diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/routes/log-insights.routes.test.js b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/routes/log-insights.routes.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36b75af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/routes/log-insights.routes.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,427 @@
+/**
+ * DC-081: log-insights dispose path + keepDays input validation hardening.
+ *
+ * Two coupled bugs surfaced in the 2026-08-19 sweep:
+ *
+ *  1. log-insights.js hardcoded the audit-log.json + security-events.jsonl
+ *     paths to `/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/...`, which does NOT
+ *     exist inside the production container — files live at
+ *     `/app/data/...` (mounted via the existing data bind). The dispose
+ *     endpoint silently no-op'd: `fs.readFile('/opt/.../audit-log.json')`
+ *     hit the `.catch` arm → `auditData = []` → wrote an empty file back.
+ *
+ *  2. `parseInt(req.body.keepDays) || 30` accepted negative numbers. A
+ *     keepDays of -1000 produces a cutoff +3 years in the future and
+ *     deletes 100% of the audit log. Operators should not be able to wipe
+ *     forensic context by clicking through with a typo.
+ *
+ * DC-081 fix:
+ *   - `_resolvePaths()` returns `{ auditPath, secPath }` from
+ *     `process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE || path.join(platformPaths.dataDir, 'audit-log.json')`
+ *     — same canonical resolution as the audit-logger module.
+ *   - `_validateKeepDays(raw)` rejects out-of-range / wrong-type input
+ *     with an Error BEFORE any file IO.
+ *   - POST /log-insights/dispose now requires `{ keepDays: integer 1..3650, confirm: true }`.
+ *     The pre-confirm preview is read-only.
+ *
+ * Verified live on DNS2 2026-08-19: `/app/data/audit-log.json` (318 KB)
+ * and `/app/data/security-events.jsonl` (15 MB) both exist; the old
+ * `/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/...` paths are ENOENT in the container.
+ */
+
+const express = require('express');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const fsp = require('fs').promises;
+const os = require('os');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const logInsightsMod = require('../../routes/log-insights');
+
+function tmpAuditLogger() {
+  // The route module only uses auditLogger.log() inside the dispose
+  // confirm branch — we wire a minimal stub for the dispose tests.
+  return {
+    query: async () => [],
+    log: async () => {},
+  };
+}
+
+function tmpSecurityEventStore() {
+  return {
+    query: () => ({ events: [], total: 0 }),
+  };
+}
+
+function buildRouter(opts = {}) {
+  const mod = logInsightsMod;
+  return mod({
+    asyncHandler: (fn) => async (req, res, next) => {
+      try { await fn(req, res, next); } catch (e) { next(e); }
+    },
+    ok: (res, data) => res.json({ success: true, ...data }),
+    auditLogger: opts.auditLogger || tmpAuditLogger(),
+    securityEventStore: opts.securityEventStore || tmpSecurityEventStore(),
+  });
+}
+
+function makeApp(router) {
+  const app = express();
+  app.use(express.json());
+  app.use(router);
+  // Capture errors so a thrown ValidationError doesn't crash the test
+  // runner — the route uses asyncHandler which forwards to next().
+  app.use((err, req, res, next) => res.status(err.statusCode || 500).json({ success: false, error: err.message, code: err.code }));
+  return app;
+}
+
+// Drive requests through http directly so we exercise the FULL Express
+// middleware stack (body parser, error handler).
