diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
index c683c48..1b9d506 100644
--- a/docs/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -115,8 +115,9 @@ One token verifier accepts either kind. The dispatcher turns the verified token
 
 ## Audit
 
-Every tool call, including failed and invalid ones, produces exactly one event in the
-append-only, hash-chained audit log. Only argument names are recorded, never values. Details and
+Every tool call, including failed and invalid ones, produces exactly one result event in the
+append-only, hash-chained audit log, after a write-ahead event that makes a call fail closed when
+the log stops accepting writes. Only argument names are recorded, never values. Details and
 integrity validation are in [audit-logging.md](audit-logging.md).
 
 ## Request flow
@@ -127,7 +128,9 @@ integrity validation are in [audit-logging.md](audit-logging.md).
    schema, and resolves the identity.
 4. The executor calls Gitea with the identity's token.
 5. The response is bounded, redacted and masked, and wrapped in the envelope.
-6. One audit event is written and the result is returned.
+6. One audit result event is written and the result is returned. (A write-ahead
+   `tool_call_started` event is written right after the tool lookup in step 3; when it cannot be
+   written the call is refused.)
 
 ## Module map
 
diff --git a/docs/audit-logging.md b/docs/audit-logging.md
index 4ddc3af..88ff6ac 100644
--- a/docs/audit-logging.md
+++ b/docs/audit-logging.md
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 # Audit logging
 
-Every tool call produces exactly one event in an append-only, hash-chained JSON-lines log,
-whether it succeeded, failed at Gitea, failed validation or hit an internal error. Security
-events are logged in the same chain.
+Every tool call produces exactly one result event (`tool_invocation`) in an append-only,
+hash-chained JSON-lines log, whether it succeeded, failed at Gitea, failed validation or hit an
+internal error. A call to a known tool is preceded by a small write-ahead event
+(`tool_call_started`, see Location and permissions). Security events are logged in the same
+chain.
 
 ## What an event contains
 
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ Each line is one JSON object:
 | Field | Meaning |
 |---|---|
 | `timestamp` | UTC, ISO 8601 |
-| `event_type` | `tool_invocation` or `security_event` |
+| `event_type` | `tool_invocation`, `tool_call_started`, `access_denied` or `security_event` |
 | `request_id` | Correlation id of the request |
 | `payload` | The event data, see below |
 | `prev_hash` | `entry_hash` of the previous line (`GENESIS` for the first) |
@@ -56,11 +58,13 @@ The log is written to `AUDIT_LOG_PATH`, default `DATA_DIR/audit.log` (`/var/lib/
 image). Keep it on durable storage, readable and writable only by the service account.
 
 The server opens the file for append at startup and exits with code 2 (message on stderr) when
-that fails, so it never runs unaudited. Each call also obtains the audit logger before it runs;
-if that fails the call is refused with `audit_unavailable` and never reaches Gitea. A write
-failure after a call has executed is only logged to stderr: the Gitea side effect already
-happened and the caller must still receive the result. The `correlation_id` of a tool entry is
-the request id, which is also the entry's `request_id`.
+that fails, so it never runs unaudited. The check does not stop at startup: each call to a known
+tool first writes a `tool_call_started` entry (tool name, domain and correlation id), and when
+that write fails (full disk, revoked mount, closed file) the call is refused with
+`audit_unavailable` and never reaches Gitea. Calls resume as soon as writes work again. A write
+failure of the final `tool_invocation` entry after a call has executed is only logged to stderr:
+the Gitea side effect already happened and the caller must still receive the result. The
+`correlation_id` of both entries is the request id, which is also the entry's `request_id`.
 
 ## Rotation
 
diff --git a/docs/security.md b/docs/security.md
index dbe2896..aa630b4 100644
--- a/docs/security.md
+++ b/docs/security.md
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Repudiation
 
 | Threat | Mitigation | Implemented in |
 |---|---|---|
-| Unrecorded tool calls | Exactly one hash-chained audit entry per call; a call is refused when the audit log cannot be opened; startup fails on an unwritable log | `server.py`, `audit.py`, `transports.py` (write failures after startup: SEC-03) |
+| Unrecorded tool calls | Exactly one hash-chained result entry per call, preceded by a write-ahead `tool_call_started` entry; a call is refused when either the logger or that write fails; startup fails on an unwritable log | `server.py`, `audit.py`, `transports.py` |
 | Undetected edits of the log | SHA-256 hash chain, `scripts/validate_audit_log.py` | `audit.py` (unkeyed chain: SEC-11) |
 
 Information disclosure
diff --git a/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/audit.py b/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/audit.py
index 23e2083..141910a 100644
--- a/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/audit.py
+++ b/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/audit.py
@@ -162,6 +162,21 @@ class AuditLogger:
             payload["error"] = error
         return self._append_entry("tool_invocation", payload)
 
