diff --git a/zddc/cmd/zddc-server/main.go b/zddc/cmd/zddc-server/main.go
index 76b544c..bfe0bcf 100644
--- a/zddc/cmd/zddc-server/main.go
+++ b/zddc/cmd/zddc-server/main.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"codeberg.org/VARASYS/ZDDC/zddc/internal/zddc"
 
 	"github.com/klauspost/compress/gzhttp"
+	"gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2"
 )
 
 // version is the binary's own version, injected at build time via
@@ -108,7 +109,8 @@ func main() {
 	//                       the context the outer ACL middleware set.
 	//   CORSMiddleware    — Origin / preflight handling.
 	//   dispatch          — the actual request handler.
-	mux.Handle("/", handler.ACLMiddleware(cfg, handler.AccessLogMiddleware(handler.CORSMiddleware(cfg, http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	auditLogger := setupAccessAuditLog(cfg.AccessLog)
+	mux.Handle("/", handler.ACLMiddleware(cfg, handler.AccessLogMiddleware(auditLogger, handler.CORSMiddleware(cfg, http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		dispatch(cfg, idx, logRing, appsServer, w, r)
 	})))))
 
@@ -154,6 +156,43 @@ func main() {
 	slog.Info("stopped")
 }
 
+// setupAccessAuditLog constructs a slog.Logger writing JSON lines to a
+// size-rotated file at the operator-configured path. Returns nil if no
+// path is configured — AccessLogMiddleware then logs only to stderr
+// (existing behavior).
+//
+// Rotation is via lumberjack: 100 MB per file, 10 backups, 90-day max
+// age, gzip compression on rotated files. Tuning is fixed (not exposed
+// as flags) — these defaults match what an audit-trail use case needs;
+// operators wanting stricter retention can wire up logrotate against
+// the rotated files themselves.
+//
+// File-permission posture: lumberjack creates new logs with mode 0600
+// (running user only). For multi-user audit access, the operator should
+// use group-readable parent directory permissions and either chmod the
+// log out-of-band or run a forwarder that has its own read access.
+// Parent directory must already exist — this function does NOT mkdir,
+// since we'd need to assume too much about umask/owner.
+func setupAccessAuditLog(path string) *slog.Logger {
+	if path == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	rotator := &lumberjack.Logger{
+		Filename:   path,
+		MaxSize:    100, // megabytes per file before rotation
+		MaxBackups: 10,
+		MaxAge:     90, // days
+		Compress:   true,
+	}
+	// JSON handler — line-delimited JSON is the format every standard
+	// log shipper (Vector, Loki promtail, fluentbit, journalbeat) parses
+	// natively, and stays grep-friendly for ad-hoc inspection.
+	h := slog.NewJSONHandler(rotator, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelInfo})
+	slog.Info("access log file enabled",
+		"path", path, "max_size_mb", 100, "max_backups", 10, "max_age_days", 90)
+	return slog.New(h)
+}
+
 // newGzipWrapper builds the gzip middleware applied to the entire mux.
 // MinSize(1024) skips compressing tiny responses where the framing
 // overhead exceeds the savings (304 Not Modified, error pages, small
diff --git a/zddc/go.mod b/zddc/go.mod
index 1f1a7fb..8210fbe 100644
--- a/zddc/go.mod
+++ b/zddc/go.mod
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ go 1.24
 require (
 	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.9.0
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.6
+	gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
diff --git a/zddc/go.sum b/zddc/go.sum
index 131c3a4..be0d307 100644
--- a/zddc/go.sum
+++ b/zddc/go.sum
@@ -6,5 +6,7 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.26.0 h1:KHjCJyddX0LoSTb3J+vWpupP9p0oznkqVk/IfjymZbo=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.26.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1 h1:bBRl1b0OH9s/DuPhuXpNl+VtCaJXFZ5/uEFST95x9zc=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1/go.mod h1:YD8tP3GAjkrDg1eZH7EGmyESg/lsYskCTPBJVb9jqSc=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/zddc/internal/config/config.go b/zddc/internal/config/config.go
index 0c39704..a870422 100644
--- a/zddc/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/zddc/internal/config/config.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	IndexPath   string   // --index-path / ZDDC_INDEX_PATH — virtual archive prefix (default .archive)
 	EmailHeader string   // --email-header / ZDDC_EMAIL_HEADER — auth header name (default X-Auth-Request-Email)
 	CORSOrigins []string // --cors-origin / ZDDC_CORS_ORIGIN — comma-separated allowlist; default https://zddc.varasys.io; empty disables
+	AccessLog   string   // --access-log / ZDDC_ACCESS_LOG — file path for tee'd JSON access log; empty = stderr only
 }
 
 // ErrHelpRequested is returned by Load when --help is passed; the caller
@@ -73,6 +74,8 @@ func Load(args []string) (Config, error) {
 		"Comma-separated CORS allowlist. Empty = CORS disabled. Default: ZDDC_CORS_ORIGIN or https://zddc.varasys.io.")
 	insecureDirectFlag := fs.Bool("insecure-direct", os.Getenv("ZDDC_INSECURE_DIRECT") == "1",
 		"Allow plain HTTP on non-loopback addresses (only safe behind an authenticating proxy).")
+	accessLogFlag := fs.String("access-log", os.Getenv("ZDDC_ACCESS_LOG"),
+		"Tee structured access logs to this file (JSON, size-rotated). Empty = stderr only.")
 	helpFlag := fs.Bool("help", false, "Print this help and exit.")
 	versionFlag := fs.Bool("version", false, "Print version info and exit.")
 