+function start(app) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const server = app.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', () => resolve(server));
+  });
+}
+
+function stop(server) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => server.close(resolve));
+}
+
+function httpJson(server, httpMethod, urlPath) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const port = server.address().port;
+    const data = httpMethod === 'GET' ? '' : JSON.stringify({});
+    const req = require('http').request({
+      hostname: '127.0.0.1', port, path: urlPath, method: httpMethod,
+      headers: httpMethod === 'GET'
+        ? {}
+        : { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(data) },
+    }, (res) => {
+      const chunks = [];
+      res.on('data', (c) => chunks.push(c));
+      res.on('end', () => {
+        const body = Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf8');
+        try { resolve({ status: res.statusCode, body: JSON.parse(body) }); }
+        catch (_) { resolve({ status: res.statusCode, body }); }
+      });
+    });
+    req.on('error', reject);
+    if (httpMethod !== 'GET') req.write(data);
+    req.end();
+  });
+}
+
+describe('routes/log-insights [DC-081]', () => {
+  describe('_validateKeepDays', () => {
+    const { _validateKeepDays } = logInsightsMod.__test;
+
+    test('rejects undefined / null / missing', () => {
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(undefined)).toThrow(/required/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(null)).toThrow(/required/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays()).toThrow(/required/i);
+    });
+
+    test('rejects non-finite numbers (NaN, Infinity, -Infinity)', () => {
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(NaN)).toThrow(/finite/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(Infinity)).toThrow(/finite/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(-Infinity)).toThrow(/finite/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays('not-a-number')).toThrow(/finite/i);
+    });
+
+    test('rejects non-integers (floats, strings of floats)', () => {
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(1.5)).toThrow(/integer/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(30.7)).toThrow(/integer/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays('30.5')).toThrow(/integer/i);
+    });
+
+    test('rejects out-of-range values — the DC-081 core fix', () => {
+      // The pre-fix bug: parseInt(-1000, 10) === -1000, accepted as keepDays.
+      // cutoff = Date.now() - (-1000 * 86400000) = +3 years in the future,
+      // then "delete all entries older than +3 years" = delete everything.
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(-1)).toThrow(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(-1000)).toThrow(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(0)).toThrow(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(3651)).toThrow(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+      expect(() => _validateKeepDays(1000000)).toThrow(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+    });
+
+    test('accepts integers in [1, 3650]', () => {
+      expect(_validateKeepDays(1)).toBe(1);
+      expect(_validateKeepDays(30)).toBe(30);
+      expect(_validateKeepDays(90)).toBe(90);
+      expect(_validateKeepDays(365)).toBe(365);
+      expect(_validateKeepDays(3650)).toBe(3650);
+    });
+
+    test('coerces numeric strings', () => {
+      expect(_validateKeepDays('30')).toBe(30);
+      expect(_validateKeepDays('3650')).toBe(3650);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('_resolvePaths', () => {
+    const { _resolvePaths } = logInsightsMod.__test;
+
+    test('falls back to platformPaths.dataDir when env unset', () => {
+      const prevAudit = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      const prevSec = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      delete process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      delete process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      try {
+        const { auditPath, secPath } = _resolvePaths();
+        // platformPaths.dataDir is /app/data in the container, /etc/dashcaddy on host
+        expect(auditPath.endsWith('audit-log.json')).toBe(true);
+        expect(secPath.endsWith('security-events.jsonl')).toBe(true);
+        // Audit + security should land in the same data dir
+        expect(path.dirname(auditPath)).toBe(path.dirname(secPath));
+      } finally {
+        if (prevAudit !== undefined) process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE = prevAudit;
+        if (prevSec !== undefined) process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE = prevSec;
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('honours AUDIT_LOG_FILE / SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE env overrides', () => {
+      const prevAudit = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      const prevSec = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE = '/tmp/dc-081-audit.json';
+      process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE = '/tmp/dc-081-sec.jsonl';
+      try {
+        const { auditPath, secPath, auditPathFrom, secPathFrom } = _resolvePaths();
+        expect(auditPath).toBe('/tmp/dc-081-audit.json');
+        expect(secPath).toBe('/tmp/dc-081-sec.jsonl');
+        expect(auditPathFrom).toBe('env');
+        expect(secPathFrom).toBe('env');
+      } finally {
+        if (prevAudit === undefined) delete process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+        else process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE = prevAudit;
+        if (prevSec === undefined) delete process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+        else process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE = prevSec;
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('matches the canonical paths used by audit-logger + event-store', async () => {
+      // Sanity: load both modules' resolved paths and assert they match
+      // what _resolvePaths returns. This catches a future refactor that
+      // moves one but not the others (the bug class that produced DC-081).
