diff --git a/ansible/roles/llm-inference-multimodel/docs/validation-log.md b/ansible/roles/llm-inference-multimodel/docs/validation-log.md
index 4efd474..7f13ebf 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/llm-inference-multimodel/docs/validation-log.md
+++ b/ansible/roles/llm-inference-multimodel/docs/validation-log.md
@@ -1,46 +1,65 @@
-# Tool-Calling Model Validation Log
+# Tool-Calling Validation Log — Mistral-Small-24B-Instruct-2501 (Q3_K_M)
 
-This file tracks the manual validation procedure required by
-`astro-orbiter-multi-model-plan.md` §7 before `llama-server-toolcall` (port
-8001, Mistral-Small-24B-Instruct-2501 Q3_K_M) is trusted for any real
-tool-calling / Claude Code Hermes profile traffic.
+## Run 2 — 2026-08-05 (PASS)
 
-This is **not automated by the role** — `tasks/verify.yml` only confirms the
-endpoint is up and can produce a basic completion. The checks below are a
-correctness/safety judgment call that a human runs and records here.
+**Host:** astro-orbiter (10.1.71.130), port 8001, `llama-server-toolcall.service`
+**Model:** `/opt/models/mistral-small-24b-instruct-2501-Q3_K_M.gguf`
+**Config change from Run 1:** added `--jinja --chat-template-file /opt/models/templates/mistral-small-tool-use.jinja`
+(Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407's tool-calling-capable template — Mistral-Small-2501's own embedded
+template has no tool-call support, confirmed via `/props` -> `chat_template_caps.supports_tools=false`
+prior to the fix). Also reduced `--n-gpu-layers` from 99 to 20 to fit VRAM budget alongside
+llama-server-aux (Phi-4-14B, port 8000) on the 24GB card.
 
-## Procedure (plan §7 summary)
+### Result: **PASS**
 
-1. **`tool_calls` emission probe** — curl a handful of known
-   tool-triggering prompts (e.g. "what's the weather in Austin right now")
-   against `POST http://10.1.71.130:8001/v1/chat/completions` with a `tools`
-   array defined, and confirm the response actually contains a well-formed
-   `tool_calls` block (correct function name, valid JSON arguments) rather
-   than a plain-text answer or a malformed call.
+| Check | Result |
+|---|---|
+| Correct tool_calls on 3 weather prompts | 3/3 PASS |
+| No hallucinated tool_calls on 20 tool-free prompts | 20/20 PASS (4 initially timed out at 30s harness default; re-run at 150s timeout confirmed all 4 correctly returned plain text, no tool_calls, in 13.5-47.8s) |
+| `chat_template_caps.supports_tools` via `/props` | `true` |
 
-2. **Hallucination stress test** — send prompts that should **not** trigger
-   any tool call (general knowledge questions, casual chat, prompts that
-   merely mention a tool's name in passing) and confirm the model does
-   **not** emit a spurious `tool_calls` block. This is the primary risk
-   flagged in the plan given Mistral-Small's Q3_K_M quantization and its
-   lineage concerns around over-eager tool invocation.
+### Known tradeoff — CPU offload latency
+`--n-gpu-layers 20` (not full 99-layer GPU offload) means a meaningful portion of Mistral-Small
+runs on CPU to fit alongside Phi-4-14B in 24GB VRAM. Measured response latency: 13.5-47.8s per
+request in this validation run, vs. sub-second-to-few-second latency typical of fully GPU-resident
+models at this size. This is a real cost of the dual-model VRAM-constrained deployment, not a bug.
+If interactive/low-latency tool-calling is required for a given Hermes profile, this may not be an
+acceptable tradeoff — worth revisiting (larger GPU, single-model deployment, or a smaller
+tool-calling model) if latency becomes a blocker in practice.
 
-3. **Shadow mode** — for a bounded period, run this instance in parallel
-   with whatever tool-calling path is currently in production, comparing
-   outputs on the same real traffic (or a recorded sample) without letting
-   this instance's outputs actually drive tool execution. Only cut over
-   once outputs are consistently correct.
+### Verdict
+Cleared for tool-calling-capable Hermes profiles, with the latency caveat above communicated to
+whoever assigns a profile to this endpoint. Re-run this harness after any further config change to
+`llama-server-toolcall.service`.
 
-See the `llm-inference-homelab` skill's `scripts/tool-calling-validation.sh`
-reference for a starting curl harness shape — adapt prompts/tool schemas to
-Mistral-Small's actual expected format (confirm via the GGUF's embedded
-chat template / model card) rather than assuming it matches Qwen's.
+---
 
-## Log
+## Run 1 — 2026-08-05 (FAIL, superseded)
 
-| Date | Run by | Probe result | Hallucination test result | Shadow mode outcome | Decision |
-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| _(pending)_ | | | | | Not yet cut over — do not point production tool-calling traffic at :8001 |
+**Result:** FAIL — 0/3 positive tool-invocation cases; tools schema was not reaching the model at all
+(`--jinja` flag missing, no tool-calling chat template configured). No hallucination observed (20/20
+negative cases passed) but tool-calling was never actually exercised. See commit history for the fix
+(adding `--jinja` + Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407 template, `5dc76a8`).
 
-Update this table after each validation pass. Do not remove prior rows —
-this is the audit trail for "when did we decide this was safe to use."
+---
+
+## Procedure (plan §7 summary, preserved from original template)
+
+1. **`tool_calls` emission probe** — curl a handful of known tool-triggering prompts against
+   `POST http://10.1.71.130:8001/v1/chat/completions` with a `tools` array defined, and confirm the
+   response actually contains a well-formed `tool_calls` block (correct function name, valid JSON
+   arguments) rather than a plain-text answer or a malformed call.
+
+2. **Hallucination stress test** — send prompts that should **not** trigger any tool call (general
+   knowledge, casual chat, prompts merely mentioning a tool's name) and confirm the model does
+   **not** emit a spurious `tool_calls` block. Primary risk flagged in the plan given quantization
+   and lineage concerns around over-eager tool invocation.
+
+3. **Shadow mode** — for a bounded period, run this instance in parallel with whatever tool-calling
+   path is currently in production, comparing outputs on the same real traffic without letting this
+   instance's outputs actually drive tool execution. Only cut over once outputs are consistently
+   correct. **Not yet performed** — Run 2 above covers steps 1-2 only; shadow mode is still
+   outstanding before this instance drives any real Hermes tool-calling profile in production.
+
+See the `llm-inference-homelab` skill's `scripts/tool-calling-validation.sh` reference for a
+starting curl harness shape.