diff --git a/src/middleware/logging.ts b/src/middleware/logging.ts
index 87c180d..f9b447c 100644
--- a/src/middleware/logging.ts
+++ b/src/middleware/logging.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,26 @@ interface FileNotFoundParams {
   fileId: string;
 }
 
+interface AuthLockoutTriggeredParams extends AuthLogParams {
+  durationSeconds: number;
+}
+
+interface AuthLockedAttemptParams extends AuthLogParams {
+  retryAfterSeconds: number;
+}
+
+interface AuthRateLimitedParams {
+  ip: string;
+  userAgent: string;
+  route: string;
+}
+
 export interface Logger {
   authSuccess(params: AuthLogParams): Promise<void>;
   authFailure(params: AuthLogParams): Promise<void>;
+  authLockoutTriggered(params: AuthLockoutTriggeredParams): Promise<void>;
+  authLockedAttempt(params: AuthLockedAttemptParams): Promise<void>;
+  authRateLimited(params: AuthRateLimitedParams): Promise<void>;
   fileNotFound(params: FileNotFoundParams): Promise<void>;
 }
 
@@ -34,6 +51,12 @@ export function createLogger(logFile: string): Logger {
   return {
     authSuccess: (params) => write(authLine('AUTH_SUCCESS', params)),
     authFailure: (params) => write(authLine('AUTH_FAILURE', params)),
+    authLockoutTriggered: ({ durationSeconds, ...auth }) =>
+      write(`${authLine('AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED', auth)} duration_seconds=${durationSeconds}`),
+    authLockedAttempt: ({ retryAfterSeconds, ...auth }) =>
+      write(`${authLine('AUTH_LOCKED_ATTEMPT', auth)} retry_after_seconds=${retryAfterSeconds}`),
+    authRateLimited: ({ ip, userAgent, route }) =>
+      write(`[${timestamp()}] AUTH_RATE_LIMITED ip=${ip} user-agent="${userAgent}" route="${route}"`),
     fileNotFound: ({ ip, userAgent, fileId }) =>
       write(`[${timestamp()}] FILE_NOT_FOUND ip=${ip} user-agent="${userAgent}" file_id="${fileId}"`),
   };
diff --git a/src/services/login-handler.ts b/src/services/login-handler.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..404d745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/services/login-handler.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import type { Config } from '../config.ts';
+import type { Logger } from '../middleware/logging.ts';
+import type { LockoutService } from './lockout.ts';
+import { getUserByUsername } from '../db/users.ts';
+import { verifyPassword } from './auth.ts';
+import { verifyAgainstDummy } from './dummy-hash.ts';
+
+interface UserRow {
+  id: number;
+  username: string;
+  password_hash: string;
+  created_at: string;
+}
+
+export type LoginResult =
+  | { kind: 'success'; user: UserRow }
+  | { kind: 'bad_credentials' }
+  | { kind: 'locked'; retryAfterSeconds: number }
+  | { kind: 'bad_request' };
+
+export interface LoginHandlerDeps {
+  db: Database.Database;
+  config: Config;
+  logger: Logger;
+  lockout: LockoutService;
+}
+
+export interface LoginInput {
+  username: string;
+  password: string;
+  ip: string;
+  userAgent: string;
+}
+
+function canonicalize(username: string): string {
+  return username.trim().toLowerCase();
+}
+
+async function clamp(startMs: number, minMs: number): Promise<void> {
+  const elapsed = Date.now() - startMs;
+  const remaining = minMs - elapsed;
+  if (remaining > 0) {
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, remaining));
+  }
+}
+
+export async function attemptLogin(
+  deps: LoginHandlerDeps,
+  input: LoginInput,
+): Promise<LoginResult> {
+  const { db, config, logger, lockout } = deps;
+  const start = Date.now();
+
+  if (!input.username || !input.password) {
+    // No clamp on bad_request — it's a programmer/format error from the caller,
+    // not a credential test, so timing isn't sensitive.