+      const prevAudit = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      const prevSec = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      delete process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      delete process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      try {
+        const auditLoggerMod = require('../../src/security/audit-logger');
+        const eventStoreMod = require('../../src/security/event-store');
+        // Trigger event-store module-load (it captures ENV at require time)
+        eventStoreMod.getStore();
+        const { auditPath, secPath } = _resolvePaths();
+        // The audit-logger module exports a singleton; its private
+        // AUDIT_LOG_FILE is not directly readable. Instead, we verify the
+        // shape: both paths share the same dataDir and use the canonical
+        // filenames.
+        expect(path.basename(auditPath)).toBe('audit-log.json');
+        expect(path.basename(secPath)).toBe('security-events.jsonl');
+        // And the dirname matches platformPaths.dataDir
+        const platformPaths = require('../../platform-paths');
+        expect(path.dirname(auditPath)).toBe(platformPaths.dataDir);
+        expect(path.dirname(secPath)).toBe(platformPaths.dataDir);
+        // Also sanity that the singleton logger at least exists
+        expect(auditLoggerMod).toBeDefined();
+      } finally {
+        if (prevAudit !== undefined) process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE = prevAudit;
+        if (prevSec !== undefined) process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE = prevSec;
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('POST /log-insights/dispose (TOTP-gated in production; here we hit the handler directly)', () => {
+    let server;
+    let app;
+    let tmpDir;
+    let auditFile;
+    let secFile;
+
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      tmpDir = await fsp.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'dc-081-'));
+      auditFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'audit-log.json');
+      secFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'security-events.jsonl');
+      // Stage files so the route resolves them via env override.
+      process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE = auditFile;
+      process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE = secFile;
+      const router = buildRouter();
+      app = makeApp(router);
+      server = await start(app);
+    });
+
+    afterEach(async () => {
+      await stop(server);
+      delete process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE;
+      delete process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE;
+      await fsp.rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    });
+
+    function postKeepDays(body) {
+      return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        const port = server.address().port;
+        const data = JSON.stringify(body);
+        const req = require('http').request({
+          hostname: '127.0.0.1', port, path: '/log-insights/dispose',
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(data) },
+        }, (res) => {
+          const chunks = [];
+          res.on('data', (c) => chunks.push(c));
+          res.on('end', () => {
+            const body = Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf8');
+            try { resolve({ status: res.statusCode, body: JSON.parse(body) }); }
+            catch (_) { resolve({ status: res.statusCode, body }); }
+          });
+        });
+        req.on('error', reject);
+        req.write(data);
+        req.end();
+      });
+    }
+
+    test('rejects negative keepDays with 400 + DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: -1000 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+      expect(r.body.error).toMatch(/between 1 and 3650/i);
+    });
+
+    test('rejects 0 keepDays (no-op-but-lies)', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 0 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+    });
+
+    test('rejects keepDays=Infinity (NaN-via-parseInt fallback)', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: Infinity });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+    });
+
+    test('rejects non-integer keepDays', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30.5 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+    });
+
+    test('rejects missing keepDays', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({});
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+    });
+
+    test('rejects keepDays > 3650 (10-year cap)', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 10000 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS');
+    });
+
+    test('preview pass: returns wouldDelete count without writing', async () => {
+      const oldTs = new Date(Date.now() - 100 * 86400000).toISOString(); // 100 days ago
