diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 815ab88..334a8b4 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 group = 'com.flexcodelabs'
-version = '0.0.80'
+version = '0.0.81'
 description = 'Flextuma App'
 
 java {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/exceptions/GlobalExceptionHandler.java b/src/main/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/exceptions/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
index f6466d3..8823b40 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/exceptions/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/exceptions/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
@@ -325,7 +325,10 @@ private ResponseEntity<Object> buildResponse(String message, HttpStatus status,
         body.put("message", message != null ? capitalize(message) : "No message available");
 
         if (!UNLOGGED_STATUSES.contains(status)) {
-            if (ex != null) {
+            if (status.is4xxClientError()) {
+                // Client mistakes (bad input, missing resource) -- the stack trace adds nothing.
+                log.warn("Request failed with {}: {}", status, message);
+            } else if (ex != null) {
                 log.error("Request failed with {}: {}", status, message, ex);
             } else {
                 log.error("Request failed with {}: {}", status, message);
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/security/PatRateLimitingIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/security/PatRateLimitingIntegrationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fcdd6e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/flexcodelabs/flextuma/core/security/PatRateLimitingIntegrationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+package com.flexcodelabs.flextuma.core.security;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.springframework.security.core.context.SecurityContextHolder;
+import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.flexcodelabs.flextuma.core.repositories.PersonalAccessTokenRepository;
+import com.flexcodelabs.flextuma.core.services.AuthRateLimitService;
+
+import jakarta.servlet.FilterChain;
+import jakarta.servlet.ServletException;
+import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
+import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
+
+/**
+ * Exercises the real AuthRateLimitService (no mocking of the counting/blocking logic itself)
+ * to prove PAT auth actually gets throttled after repeated bad X-API-KEY values from one IP,
+ * and that the "PAT" scope is isolated from other AuthRateLimitService callers (e.g. login).
+ */
+class PatRateLimitingIntegrationTest {
+
+    private PersonalAccessTokenRepository patRepository;
+    private AuthRateLimitService rateLimitService;
+    private PatAuthenticationFilter filter;
+    private FilterChain filterChain;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        SecurityContextHolder.clearContext();
+        patRepository = mock(PersonalAccessTokenRepository.class);
+        when(patRepository.findByToken(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString())).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
+        rateLimitService = new AuthRateLimitService(); // real instance, no Spring container here so @Value fields need manual setting
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(rateLimitService, "maxAttempts", 5);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(rateLimitService, "blockDurationMinutes", 15);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(rateLimitService, "windowMinutes", 5);
+        // mirrors JacksonConfig.objectMapper()'s findAndAddModules(), which registers JavaTimeModule for LocalDateTime
+        filter = new PatAuthenticationFilter(patRepository, rateLimitService, new ObjectMapper().findAndRegisterModules());
+        filterChain = mock(FilterChain.class);
+    }
+
+    private HttpServletRequest requestFrom(String ip, String apiKey) {
+        HttpServletRequest request = mock(HttpServletRequest.class);
+        when(request.getHeader("X-API-KEY")).thenReturn(apiKey);
+        when(request.getHeader("X-Forwarded-For")).thenReturn(null);
+        when(request.getHeader("X-Real-IP")).thenReturn(null);
+        when(request.getRemoteAddr()).thenReturn(ip);
+        return request;
+    }
+
+    private int fireAndGetStatus(String ip, String apiKey) throws ServletException, IOException {
+        HttpServletRequest request = requestFrom(ip, apiKey);
+        HttpServletResponse response = mock(HttpServletResponse.class);
+        StringWriter body = new StringWriter();
+        when(response.getWriter()).thenReturn(new PrintWriter(body));
+        int[] status = { 200 }; // default: nothing set means the request fell through to filterChain
+        org.mockito.Mockito.doAnswer(inv -> {
+            status[0] = inv.getArgument(0);
+            return null;
+        }).when(response).setStatus(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyInt());
+
+        filter.doFilterInternal(request, response, filterChain);
+        return status[0];
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void sixthBadKeyFromSameIpIsRateLimited() throws Exception {
+        String ip = "203.0.113.10";
+
+        // Attempts 1-5: each is an invalid key, none should be rate-limited yet.
+        for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
+            int status = fireAndGetStatus(ip, "ft_bad" + i);
+            assertEquals(200, status, "attempt " + i + " should not be rate-limited yet");
+        }
+        verify(filterChain, times(5)).doFilter(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any(), org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any());
+
+        // 6th attempt from the same IP: rate limiter should now reject with 429, before any DB lookup.
+        int sixthStatus = fireAndGetStatus(ip, "ft_bad6");
+        assertEquals(429, sixthStatus);
+
+        // filterChain must NOT have advanced for the 6th (blocked) request.
+        verify(filterChain, times(5)).doFilter(org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any(), org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void differentIpIsNotAffectedByAnotherIpsFailures() throws Exception {
+        String attackerIp = "203.0.113.20";
+        String innocentIp = "198.51.100.5";
+
+        for (int i = 1; i <= 6; i++) {
+            fireAndGetStatus(attackerIp, "ft_bad" + i);
+        }
+        assertTrue(rateLimitService.isBlocked(requestFrom(attackerIp, null), "PAT"));
+
+        int innocentStatus = fireAndGetStatus(innocentIp, "ft_still_bad");
+        assertEquals(200, innocentStatus, "a different IP must not be blocked by another IP's failures");
+        assertFalse(rateLimitService.isBlocked(requestFrom(innocentIp, null), "PAT"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void patScopeIsIsolatedFromAuthScope() throws Exception {
+        String ip = "203.0.113.30";
+        HttpServletRequest sharedIpRequest = requestFrom(ip, null);
+
+        // Simulate 5 failed *login* attempts (AuthController's default "AUTH" scope) from this IP.
+        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+            rateLimitService.recordFailedAttempt(sharedIpRequest); // defaults to "AUTH" scope
+        }
+        assertTrue(rateLimitService.isBlocked(sharedIpRequest), "AUTH scope should now be blocked");
+
+        // A PAT request from the very same IP must be unaffected, since it's a different scope.
+        int patStatus = fireAndGetStatus(ip, "ft_unrelated_bad_key");
+        assertEquals(200, patStatus, "PAT scope must be independent of the AUTH scope's block");
+    }
+}