+    return { kind: 'bad_request' };
+  }
+
+  const username = canonicalize(input.username);
+  const logBase = { ip: input.ip, userAgent: input.userAgent, username };
+
+  const lockStatus = lockout.check(username);
+  if (lockStatus.locked) {
+    await logger.authLockedAttempt({ ...logBase, retryAfterSeconds: lockStatus.retryAfterSeconds! });
+    await clamp(start, config.loginMinResponseMs);
+    return { kind: 'locked', retryAfterSeconds: lockStatus.retryAfterSeconds! };
+  }
+
+  const user = getUserByUsername(db, username);
+  const valid = user
+    ? await verifyPassword(input.password, user.password_hash)
+    : await verifyAgainstDummy(input.password);
+
+  if (user && valid) {
+    lockout.recordSuccess(username);
+    await logger.authSuccess(logBase);
+    await clamp(start, config.loginMinResponseMs);
+    return { kind: 'success', user };
+  }
+
+  const failure = lockout.recordFailure(username);
+  if (failure.locked) {
+    await logger.authLockoutTriggered({ ...logBase, durationSeconds: failure.durationSeconds });
+  }
+  await logger.authFailure(logBase);
+  await clamp(start, config.loginMinResponseMs);
+  return { kind: 'bad_credentials' };
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/dummy-hash.test.ts b/tests/unit/dummy-hash.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6387f8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/dummy-hash.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import bcrypt from 'bcrypt';
+import { verifyAgainstDummy, _resetDummyHashForTests } from '../../src/services/dummy-hash.ts';
+import { hashPassword, verifyPassword } from '../../src/services/auth.ts';
+
+describe('dummy hash', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    _resetDummyHashForTests();
+  });
+
+  it('always returns false', async () => {
+    expect(await verifyAgainstDummy('whatever')).toBe(false);
+    expect(await verifyAgainstDummy('')).toBe(false);
+    expect(await verifyAgainstDummy('admin')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('takes comparable time to verifying a real bcrypt hash (within 5x)', async () => {
+    // Warm dummy hash so the cache is hot.
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('warmup');
+    const realHash = await hashPassword('actual-password');
+
+    const start1 = Date.now();
+    await verifyPassword('actual-password', realHash);
+    const realMs = Date.now() - start1;
+
+    const start2 = Date.now();
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('any-password');
+    const dummyMs = Date.now() - start2;
+
+    // Both should be in the same ballpark — bcrypt cost factor is the same.
+    // Generous bound to avoid flakes on slow CI.
+    expect(dummyMs).toBeGreaterThan(realMs / 5);
+    expect(dummyMs).toBeLessThan(realMs * 5);
+  }, 10_000);
+
+  it('memoizes the dummy hash across calls', async () => {
+    // First call computes, subsequent calls reuse — covered by cache hit
+    // being noticeably faster than a fresh hash. Just assert the function
+    // is callable repeatedly without error.
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('a');
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('b');
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('c');
+    expect(true).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('runs a real bcrypt comparison (does not short-circuit)', async () => {
+    // Spy by counting bcrypt.compare calls would be nice, but bcrypt
+    // is a compiled module. Indirect check: the call must actually take
+    // bcrypt-comparison time after warmup.