+      const newTs = new Date(Date.now() - 5 * 86400000).toISOString();  // 5 days ago
+      await fsp.writeFile(auditFile, JSON.stringify([
+        { id: 'a1', timestamp: oldTs, action: 'service.create' },
+        { id: 'a2', timestamp: oldTs, action: 'service.delete' },
+        { id: 'a3', timestamp: newTs, action: 'auth.totp-verify' },
+      ]));
+      await fsp.writeFile(secFile, [
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 's1', timestamp: oldTs, severity: 'info' }),
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 's2', timestamp: oldTs, severity: 'info' }),
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 's3', timestamp: newTs, severity: 'info' }),
+      ].join('\n') + '\n');
+
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(r.body.preview).toBe(true);
+      expect(r.body.wouldDelete.auditEntries).toBe(2);
+      expect(r.body.wouldDelete.securityEvents).toBe(2);
+      // Files untouched
+      const afterAudit = JSON.parse(await fsp.readFile(auditFile, 'utf8'));
+      expect(afterAudit.length).toBe(3);
+      const afterSec = (await fsp.readFile(secFile, 'utf8')).split('\n').filter(Boolean);
+      expect(afterSec.length).toBe(3);
+    });
+
+    test('confirm pass: actually deletes old entries, keeps new ones', async () => {
+      const oldTs = new Date(Date.now() - 100 * 86400000).toISOString();
+      const newTs = new Date(Date.now() - 5 * 86400000).toISOString();
+      await fsp.writeFile(auditFile, JSON.stringify([
+        { id: 'a1', timestamp: oldTs, action: 'service.create' },
+        { id: 'a2', timestamp: newTs, action: 'auth.totp-verify' },
+      ]));
+      await fsp.writeFile(secFile, [
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 's1', timestamp: oldTs, severity: 'info' }),
+        JSON.stringify({ id: 's2', timestamp: newTs, severity: 'info' }),
+      ].join('\n') + '\n');
+
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30, confirm: true });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(r.body.disposed).toBe(true);
+      expect(r.body.deleted.auditEntries).toBe(1);
+      expect(r.body.deleted.securityEvents).toBe(1);
+      expect(r.body.remaining.auditEntries).toBe(1);
+      expect(r.body.remaining.securityEvents).toBe(1);
+
+      const afterAudit = JSON.parse(await fsp.readFile(auditFile, 'utf8'));
+      expect(afterAudit.map(e => e.id)).toEqual(['a2']);
+      const afterSec = (await fsp.readFile(secFile, 'utf8')).split('\n').filter(Boolean).map(JSON.parse);
+      expect(afterSec.map(e => e.id)).toEqual(['s2']);
+    });
+
+    test('confirm=false treated as preview (not confirm)', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30, confirm: false });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(r.body.preview).toBe(true);
+      // confirm was false, so no dispose
+      expect(r.body.disposed).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    test('preview response includes resolved paths so operator knows what files will be touched', async () => {
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(r.body.paths.auditPath).toBe(auditFile);
+      expect(r.body.paths.secPath).toBe(secFile);
+    });
+
+    test('handles missing audit-log file gracefully on preview', async () => {
+      await fsp.unlink(auditFile).catch(() => {});
+      // fs.readFile().catch returns '[]', so preview reports 0 deletions
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(r.body.wouldDelete.auditEntries).toBe(0);
+    });
+
+    test('returns 500 DC-081_AUDIT_PARSE_FAILED on corrupt audit-log file', async () => {
+      await fsp.writeFile(auditFile, 'this-is-not-json{');
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(500);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_AUDIT_PARSE_FAILED');
+    });
+
+    test('returns 500 DC-081_AUDIT_SHAPE_INVALID if audit-log is a JSON object, not array', async () => {
+      await fsp.writeFile(auditFile, JSON.stringify({ not: 'an array' }));
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: 30 });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(500);
+      expect(r.body.code).toBe('DC-081_AUDIT_SHAPE_INVALID');
+    });
+
+    test('DC-081 CORE: pre-fix keptDays=-1000 no longer wipes everything', async () => {
+      // Sanity-test the actual fix: a negative keepDays would, pre-fix,
+      // compute a cutoff in the FUTURE and then delete everything. After
+      // DC-081 it's a 400 with a clear error before any file read.
+      const r = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: -1000, confirm: true });
+      expect(r.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(r.body.success).toBe(false);
+      // No file IO occurred — confirm that an unrelated existing audit
+      // log file would survive. Since we already wiped tmpDir's auditFile
+      // is empty, write a sentinel and confirm it's still there after.
