diff --git a/server/internal/mcp/audit.go b/server/internal/mcp/audit.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f75285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/internal/mcp/audit.go
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+package mcp
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+
+	"gitea.hostxtra.co.uk/mrhid6/vantage/server/internal/services"
+)
+
+// FanOutLimit is how many servers a write tool may touch before it demands
+// explicit confirmation. Cheap insurance against a mis-parsed selector reaching
+// the whole fleet on one badly phrased instruction.
+const FanOutLimit = 25
+
+// ErrConfirmRequired is returned to the model as a tool error it can act on:
+// it says what would have happened and how to proceed deliberately.
+var ErrConfirmRequired = errors.New("confirmation required")
+
+// CheckFanOut refuses a write that would touch more servers than FanOutLimit
+// unless the call passed confirm:true.
+func CheckFanOut(count int, args map[string]any) error {
+	if count <= FanOutLimit {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if confirm, ok := args["confirm"].(bool); ok && confirm {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("%w: this would affect %d servers, above the limit of %d; "+
+		"call again with confirm:true if that is intended",
+		ErrConfirmRequired, count, FanOutLimit)
+}
+
+// SummariseArgs renders an argument object as a short, deterministic,
+// bounded string for the audit log. Values are described rather than
+// reproduced: an argument may carry arbitrary text a model generated.
+func SummariseArgs(args map[string]any) string {
+	if len(args) == 0 {
+		return "no arguments"
+	}
+
+	keys := make([]string, 0, len(args))
+	for k := range args {
+		keys = append(keys, k)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(keys)
+
+	parts := make([]string, 0, len(keys))
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		parts = append(parts, k+"="+summariseValue(args[k]))
+	}
+
+	out := strings.Join(parts, " ")
+	if len(out) > 200 {
+		out = out[:197] + "..."
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func summariseValue(v any) string {
+	switch t := v.(type) {
+	case string:
+		if len(t) > 40 {
+			return fmt.Sprintf("<%d chars>", len(t))
+		}
+		return t
+	case bool, float64, int:
+		return fmt.Sprint(t)
+	case []any:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("<%d items>", len(t))
+	case map[string]any:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("<%d fields>", len(t))
+	default:
+		return "<value>"
+	}
+}
+
+// LogCall records a successful tool call. Reads are recorded as well as writes:
+// the point of an agent-facing surface is being able to reconstruct afterwards
+// what the agent looked at, not only what it changed.
+func LogCall(c Caller, t Tool, args map[string]any, servers int) {
+	detail := fmt.Sprintf("tool %s (%s)", t.Name, SummariseArgs(args))
+	if servers > 0 {
+		detail += fmt.Sprintf(", %d server(s) affected", servers)
+	}
+	services.LogEvent(c.InstanceID, "mcp.tool_call", c.TokenName, "", "", detail)
+}
+
+// LogDenied records a refusal and which gate refused, which is what turns "the
+// agent said it could not" into a diagnosable event.
+func LogDenied(c Caller, toolName, gate string) {
+	services.LogEvent(c.InstanceID, "mcp.tool_denied", c.TokenName, "", "",
+		fmt.Sprintf("tool %s refused by %s", toolName, gate))
+}
diff --git a/server/internal/mcp/audit_test.go b/server/internal/mcp/audit_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22d0949
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/internal/mcp/audit_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package mcp
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// Arguments can carry arbitrary model output and the audit log is read by
+// humans in a UI, so they are summarised rather than dumped.
+func TestSummariseArgsIsBoundedAndOrdered(t *testing.T) {
+	got := SummariseArgs(map[string]any{
+		"workflow_id": "wf-1",
+		"note":        strings.Repeat("x", 500),
+	})
+
+	if len(got) > 200 {
+		t.Errorf("summary is %d chars, want at most 200", len(got))
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "workflow_id") {
+		t.Errorf("summary %q omits an argument name", got)
+	}
+	// Deterministic ordering, or two identical calls produce different audit
+	// rows and nothing can be compared.
+	if SummariseArgs(map[string]any{"b": 1, "a": 2}) != SummariseArgs(map[string]any{"a": 2, "b": 1}) {
+		t.Error("SummariseArgs is not deterministic")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckFanOutRequiresConfirmation(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := CheckFanOut(5, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("CheckFanOut(5) = %v, want nil", err)
+	}
+
+	err := CheckFanOut(200, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("CheckFanOut(200) = nil, want a refusal")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "200") {
+		t.Errorf("refusal %q does not say how many servers", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := CheckFanOut(200, map[string]any{"confirm": true}); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("CheckFanOut(200, confirm) = %v, want nil", err)
+	}
+}