diff --git a/studio/backend/routes/inference.py b/studio/backend/routes/inference.py
index 45982a1fc6..378d36788a 100644
--- a/studio/backend/routes/inference.py
+++ b/studio/backend/routes/inference.py
@@ -3927,6 +3927,7 @@ async def _maybe_auto_download_model(
         if isinstance(path, str)
         else refusal.message
     )
+    _record_refused_request(fastapi_request, requested_model, refusal, current_subject)
     raise HTTPException(
         status_code = refusal.status,
         detail = detail,
@@ -3934,6 +3935,35 @@ async def _maybe_auto_download_model(
     )
 
 
+def _record_refused_request(
+    fastapi_request: Optional[Request],
+    requested_model: str,
+    refusal: Any,
+    current_subject: Optional[str],
+) -> None:
+    """Log the refused call itself, not just the download it is waiting on.
+
+    The refusal replaces the request, so the handler's own ``api_monitor.start``
+    never runs. Only the caller that dispatched a download gets a row from
+    ``record_lifecycle``; anyone refused while it runs left no trace at all, and a
+    download some other caller started carries their attribution, so an API-key
+    client waiting on it never opened the overlay and read as Studio's own traffic.
+    """
+    state = getattr(fastapi_request, "state", None)
+    if getattr(state, "skip_api_monitor", False):
+        return
+    path = getattr(getattr(fastapi_request, "url", None), "path", None)
+    entry_id = api_monitor.start(
+        endpoint = path if isinstance(path, str) else "/v1",
+        method = str(getattr(fastapi_request, "method", "") or "POST"),
+        model = requested_model,
+        prompt = "",
+        subject = current_subject,
+        via_api_key = _request_used_api_key(fastapi_request),
+    )
+    api_monitor.fail(entry_id, refusal.message)
+
+
 def _loaded_satisfies(requested: str) -> bool:
     """Whether what is serving right now actually answers to *requested*.
 
diff --git a/studio/backend/tests/test_openai_auto_download.py b/studio/backend/tests/test_openai_auto_download.py
index 6eb76e3db1..027df84e36 100644
--- a/studio/backend/tests/test_openai_auto_download.py
+++ b/studio/backend/tests/test_openai_auto_download.py
@@ -790,6 +790,43 @@ def test_an_api_key_download_keeps_the_attribution_and_names_its_caller(hub):
     assert all(row["via_api_key"] is False for row in others)
 
 
+def test_an_api_key_caller_waiting_on_someone_elses_download_gets_a_row(hub):
+    """A download started by Studio's own chat is attributed to the session, so an
+    API-key client that asks for the same repo while it runs is refused before the
+    handler's own api_monitor.start. Without a row of its own that call is invisible:
+    the only row is the session's via_api_key=False download, so the overlay stays
+    shut and the monitor presents API traffic as Studio's own."""
+    from fastapi import HTTPException
+    from auth.authentication import API_KEY_PREFIX
+    from core.inference.api_monitor import api_monitor
+
+    api_monitor.clear()
+    with pytest.raises(HTTPException):
+        # Studio's chat (session JWT) starts the download and takes the slot.
+        _hook("unsloth/x-GGUF", _Req(), enabled = True, current_subject = "unsloth")
+    seeded = {row["id"] for row in api_monitor.snapshot(subject = "unsloth")}
+
+    with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as excinfo:
+        # The adopted-download branch: same repo, an sk-unsloth key this time.
+        _hook(
+            "unsloth/x-GGUF",
+            _Req(headers = {"authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY_PREFIX}abc123"}),
+            enabled = True,
+            current_subject = "unsloth",
+        )
+    assert excinfo.value.status_code == 503
+
+    fresh = [e for e in api_monitor.snapshot(subject = "unsloth") if e["id"] not in seeded]
+    # New (so the overlay counts it as unseen traffic) and attributed to this caller.
+    assert [e for e in fresh if e["via_api_key"]], "the refused API-key call left no row"
+    row = next(e for e in fresh if e["via_api_key"])
+    assert row["endpoint"] == "/v1/chat/completions"
+    assert row["status"] == "error"
+    # Shared rows aside, another subject must not inherit the attribution.
+    others = [e for e in api_monitor.snapshot(subject = "someone-else") if e["id"] == row["id"]]
+    assert others == []
+
+
 def test_hook_prefers_the_hub_header_token(hub):
     from fastapi import HTTPException
     from hub.dependencies import HUB_HF_TOKEN_HEADER