+      await fsp.writeFile(auditFile, JSON.stringify([{ id: 'sentinel', timestamp: new Date().toISOString() }]));
+      const r2 = await postKeepDays({ keepDays: -1000, confirm: true });
+      expect(r2.status).toBe(400);
+      const after = JSON.parse(await fsp.readFile(auditFile, 'utf8'));
+      expect(after.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(after[0].id).toBe('sentinel');
+    });
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/routes/log-insights.js b/dashcaddy-api/routes/log-insights.js
index 8476173..4652d6b 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/routes/log-insights.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/routes/log-insights.js
@@ -1,8 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * DC-081: Plain-English log insights + dispose endpoint
+ *
+ * GET /api/v1/log-insights — Plain English summary of who's doing what
+ * POST /api/v1/log-insights/dispose — Preview then confirm cleanup
+ *
+ * DC-081 hardening (paired with the deploy path fix):
+ *   - AUDIT_LOG_FILE / SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE were HARDCODED to
+ *     `/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/...` which DOES NOT EXIST in the
+ *     production container — files live at `/app/data/...`. The dispose
+ *     endpoint silently no-op'd (read empty arrays, wrote empty arrays
+ *     back) and the GET endpoint dropped the storage-size block. Both
+ *     paths now use the same canonical resolution as the audit-logger
+ *     itself: `process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE || path.join(platformPaths.dataDir, 'audit-log.json')`.
+ *   - keepDays was unbounded — `parseInt(req.body.keepDays) || 30` accepted
+ *     negative numbers (e.g. -1000 → cutoff = +3 years in the future,
+ *     deleting 100% of forensic context) and non-integers (Infinity,
+ *     floats). Now validated to an integer in [1, 3650] (1 day .. 10 years)
+ *     before any file read.
+ *   - confirm gate added: must send { confirm: true, keepDays: N } — the
+ *     preview pass is read-only, the confirm pass writes. Matches the
+ *     audit-logs/DELETE confirm=CLEAR pattern.
+ *   - The dispose handler now uses a single shared `_resolvePaths()` helper
+ *     to keep GET and POST in lockstep (and so a future path-config change
+ *     touches one site, not four).
+ *
+ * Pre-DC-081 verification: from inside the running container, both
+ * `/app/data/audit-log.json` (318 KB) and `/app/data/security-events.jsonl`
+ * (15 MB) exist, but the old hardcoded `/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/...`
+ * paths resolve to ENOENT. The dispose endpoint therefore did nothing;
+ * this fix wires it back to the actual files.
+ */
+
 const express = require('express');
+const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs').promises;
+const platformPaths = require('../platform-paths');
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the canonical paths for the audit log + security event log.
+ *
+ * Both store the file path in their own module-level constants, so any
+ * environment override (e.g. AUDIT_LOG_FILE=...) is honoured here too —
+ * exactly the same behaviour as src/security/audit-logger.js and
+ * src/security/event-store.js. Without this, a container with
+ * AUDIT_LOG_FILE set would see the dispose handler read from one file
+ * and the audit-logger write to a different one.
+ *
+ * @returns {{auditPath: string, secPath: string, auditPathFrom: string, secPathFrom: string}}
+ *   paths + the source ("env" or "default") so tests can verify.
+ */
+function _resolvePaths() {
+  const auditPath = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE
+    || path.join(platformPaths.dataDir, 'audit-log.json');
+  const secPath = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE
+    || path.join(platformPaths.dataDir, 'security-events.jsonl');
+  return {
+    auditPath,
+    secPath,
+    auditPathFrom: process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE ? 'env' : 'default',
+    secPathFrom: process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE ? 'env' : 'default',
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validate the keepDays input. Coerces + bounds-checks BEFORE any file
+ * read so a malicious or mistyped client can't:
+ *   - pass a negative number (cutoff = far future → wipe 100%)
+ *   - pass Infinity (parseInt(Infinity, 10) === NaN, currently falls
+ *     through `|| 30` — fixed to fail-fast instead)
+ *   - pass a non-integer (e.g. 1.5 → cutoff mid-day, off-by-half-day)
+ *   - pass 0 (no-op-but-lies) or 10000 (way past retention policy)
+ *
+ * @param {unknown} raw - value from req.body.keepDays
+ * @returns {number} validated integer in [1, 3650]
+ * @throws {Error} when out of range / wrong type
+ */
+function _validateKeepDays(raw) {
+  if (raw === undefined || raw === null) {
+    throw new Error('keepDays is required (integer in [1, 3650])');
+  }
+  const n = Number(raw);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(n)) {
+    throw new Error(`keepDays must be a finite number (received ${JSON.stringify(raw)})`);
+  }
+  if (!Number.isInteger(n)) {
+    throw new Error(`keepDays must be an integer (received ${raw})`);
+  }
+  if (n < 1 || n > 3650) {
+    throw new Error(`keepDays must be between 1 and 3650 (received ${n})`);
+  }
+  return n;
+}
 
 module.exports = function({ asyncHandler, ok, auditLogger, securityEventStore }) {
   const router = express.Router();
+  // Resolve once at module init so GET + POST both use the same files.
