diff --git a/e2e/docker-compose.sim.yml b/e2e/docker-compose.sim.yml
index d7885ab..940182e 100644
--- a/e2e/docker-compose.sim.yml
+++ b/e2e/docker-compose.sim.yml
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ services:
       COMPRESSION_WORKER_CONCURRENCY: '2'
       # Production disables comments for this event (docker-compose.yml, product decision).
       COMMENTS_ENABLED: 'false'
+      # Mirrors the deployed setting so the harness can audit against the real gate.
+      KEEPSAKE_ENABLED: ${SIM_KEEPSAKE:-true}
       # The ONE deviation from production: enables /admin/__truncate so the harness can
       # reset between runs. Never set on the real box.
       EVENTSNAP_TEST_MODE: '1'
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ services:
 
   frontend:
     # Shipped release image; `git diff v0.17.6 HEAD -- frontend/` is empty.
-    image: registry.mc02.dev/eventsnap/frontend:v0.17.6
+    image: ${SIM_FE_IMAGE:-registry.mc02.dev/eventsnap/frontend:v0.17.6}
     cpuset: *cpuset
     depends_on:
       - app
diff --git a/e2e/loadtest/acceptance-audit.mjs b/e2e/loadtest/acceptance-audit.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52981cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/loadtest/acceptance-audit.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Acceptance audit: push EVERY file in the pool through the real upload validator
+ * and report exactly what the server refuses, and why.
+ *
+ * Answers one question — "with these settings, which of my photos would be turned
+ * away?" — and answers it empirically rather than by reasoning about limits. Size
+ * caps are only one of the paths that can refuse a file: the magic-byte allowlist,
+ * the decode budget (12000 px axis / 256 MiB alloc, both code constants), the disk
+ * gate and the per-user quota all reject too, and only the running server knows the
+ * interaction between them.
+ *
+ * Deliberately NOT a load test: no personas, no viewers, no think-time. It measures
+ * admission, so it does not wait for the compression backlog to drain.
+ *
+ *     SIM_UPLOADERS=8 node e2e/loadtest/acceptance-audit.mjs
+ */
+import { readFile, writeFile, mkdir } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
+
+const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const BASE = process.env.SIM_BASE ?? 'http://localhost:3102';
+const API = `${BASE}/api/v1`;
+const POOL = process.env.SIM_POOL_DIR ?? '/tmp/eventsnap-realpool';
+const META = process.env.SIM_POOL_META ?? '/tmp/eventsnap-pool.json';
+const ADMIN_PW = process.env.SIM_ADMIN_PW ?? 'admin-test-pw';
+const CONC = parseInt(process.env.AUDIT_CONC ?? '4', 10);
+// Spread across a few accounts, as a real event does — a single uploader would hit
+// the per-user quota and hourly limit for reasons unrelated to the files themselves.
+const UPLOADERS = parseInt(process.env.SIM_UPLOADERS ?? '8', 10);
+
+const j = async (path, opts = {}) => {
+  const res = await fetch(`${API}${path}`, opts);
+  const text = await res.text();
+  let body;
+  try {
+    body = text ? JSON.parse(text) : undefined;
+  } catch {
+    body = text;
+  }
+  return { status: res.status, body };
+};
+
+async function main() {
+  const meta = JSON.parse(await readFile(META, 'utf8'));
+  console.log(`[pool] ${meta.length} files, ${(meta.reduce((a, f) => a + f.bytes, 0) / 1e9).toFixed(2)} GB`);
+
+  const admin = (
+    await j('/admin/login', {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ password: ADMIN_PW }),
+    })
+  ).body.jwt;
+
+  const cfg = (await j('/admin/config', { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${admin}` } })).body;
+  const shown = [
+    'max_image_size_mb',
+    'max_video_size_mb',
+    'upload_rate_per_hour',
+    'storage_quota_enabled',
+    'quota_enabled',
+  ];
+  console.log(`[config] ${shown.map((k) => `${k}=${cfg[k]}`).join('  ')}`);
