on a write miss.
-    prisma.auditLog
-      .create({
-        data: {
-          userId: user.id,
-          action: "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed",
-          details: JSON.stringify({ issues }),
-        },
-      })
-      .catch(() => {
-        /* swallow — validation response is the contract, audit row is best-effort */
-      });
+    // v1.4.43 B2 — gate the breadcrumb behind a 60 s (userId, action) dedup
+    // so a misbehaving iOS client retrying every second cannot pump
+    // thousands of identical rows into the audit ledger.
+    if (
+      shouldEmitAuditRow(
+        user.id,
+        "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed",
+        Date.now(),
+      )
+    ) {
+      // Best-effort breadcrumb — never block the 422 on a write miss.
+      prisma.auditLog
+        .create({
+          data: {
+            userId: user.id,
+            action: "dashboard.widgets.validation-failed",
+            details: JSON.stringify({ issues }),
+          },
+        })
+        .catch(() => {
+          /* swallow — validation response is the contract, audit row is best-effort */
+        });
+    }
     return returnAllZodIssues(parsed.error, 422);
   }