+  // If the env vars change at runtime (rare — start.sh wires them at
+  // container start), operators re-deploy rather than mutate env mid-flight.
+  const { auditPath, secPath } = _resolvePaths();
 
   // GET /api/v1/log-insights — Plain English summary of who's doing what
   router.get('/log-insights', asyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
@@ -74,16 +169,18 @@ module.exports = function({ asyncHandler, ok, auditLogger, securityEventStore })
     }
 
     // --- Storage info ---
-    const auditPath = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE || '/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/audit-log.json';
-    const secPath = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE || '/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/security-events.jsonl';
+    // DC-081: read from the canonical resolved paths (NOT the hardcoded
+    // /opt/... paths that don't exist in the container). Empty-object
+    // fallback on ENOENT — the file may legitimately be absent on a
+    // fresh install where the audit-logger hasn't written yet.
     let storage = {};
     try {
       const a = await fs.stat(auditPath);
-      storage.auditLog = { sizeMB: +(a.size / 1048576).toFixed(2), entries: auditEntries.length };
+      storage.auditLog = { sizeMB: +(a.size / 1048576).toFixed(2), entries: auditEntries.length, path: auditPath };
     } catch {}
     try {
       const s = await fs.stat(secPath);
-      storage.securityEvents = { sizeMB: +(s.size / 1048576).toFixed(2), entries: securityEvents.length };
+      storage.securityEvents = { sizeMB: +(s.size / 1048576).toFixed(2), entries: securityEvents.length, path: secPath };
     } catch {}
 
     ok(res, {
@@ -108,16 +205,44 @@ module.exports = function({ asyncHandler, ok, auditLogger, securityEventStore })
   }));
 
   // POST /api/v1/log-insights/dispose — Preview then confirm cleanup
+  //
+  // Two-call pattern:
+  //   1. { keepDays: 30 }                  → preview, no writes
+  //   2. { keepDays: 30, confirm: true }   → actually delete
+  //
+  // DC-081 hardening:
+  //   - keepDays is validated to integer [1, 3650] BEFORE any file read.
+  //     A negative keepDays (e.g. -1000) would previously compute a
+  //     cutoff +3 years in the future, then delete every entry older
+  //     than that — i.e. 100% of the audit log. Now rejected at the gate.
+  //   - auditPath / secPath come from the canonical _resolvePaths() helper
+  //     so the container's actual /app/data files are read (the pre-fix
+  //     hardcoded /opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/... paths resolved to
+  //     ENOENT inside the container, so the endpoint silently did nothing).
   router.post('/log-insights/dispose', asyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
-    const keepDays = parseInt(req.body.keepDays) || 30;
+    // Validate keepDays first — fail-fast before any file IO so a bad
+    // client never touches disk.
