diff --git a/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.test.ts b/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9fffdac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { auditLogsCollection } from "./audit-logs-collection";
+
+describe("auditLogsCollection", () => {
+  it("uses slug 'audit-logs'", () => {
+    expect(auditLogsCollection.slug).toBe("audit-logs");
+  });
+
+  it("is append-only (update: () => false)", () => {
+    const access = auditLogsCollection.access as Record<string, () => boolean>;
+    expect(access.update()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("has the required fields", () => {
+    const fieldNames = (auditLogsCollection.fields as Array<{ name: string }>).map((f) => f.name);
+    // WHO
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("actorId");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("actorType");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("actorRoles");
+    // WHAT
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("action");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("resourceType");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("resourceId");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("changedFields");
+    // SCOPE
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("scopeFeature");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("scopeEnvironment");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("scopeTenant");
+    // WHY
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("reason");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("correlationId");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("requestId");
+    // FROM
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("ipTruncated");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("userAgent");
+    // PII
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("containsPii");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("piiCategories");
+    // OUTCOME
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("outcome");
+    expect(fieldNames).toContain("errorCode");
+  });
+
+  it("enables timestamps so createdAt maps to AuditEntry.at", () => {
+    expect(auditLogsCollection.timestamps).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.ts b/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e6123b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core-audit/src/audit-logs-collection.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+import type { CollectionConfig } from "payload";
+
+/**
+ * Append-only Payload collection for audit entries. Mounted by core-cms
+ * when this package is scaffolded (manual wiring step printed by generator).
+ *
+ * Access rules:
+ *   - read: admins only
+ *   - create: any authenticated context (filtered upstream by PayloadAuditLog)
+ *   - update: NEVER (compliance requires append-only)
+ *   - delete: admins only (used by the GDPR erasure path with overrideAccess)
+ *
+ * The `update: () => false` rule is the compliance backbone. The erasure
+ * path uses `overrideAccess: true` to bypass for pseudonymization — that's
+ * Payload's documented escape hatch for privileged operations.
+ */
+export const auditLogsCollection: CollectionConfig = {
+  slug: "audit-logs",
+  access: {
+    read: ({ req }) => {
+      const user = req.user as { roles?: string[] } | null | undefined;
+      return Array.isArray(user?.roles) && user.roles.includes("admin");
+    },
+    create: () => true,
+    update: () => false,
+    delete: ({ req }) => {
+      const user = req.user as { roles?: string[] } | null | undefined;
+      return Array.isArray(user?.roles) && user.roles.includes("admin");
+    },
+  },
+  timestamps: true,
+  fields: [
+    // WHO
+    { name: "actorId", type: "text", required: true, index: true },
+    {
+      name: "actorType",
+      type: "select",
+      options: ["user", "system", "service"],
+      required: true,
+    },
+    { name: "actorRoles", type: "json", required: true },
+
+    // WHAT
+    {
+      name: "action",
+      type: "select",
+      options: ["VIEW", "CREATE", "UPDATE", "DELETE", "EXPORT", "PERMISSION_CHANGE"],
+      required: true,
+      index: true,
+    },
+    { name: "resourceType", type: "text", required: true, index: true },
+    { name: "resourceId", type: "text" },
+    { name: "changedFields", type: "json" },
+
+    // SCOPE
+    { name: "scopeFeature", type: "text", required: true, index: true },
+    { name: "scopeEnvironment", type: "text", required: true },
+    { name: "scopeTenant", type: "text", required: true, index: true },
+
+    // WHY
+    { name: "reason", type: "text" },
+    { name: "correlationId", type: "text", index: true },
+    { name: "requestId", type: "text" },
+
+    // FROM
+    { name: "ipTruncated", type: "text", required: true },
+    { name: "userAgent", type: "text", required: true },
+
+    // PII
+    { name: "containsPii", type: "checkbox", required: true },
+    { name: "piiCategories", type: "json" },
+
+    // OUTCOME
+    {
+      name: "outcome",
+      type: "select",
+      options: ["success", "denied", "error"],
+      required: true,
+    },
+    { name: "errorCode", type: "text" },
+  ],
+};