@@ -113,6 +116,7 @@ func Load(args []string) (Config, error) {
 		IndexPath:   *indexPathFlag,
 		EmailHeader: *emailHeaderFlag,
 		CORSOrigins: resolveCORS(corsFlagSet, *corsOriginFlag),
+		AccessLog:   *accessLogFlag,
 	}
 
 	// Default Root to the current working directory.
@@ -182,6 +186,7 @@ func Usage(w io.Writer) {
 	fs.String("email-header", "X-Auth-Request-Email", "HTTP header carrying the authenticated user's email.")
 	fs.String("cors-origin", "", "Comma-separated CORS allowlist. Empty = CORS disabled.")
 	fs.Bool("insecure-direct", false, "Allow plain HTTP on non-loopback addresses.")
+	fs.String("access-log", "", "Tee structured access logs to this file (JSON, size-rotated). Empty = stderr only.")
 	fs.Bool("help", false, "Print this help and exit.")
 	fs.Bool("version", false, "Print version info and exit.")
 	fs.PrintDefaults()
diff --git a/zddc/internal/handler/middleware.go b/zddc/internal/handler/middleware.go
index d354301..4fccdb3 100644
--- a/zddc/internal/handler/middleware.go
+++ b/zddc/internal/handler/middleware.go
@@ -67,8 +67,19 @@ func (rw *responseWriter) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
 	return n, err
 }
 
-// AccessLogMiddleware logs a structured line per HTTP request after the response is written.
-func AccessLogMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+// AccessLogMiddleware logs a structured line per HTTP request after the
+// response is written.
+//
+// Always emits to slog.Default() (stderr) so server-lifecycle logs and
+// access logs share an output stream by default.
+//
+// If `auditLogger` is non-nil, the same structured fields are also written
+// to it. The intended caller wires up auditLogger with a JSON handler
+// pointing at a rotating file (see cmd/zddc-server's setupAccessAuditLog),
+// so an operator gets a persisted audit trail on disk in addition to the
+// stderr stream — useful when stderr is not journald-captured (e.g.
+// container logging where the orchestrator drops stderr after restarts).
+func AccessLogMiddleware(auditLogger *slog.Logger, next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		// Capture request start time
 		start := time.Now()
@@ -88,8 +99,7 @@ func AccessLogMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			email = "anonymous"
 		}
 
-		// Log access
-		slog.Info("access",
+		args := []any{
 			"ts", start.Format(time.RFC3339),
 			"email", email,
 			"method", r.Method,
@@ -97,6 +107,15 @@ func AccessLogMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			"status", wrapped.status,
 			"bytes", wrapped.bytes,
 			"duration_ms", durationMs,
-		)
+		}
+
+		// Stderr stream (existing behavior).
+		slog.Info("access", args...)
+
+		// Audit file (when configured). Same fields, separate handler so
+		// the file can be JSON-formatted regardless of stderr's handler.
+		if auditLogger != nil {
+			auditLogger.Info("access", args...)
+		}
 	})
 }
diff --git a/zddc/internal/handler/middleware_test.go b/zddc/internal/handler/middleware_test.go
index cdaceb4..ab1a7de 100644
--- a/zddc/internal/handler/middleware_test.go
+++ b/zddc/internal/handler/middleware_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestAccessLogReadsEmailFromACLContext(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Correct order: ACL is outer, AccessLog is inner. AccessLog reads
 	// email from the context ACL populated.
-	chain := ACLMiddleware(cfg, AccessLogMiddleware(noop))
+	chain := ACLMiddleware(cfg, AccessLogMiddleware(nil, noop))
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/foo", nil)
 	req.Header.Set("X-Auth-Request-Email", "alice@example.com")
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func TestAccessLogAnonymousWhenNoEmail(t *testing.T) {
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	})
 
-	chain := ACLMiddleware(cfg, AccessLogMiddleware(noop))
+	chain := ACLMiddleware(cfg, AccessLogMiddleware(nil, noop))
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/foo", nil)
 	// Note: no X-Auth-Request-Email header set.
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func TestAccessLogOuterDoesNotSeeInnerContext(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	// Inverted order — the ORIGINAL buggy chain.
-	chain := AccessLogMiddleware(ACLMiddleware(cfg, noop))
+	chain := AccessLogMiddleware(nil, ACLMiddleware(cfg, noop))
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/foo", nil)
 	req.Header.Set("X-Auth-Request-Email", "alice@example.com")
@@ -104,3 +104,35 @@ func TestAccessLogOuterDoesNotSeeInnerContext(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected the inverted (buggy) chain to fall back to email=anonymous, got: %s", got)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestAccessLogMiddleware_AuditLoggerReceivesSameFields verifies the
+// optional audit-logger argument: when non-nil, it gets a parallel copy
+// of every access record. Used by main.go to tee access logs to a
+// rotating file in addition to stderr.
+func TestAccessLogMiddleware_AuditLoggerReceivesSameFields(t *testing.T) {
+	var auditBuf bytes.Buffer
+	auditLogger := slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(&auditBuf, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelInfo}))
+
+	noop := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusTeapot)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte("hi"))
+	})
+
+	cfg := config.Config{EmailHeader: "X-Auth-Request-Email"}
+	chain := ACLMiddleware(cfg, AccessLogMiddleware(auditLogger, noop))
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/some/path", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("X-Auth-Request-Email", "bob@example.com")
+	chain.ServeHTTP(httptest.NewRecorder(), req)
+
+	out := auditBuf.String()
+	if !strings.Contains(out, `"email":"bob@example.com"`) {
+		t.Errorf("audit log missing email field; got: %s", out)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, `"path":"/some/path"`) {
+		t.Errorf("audit log missing path; got: %s", out)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(out, `"status":418`) {
+		t.Errorf("audit log missing status code; got: %s", out)
+	}
+}