+    let keepDays;
+    try {
+      keepDays = _validateKeepDays(req.body?.keepDays);
+    } catch (e) {
+      return res.status(400).json({ success: false, error: e.message, code: 'DC-081_INVALID_KEEP_DAYS' });
+    }
     const confirm = req.body.confirm === true;
     const cutoff = new Date(Date.now() - keepDays * 86400000).toISOString();
 
-    const auditPath = process.env.AUDIT_LOG_FILE || '/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/audit-log.json';
-    const secPath = process.env.SECURITY_EVENT_LOG_FILE || '/opt/dashcaddy/dashcaddy-api/data/security-events.jsonl';
-
+    // Read both files via the canonical resolved paths (NOT the hardcoded
+    // /opt/... paths from before — those don't exist in the container).
     const auditRaw = await fs.readFile(auditPath, 'utf8').catch(function () { return '[]'; });
-    const auditData = JSON.parse(auditRaw);
+    let auditData;
+    try {
+      auditData = JSON.parse(auditRaw);
+    } catch (e) {
+      return res.status(500).json({ success: false, error: `audit-log file is corrupt (${auditPath}): ${e.message}`, code: 'DC-081_AUDIT_PARSE_FAILED' });
+    }
+    if (!Array.isArray(auditData)) {
+      return res.status(500).json({ success: false, error: `audit-log file is not an array (${auditPath})`, code: 'DC-081_AUDIT_SHAPE_INVALID' });
+    }
     const oldAudit = auditData.filter(function (e) { return e.timestamp < cutoff; });
 
     const secRaw = await fs.readFile(secPath, 'utf8').catch(function () { return ''; });
@@ -127,16 +252,40 @@ module.exports = function({ asyncHandler, ok, auditLogger, securityEventStore })
     if (!confirm) {
       ok(res, {
         preview: true,
-        message: 'This will delete ' + oldAudit.length + ' audit entries and ' + oldSec.length + ' security events older than ' + keepDays + ' days. Send {confirm: true} to proceed.',
+        message: 'This will delete ' + oldAudit.length + ' audit entries and ' + oldSec.length + ' security events older than ' + keepDays + ' days. Send {confirm: true, keepDays: ' + keepDays + '} to proceed.',
         wouldDelete: { auditEntries: oldAudit.length, securityEvents: oldSec.length },
-        cutoffDate: cutoff
+        cutoffDate: cutoff,
+        paths: { auditPath, secPath },
       });
       return;
     }
 
-    // Execute cleanup
+    // Execute cleanup. Audit the wipe FIRST via the audit-logger so the
+    // fact that a delete happened is itself preserved (matches the
+    // audit-logs/DELETE + error-logs/DELETE pattern).
+    try {
+      if (auditLogger && typeof auditLogger.log === 'function') {
+        await auditLogger.log({
+          action: 'log-insights.dispose',
+          resource: 'audit-log,security-events',
+          outcome: 'success',
+          details: {
+            keepDays,
+            cutoff,
+            deleted: { auditEntries: oldAudit.length, securityEvents: oldSec.length },
+          },
+        });
+      }
+    } catch { /* don't fail the dispose on audit-side errors */ }
+
+    // Rewrite audit-log.json atomically — write to tmp + rename so a
+    // crash mid-write can't leave the file half-empty (the file is read
+    // by state-manager on every container start; a corrupt file would
+    // block the whole API).
     const keptAudit = auditData.filter(function (e) { return e.timestamp >= cutoff; });
-    await fs.writeFile(auditPath, JSON.stringify(keptAudit, null, 2));
+    const tmpAudit = auditPath + '.tmp';
+    await fs.writeFile(tmpAudit, JSON.stringify(keptAudit, null, 2));
+    await fs.rename(tmpAudit, auditPath);
 
     const keptSec = secLines.filter(function (l) { try { return JSON.parse(l).timestamp >= cutoff; } catch (e) { return false; } });
     await fs.writeFile(secPath, keptSec.join('\n') + '\n');
@@ -145,9 +294,16 @@ module.exports = function({ asyncHandler, ok, auditLogger, securityEventStore })
       disposed: true,
       deleted: { auditEntries: oldAudit.length, securityEvents: oldSec.length },
       remaining: { auditEntries: keptAudit.length, securityEvents: keptSec.length },
-      cutoffDate: cutoff
+      cutoffDate: cutoff,
     });
   }));
 
   return router;
 };
+
+// DC-081: export helpers for direct unit testing (the route handlers are
+// otherwise unreachable from outside the factory closure).
+module.exports.__test = {
+  _resolvePaths,
+  _validateKeepDays,
+};
\ No newline at end of file