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('warmup');
+    const start = Date.now();
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('test');
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    // bcrypt 12 rounds takes >50ms on any modern CPU
+    expect(elapsed).toBeGreaterThan(20);
+    expect(bcrypt).toBeDefined();
+  }, 10_000);
+});
diff --git a/tests/unit/logging.test.ts b/tests/unit/logging.test.ts
index 97cdd1d..9a14e74 100644
--- a/tests/unit/logging.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/logging.test.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,48 @@ describe('middleware/logging', () => {
     expect(existsSync(logFile)).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it('writes AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED log entry with duration', async () => {
+    const logger = createLogger(logFile);
+    await logger.authLockoutTriggered({
+      ip: '1.2.3.4',
+      userAgent: 'TestAgent/1.0',
+      username: 'alice',
+      durationSeconds: 60,
+    });
+    const content = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(content).toMatch(/AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/ip=1\.2\.3\.4/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/username="alice"/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/duration_seconds=60/);
+  });
+
+  it('writes AUTH_LOCKED_ATTEMPT log entry with retry-after', async () => {
+    const logger = createLogger(logFile);
+    await logger.authLockedAttempt({
+      ip: '1.2.3.4',
+      userAgent: 'TestAgent/1.0',
+      username: 'alice',
+      retryAfterSeconds: 25,
+    });
+    const content = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(content).toMatch(/AUTH_LOCKED_ATTEMPT/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/username="alice"/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/retry_after_seconds=25/);
+  });
+
+  it('writes AUTH_RATE_LIMITED log entry with route', async () => {
+    const logger = createLogger(logFile);
+    await logger.authRateLimited({
+      ip: '9.9.9.9',
+      userAgent: 'curl/7.0',
+      route: '/api/v1/auth/login',
+    });
+    const content = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(content).toMatch(/AUTH_RATE_LIMITED/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/ip=9\.9\.9\.9/);
+    expect(content).toMatch(/route="\/api\/v1\/auth\/login"/);
+  });
+
   it('appends multiple entries', async () => {
     const logger = createLogger(logFile);
     await logger.authSuccess({ ip: '1.1.1.1', userAgent: 'a', username: 'u1' });
diff --git a/tests/unit/login-handler.test.ts b/tests/unit/login-handler.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db9ca90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/login-handler.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, readFileSync } from 'fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'os';
+import { join } from 'path';
+import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { initDb } from '../../src/db/schema.ts';
+import { createUser } from '../../src/db/users.ts';
+import { hashPassword } from '../../src/services/auth.ts';
+import { createLogger } from '../../src/middleware/logging.ts';
+import { createLockoutService } from '../../src/services/lockout.ts';
+import { attemptLogin } from '../../src/services/login-handler.ts';
+import { _resetDummyHashForTests } from '../../src/services/dummy-hash.ts';
+import type { Config } from '../../src/config.ts';
+
+function makeConfig(overrides: Partial<Config> = {}): Config {
+  return {
+    port: 0,
+    host: '127.0.0.1',
+    jwtSecret: 'x',
+    jwtExpiry: '1h',
+    dbPath: ':memory:',
+    uploadDir: '/tmp',
+    logFile: '/tmp/x.log',
+    maxFileSize: 0,
+    baseUrl: '',
+    cookieSecure: false,
+    trustProxy: false,
+    lockoutThreshold: 2,
+    lockoutBaseSeconds: 60,
+    lockoutMaxSeconds: 600,
+    loginMinResponseMs: 50,
+    loginRateLimitMax: 0,
+    loginRateLimitWindowSeconds: 0,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('login handler', () => {
+  let db: Database.Database;
+  let logDir: string;
+  let logFile: string;
+  let config: Config;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    _resetDummyHashForTests();
+    db = initDb(':memory:');
+    logDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'nanodrop-handler-'));
+    logFile = join(logDir, 'test.log');
+    config = makeConfig({ logFile });
+    const passwordHash = await hashPassword('correct-pw');
+    createUser(db, { username: 'alice', passwordHash });
+    // Warm dummy hash so timing assertions don't include the first cold compute.
+    const { verifyAgainstDummy } = await import('../../src/services/dummy-hash.ts');
+    await verifyAgainstDummy('warmup');
+  });
+
+  function buildDeps() {
+    const logger = createLogger(logFile);
+    const lockout = createLockoutService({ db, config });
+    return { db, config, logger, lockout };
+  }
+
+  it('returns success for valid credentials and resets lockout', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const result = await attemptLogin(deps, {
+      username: 'alice',
+      password: 'correct-pw',
+      ip: '1.1.1.1',
+      userAgent: 'ua',
+    });
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('success');
+    if (result.kind === 'success') {
+      expect(result.user.username).toBe('alice');
+    }
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).toMatch(/AUTH_SUCCESS/);
+  });
+
+  it('returns bad_credentials and logs failure on wrong password', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const result = await attemptLogin(deps, {
+      username: 'alice',
+      password: 'wrong',
+      ip: '1.1.1.1',
+      userAgent: 'ua',
+    });
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('bad_credentials');
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).toMatch(/AUTH_FAILURE/);
+    expect(log).toMatch(/username="alice"/);
+  });
+
+  it('returns bad_credentials for unknown user (still runs bcrypt against dummy)', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const start = Date.now();
+    const result = await attemptLogin(deps, {
+      username: 'ghost',
+      password: 'whatever',
+      ip: '1.1.1.1',
+      userAgent: 'ua',
+    });
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('bad_credentials');
+    // Must spend bcrypt-comparable time even for unknown user.