+  const stats = (await j('/admin/stats', { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${admin}` } })).body;
+  console.log(
+    `[disk]   ${(stats.disk_free_bytes / 1e9).toFixed(1)} GB free of ${(stats.disk_total_bytes / 1e9).toFixed(1)} GB`
+  );
+
+  const guests = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < UPLOADERS; i++) {
+    const r = await j('/join', {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ display_name: `Audit ${i} ${randomUUID().slice(0, 4)}` }),
+    });
+    guests.push(r.body.jwt);
+  }
+  console.log(`[join]   ${guests.length} uploaders\n`);
+
+  const results = [];
+  let done = 0;
+  const queue = [...meta];
+  const t0 = Date.now();
+
+  const worker = async (slot) => {
+    while (queue.length) {
+      const f = queue.shift();
+      if (!f) break;
+      const jwt = guests[slot % guests.length];
+      let buf;
+      try {
+        buf = await readFile(join(POOL, f.name));
+      } catch (e) {
+        results.push({ ...f, status: -1, msg: `read error: ${e}` });
+        continue;
+      }
+      const form = new FormData();
+      form.append('file', new Blob([buf], { type: f.magic }), f.name);
+      form.append('client_upload_id', randomUUID());
+      let status, body;
+      try {
+        const res = await fetch(`${API}/upload`, {
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${jwt}` },
+          body: form,
+        });
+        status = res.status;
+        const t = await res.text();
+        try {
+          body = JSON.parse(t);
+        } catch {
+          body = t;
+        }
+      } catch (e) {
+        status = 0;
+        body = { message: String(e).slice(0, 80) };
+      }
+      results.push({
+        name: f.name,
+        bytes: f.bytes,
+        magic: f.magic,
+        w: f.w,
+        h: f.h,
+        status,
+        code: body?.code ?? body?.error,
+        msg: status >= 400 ? String(body?.message ?? '').slice(0, 110) : undefined,
+      });
+      if (++done % 100 === 0) {
+        const ok = results.filter((r) => r.status === 201).length;
+        console.log(
+          `  ${done}/${meta.length}  accepted ${ok}  refused ${done - ok}  (${((Date.now() - t0) / 1000).toFixed(0)}s)`
+        );
+      }
+    }
+  };
+  await Promise.all(Array.from({ length: CONC }, (_, i) => worker(i)));
+
+  // ── Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  const ok = results.filter((r) => r.status === 201);
+  const bad = results.filter((r) => r.status !== 201);
+  const byReason = {};
+  for (const r of bad) {
+    const key = `${r.status} ${r.msg ?? r.code ?? '?'}`;
+    (byReason[key] ??= []).push(r);
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n' + '═'.repeat(74));
+  console.log('ACCEPTANCE AUDIT');
+  console.log('═'.repeat(74));
+  console.log(
+    `accepted ${ok.length}/${results.length}  (${(ok.reduce((a, r) => a + r.bytes, 0) / 1e9).toFixed(2)} GB)`
+  );
+  console.log(`refused  ${bad.length}\n`);
+  for (const [reason, rows] of Object.entries(byReason).sort((a, b) => b[1].length - a[1].length)) {
+    const sizes = rows.map((r) => r.bytes / 1024 / 1024);
+    console.log(`  ${rows.length} x ${reason}`);
+    console.log(
+      `      sizes ${Math.min(...sizes).toFixed(1)}–${Math.max(...sizes).toFixed(1)} MB · types ${[...new Set(rows.map((r) => r.magic))].join(', ')}`
+    );
+    console.log(`      e.g. ${rows.slice(0, 3).map((r) => r.name).join(', ')}`);
+  }
+  if (!bad.length) console.log('  ✓ nothing was refused');
+
+  const outDir = join(__dirname, 'results');
+  await mkdir(outDir, { recursive: true });
+  const out = join(outDir, `acceptance-${new Date().toISOString().replace(/[:.]/g, '-')}.json`);
+  await writeFile(out, JSON.stringify({ config: cfg, stats, results }, null, 2));
+  console.log(`\nfull detail → ${out}`);
+  console.log('═'.repeat(74));
+}
+
+main().catch((e) => {
+  console.error('audit failed:', e);
+  process.exit(1);
+});