diff --git a/public/index.html b/public/index.html
index e0985aa..bacc69d 100644
--- a/public/index.html
+++ b/public/index.html
@@ -251,6 +251,10 @@ main {
 .feed-action { font-weight: bold; }
 .feed-action.blocked      { color: var(--red); }
 .feed-action.rate_limited { color: var(--amber); }
+.feed-action.observed     { color: var(--cyan2); }
+.feed-local { font-size: 9px; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: .5px;
+              color: var(--bg); background: var(--cyan2); border-radius: 3px;
+              padding: 1px 5px; margin-left: 4px; vertical-align: middle; }
 .feed-reason { color: var(--dim); font-size: 10px; }
 .feed-geo    { color: var(--dim); font-size: 10px; }
 
@@ -661,6 +665,7 @@ function addRow(row) {
   el.className = 'feed-row';
   const f   = flag(row.country||'');
   const action = row.action||'blocked';
+  const isLocal = row.site_id === 'self';
   el.innerHTML = `
     <span class="feed-ts">${fmtTime(row.received_at)}</span>
     <span class="feed-ip">${esc(row.ip_masked||row.ip||'?')}</span>
@@ -668,6 +673,7 @@ function addRow(row) {
       ${f?`<span class="feed-geo">${f} ${esc(row.country||'')}</span><br>`:''}
       <span class="feed-bot">${esc(row.bot_type||'?')}</span>
       <span class="feed-action ${action}"> [${esc(action)}]</span>
+      ${isLocal?'<span class="feed-local">LOCAL</span>':''}
       <br><span class="feed-reason">${esc(row.reason||row.ua_family||'')}</span>
     </span>`;
   feedEl.prepend(el);
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index f30c649..6c7f984 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ function getStats() {
       GROUP BY ua_family ORDER BY hits DESC LIMIT 8
     `).all(now - 2592000),
     recent:        DB.prepare(`
-      SELECT received_at, ip_masked ip, country, bot_type, action, reason, ua_family
+      SELECT received_at, ip_masked ip, country, bot_type, action, reason, ua_family, site_id
       FROM bots ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 40
     `).all(),
     hourly:        DB.prepare(`
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ let lastId = DB.prepare('SELECT MAX(id) id FROM bots').get().id || 0;
 
 setInterval(() => {
   if (!sseClients.size) return;
-  const rows = DB.prepare('SELECT * FROM bots WHERE id > ? ORDER BY id ASC LIMIT 20').all(lastId);
+  const rows = DB.prepare('SELECT id, received_at, ip_masked, country, bot_type, action, reason, ua_family, site_id FROM bots WHERE id > ? ORDER BY id ASC LIMIT 20').all(lastId);
   if (!rows.length) return;
   lastId = rows.at(-1).id;
   const msg = `data: ${JSON.stringify(rows)}\n\n`;
@@ -252,9 +252,41 @@ const insertBatch = DB.transaction((siteId, bots) => {
   return ids;
 });
 
+// ── Self-observation (log bots that visit the API directly) ───────────────────
+//
+// Matches any request whose UA looks like a bot/scanner/tool, or has no UA.
+// Skips /health (Docker probe) and /submit (WP plugin).
+// Logged as site_id='self', action='observed' so they're visually distinct.
+
+const BOT_UA_RE = /(bot|crawl|spider|scrap|scan|slurp|fetch|wget|curl|python|go-http|java\/|scrapy|axios|headless|phantom|gptbot|chatgpt|openai|yandex|baidu|semrush|ahrefs|mj12|dotbot|petalbot)/i;
+const SKIP_SELF = new Set(['/api/v1/health', '/api/v1/submit']);
+
+function selfObserve(req, res, next) {
+  if (SKIP_SELF.has(req.path)) return next();
+
+  const ua = req.headers['user-agent'] || '';
+  if (ua && !BOT_UA_RE.test(ua)) return next(); // normal browser — skip
+
+  const ip  = (req.headers['x-forwarded-for'] || '').split(',')[0].trim()
+              || req.socket.remoteAddress || '?';
+  const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+  const fam = parseUA(ua);
+
+  try {
+    const r = stmtIns.run(
+      now, 'self', ip, fam, 'observed', 'Direct API visitor', fam, req.path, '', ''
+    );
+    _cache = null;
+    setImmediate(() => enrichIP(Number(r.lastInsertRowid), ip));
+  } catch {}
+
+  next();
+}
+
 // ── Routes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 app.use(express.json({ limit: '128kb' }));
+app.use(selfObserve);
 app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
 
 app.post('/api/v1/submit', requireToken, (req, res) => {