+    expect(elapsed).toBeGreaterThan(20);
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).toMatch(/AUTH_FAILURE/);
+    expect(log).toMatch(/username="ghost"/);
+  }, 10_000);
+
+  it('canonicalizes username (lowercase + trim) before lookup and lockout', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const result = await attemptLogin(deps, {
+      username: '  ALICE  ',
+      password: 'correct-pw',
+      ip: '1.1.1.1',
+      userAgent: 'ua',
+    });
+    expect(result.kind).toBe('success');
+  });
+
+  it('returns bad_request when username or password is empty', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const r1 = await attemptLogin(deps, { username: '', password: 'x', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    expect(r1.kind).toBe('bad_request');
+    const r2 = await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: '', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    expect(r2.kind).toBe('bad_request');
+  });
+
+  it('triggers lockout at threshold and logs AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1.1.1.1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    const second = await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1.1.1.1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    expect(second.kind).toBe('bad_credentials');
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).toMatch(/AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED/);
+    expect(log).toMatch(/duration_seconds=60/);
+  });
+
+  it('returns locked + retry-after on subsequent attempt; correct password still rejected', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1.1.1.1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1.1.1.1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+
+    const blocked = await attemptLogin(deps, {
+      username: 'alice',
+      password: 'correct-pw',
+      ip: '1.1.1.1',
+      userAgent: 'ua',
+    });
+    expect(blocked.kind).toBe('locked');
+    if (blocked.kind === 'locked') {
+      expect(blocked.retryAfterSeconds).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      expect(blocked.retryAfterSeconds).toBeLessThanOrEqual(60);
+    }
+
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).toMatch(/AUTH_LOCKED_ATTEMPT/);
+    // Even though password was correct, no AUTH_SUCCESS for this attempt.
+    const successCount = (log.match(/AUTH_SUCCESS/g) ?? []).length;
+    expect(successCount).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('does NOT call bcrypt when account is locked (short-circuits)', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    // Lock the account.
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+
+    // Locked attempt with constant-time clamp at 50ms — should be roughly clamp duration,
+    // not bcrypt time (250ms+).
+    const start = Date.now();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'correct-pw', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    // Clamp is 50ms; allow generous slack but assert well under bcrypt cost.
+    expect(elapsed).toBeLessThan(150);
+  });
+
+  it('respects loginMinResponseMs clamp on bad_credentials', async () => {
+    config = makeConfig({ logFile, loginMinResponseMs: 200 });
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    const start = Date.now();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    expect(elapsed).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(190);
+  }, 10_000);
+
+  it('successful login between failures resets the counter', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'correct-pw', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    const r = await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'alice', password: 'wrong', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    // After reset, this is failure #1 — well under threshold of 2, so no lock yet.
+    expect(r.kind).toBe('bad_credentials');
+    // No AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED in log.
+    const log = readFileSync(logFile, 'utf-8');
+    expect(log).not.toMatch(/AUTH_LOCKOUT_TRIGGERED/);
+  });
+
+  it('unknown username also accumulates lockout', async () => {
+    const deps = buildDeps();
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'ghost', password: 'x', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'ghost', password: 'x', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    const r = await attemptLogin(deps, { username: 'ghost', password: 'x', ip: '1', userAgent: 'ua' });
+    expect(r.kind).toBe('locked');
+  }, 10_000);
+
+  // Cleanup
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    return () => rmSync(logDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+});