+    def log_tool_call_started(
+        self, tool_name: str, correlation_id: str, domain: str | None = None
+    ) -> str:
+        """Write the write-ahead entry of a call that is about to run.
+
+        The dispatcher writes it before executing a known tool and refuses the call
+        when it cannot be written, so an audit log that stopped accepting writes
+        after startup (full disk, revoked mount) stops the calls instead of letting
+        them run unrecorded. The final ``tool_invocation`` entry carries the result.
+        """
+        payload: dict[str, Any] = {"correlation_id": correlation_id, "tool_name": tool_name}
+        if domain is not None:
+            payload["domain"] = domain
+        return self._append_entry("tool_call_started", payload)
+
     def log_access_denied(
         self,
         tool_name: str,
diff --git a/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/server.py b/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/server.py
index 6e95ba4..927b4c9 100644
--- a/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/server.py
+++ b/src/aegis_gitea_mcp/server.py
@@ -430,6 +430,19 @@ class _Dispatcher:
                 record.outcome = "unknown_tool"
                 raise MCPError(types.INVALID_PARAMS, f"Unknown tool: {record.tool}")
             record.domain = entry.domain
+            # Write-ahead entry: a call whose start cannot be recorded does not run.
+            try:
+                audit.log_tool_call_started(entry.tool.name, request_id, entry.domain)
+            except Exception as exc:
+                logger.error("audit log write failed, refusing the call: %s", type(exc).__name__)
+                record.outcome = "audit_unavailable"
+                return _result(
+                    _error_payload(
+                        "audit_unavailable",
+                        "The audit log is not writable, so the call was not executed",
+                    ),
+                    is_error=True,
+                )
             try:
                 return await self._dispatch(entry, arguments, record)
             except Exception as exc:
diff --git a/tests/security/test_audit_fail_closed.py b/tests/security/test_audit_fail_closed.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae1965f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/security/test_audit_fail_closed.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+"""The audit log is fail closed after startup too (SEC-03) and names the client (SEC-12)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+from pytest_httpx import HTTPXMock
+
+from aegis_gitea_mcp.audit import get_audit_logger
+from tests.test_server_helpers import API, connected, mock_user
+
+REPO_ARGS = {"owner": "octo", "repo": "demo"}
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _env(mock_env: None) -> None:
+    """The audit logger reads the process-wide settings."""
+
+
+class FailingFile:
+    """Stands in for the open audit file and fails every write like a full disk."""
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.attempts = 0
+
+    def write(self, data: str) -> int:
+        self.attempts += 1
+        raise OSError(28, "No space left on device")
+
+    def flush(self) -> None:  # pragma: no cover - never reached
+        raise OSError(28, "No space left on device")
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        return None
+
+
+def payload_of(result: Any) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    decoded: dict[str, Any] = json.loads(result.content[0].text)
+    return decoded
+
+
+async def test_calls_stop_when_the_audit_log_stops_accepting_writes(
+    httpx_mock: HTTPXMock,
+) -> None:
+    mock_user(httpx_mock)
+    httpx_mock.add_response(url=f"{API}/repos/octo/demo", json={"name": "demo"}, is_reusable=True)
+    async with connected() as client:
+        first = await client.call_tool("gitea_repo_get", REPO_ARGS)
+        assert not first.is_error
+        sent_before = len(httpx_mock.get_requests())
+
+        audit = get_audit_logger()
+        healthy_file = audit._log_file
+        audit._log_file = FailingFile()  # type: ignore[assignment]
+        second = await client.call_tool("gitea_repo_get", REPO_ARGS)
+        mutation = await client.call_tool(
+            "gitea_issue_create_issue", {**REPO_ARGS, "body": {"title": "x"}}
+        )
+
+        assert second.is_error and mutation.is_error
+        assert payload_of(second)["error"]["kind"] == "audit_unavailable"
+        assert payload_of(mutation)["error"]["kind"] == "audit_unavailable"
+        # Gitea was not contacted at all while the log was broken.
+        assert len(httpx_mock.get_requests()) == sent_before
+
+        audit._log_file = healthy_file
+        resumed = await client.call_tool("gitea_repo_get", REPO_ARGS)
+        assert not resumed.is_error
+
+
+async def test_the_refusal_does_not_leak_the_failure_reason() -> None:
+    async with connected() as client:
+        get_audit_logger()._log_file = FailingFile()  # type: ignore[assignment]
+        result = await client.call_tool("gitea_repo_get", REPO_ARGS)
+
+    text = result.content[0].text  # type: ignore[union-attr]
+    assert "No space left" not in text and "OSError" not in text
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index 7aaa572..84c7281 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -476,6 +476,9 @@ async def test_audit_write_failure_after_execution_does_not_break_the_call(
     httpx_mock.add_response(url=f"{API}/repos/octo/demo", json={})
 
     class BrokenAudit:
+        def log_tool_call_started(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> str:
+            return "started"
+
         def log_tool_invocation(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> str:
             raise OSError("disk full: " + GITEA_TOKEN)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_transports_startup.py b/tests/test_transports_startup.py
index 29ef8fd..d2c7a3c 100644
--- a/tests/test_transports_startup.py
+++ b/tests/test_transports_startup.py
@@ -341,8 +341,10 @@ async def test_real_stdio_subprocess_serves_the_catalog(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     payload = json.loads(result.content[0].text)  # type: ignore[union-attr]
     assert "error" in payload and GITEA_TOKEN not in json.dumps(payload)
     audit = (tmp_path / "state" / "audit.log").read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines()
-    assert len(audit) == 1
-    assert GITEA_TOKEN not in audit[0]
+    events = [json.loads(line)["event_type"] for line in audit]
+    # A write-ahead entry, then the one tool_invocation entry with the result.
+    assert events == ["tool_call_started", "tool_invocation"]
+    assert all(GITEA_TOKEN not in line for line in audit)
 
 
 # serve command