diff --git a/src/Frog.test.ts b/src/Frog.test.ts
index 8f7f3fa..14c4988 100644
--- a/src/Frog.test.ts
+++ b/src/Frog.test.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,16 @@ describe('create', () => {
     expect(await frog.logs()).toHaveLength(1)
   })
 
+  test('behavior: does not deduplicate empty or fence-only titles', async () => {
+    const frog = Frog.create({ store: Store.file({ root: await tmpdir() }) })
+    const first = await frog.log({ ...entry, title: '---' })
+    const second = await frog.log({ ...entry, title: '---' })
+
+    expect(second.created).toBe(true)
+    expect(second.entry.id).not.toBe(first.entry.id)
+    expect(await frog.logs()).toHaveLength(2)
+  })
+
   test('behavior: delegates atomic logging to a store that provides it', async () => {
     const log = vi.fn(async () => ({
       created: false,
diff --git a/src/Frog.ts b/src/Frog.ts
index 456a011..ce96fc4 100644
--- a/src/Frog.ts
+++ b/src/Frog.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ async function log(
 ): Promise<Store.LogResult> {
   if (store.log) return store.log(entry, options)
 
-  if (!options.force) {
+  // An empty normalized title (empty or punctuation-only, such as `---`) never deduplicates: every
+  // such entry would otherwise match every other, including the mangled piped entries this guard
+  // exists to contain.
+  if (!options.force && Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title) !== '') {
     const duplicate = (await store.read()).find(
       (candidate) => Entry.normalizeTitle(candidate.title) === Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title),
     )
diff --git a/src/Store.ts b/src/Store.ts
index fa566f3..a335870 100644
--- a/src/Store.ts
+++ b/src/Store.ts
@@ -470,7 +470,10 @@ export function postgres(options: postgres.Options): Store {
     async write(entry, writeOptions = {}) {
       const id = writeOptions.id ?? newPostgresId(entry.title)
       const dedupeKey = `entry:${id}`
-      const titleKey = `title:${Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title)}`
+      // An empty normalized title never takes the shared title key: every punctuation-only
+      // title would otherwise share `title:` and collide.
+      const normalized = Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title)
+      const titleKey = normalized === '' ? dedupeKey : `title:${normalized}`
       await sql`
         INSERT INTO ${table} AS existing(namespace, id, dedupe_key, contents)
         VALUES (${namespace}, ${id}, ${dedupeKey}, ${Entry.serialize(entry)})
@@ -499,9 +502,14 @@ export function postgres(options: postgres.Options): Store {
     },
     async log(entry, logOptions = {}) {
       const id = newPostgresId(entry.title)
+      const normalized = Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title)
+      // An empty normalized title never deduplicates: every punctuation-only title would
+      // otherwise share one key and count as the same friction.
       const dedupeKey = logOptions.force
         ? `forced:${id}`
-        : `title:${Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title)}`
+        : normalized === ''
+          ? `entry:${id}`
+          : `title:${normalized}`
       const result = await sql<PostgresRow[]>`
         INSERT INTO ${table}(namespace, id, dedupe_key, contents)
         VALUES (${namespace}, ${id}, ${dedupeKey}, ${Entry.serialize(entry)})
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/log.ts b/src/cli/commands/log.ts
index 46b0050..c69fe7d 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/log.ts
+++ b/src/cli/commands/log.ts
@@ -244,11 +244,14 @@ export const log = Cli.create('log', {
     if (entries && !entries.ok) return c.error({ code: entries.code, message: entries.message })
 
     // Stores without atomic logging still catch the repeat at authoring time, where it is cheap.
-    const duplicate = entries?.ok
-      ? entries.value.find(
-          (entry) => Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title) === Entry.normalizeTitle(title),
-        )
-      : undefined
+    // An empty normalized title never matches: punctuation-only titles such as `---` all
+    // normalize to the empty string and must not collide with each other.
+    const duplicate =
+      entries?.ok && Entry.normalizeTitle(title) !== ''
+        ? entries.value.find(
+            (entry) => Entry.normalizeTitle(entry.title) === Entry.normalizeTitle(title),
+          )
+        : undefined
     if (duplicate && !c.options.force)
       return c.error({
         code: 'DUPLICATE_FRICTION',
@@ -264,7 +267,10 @@ export const log = Cli.create('log', {
     if (promptedSeverity && !promptedSeverity.ok)
       return c.error({ code: promptedSeverity.code, message: promptedSeverity.message })
 
-    const severity = c.options.severity ?? (promptedSeverity?.ok ? promptedSeverity.value : 'minor')
+    const severity =
+      c.options.severity ??
+      input?.severity ??
+      (promptedSeverity?.ok ? promptedSeverity.value : 'minor')
 
     const logged = await attempt(
       Frog.create({ store }).log(
diff --git a/src/cli/internal/stdin.test.ts b/src/cli/internal/stdin.test.ts
index 7c2c157..69b8518 100644
--- a/src/cli/internal/stdin.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/internal/stdin.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,42 @@ describe('parse', () => {
   test.for(['', '   ', '\n\n\n'])('behavior: %j has no title', (contents) => {
     expect(stdin.parse(contents)).toBeUndefined()
   })
+
+  test('behavior: parses a frontmatter block for title, severity, and body', () => {
+    const contents = [
+      '---',
+      "title: 'Filters ignored'",
+      'severity: major',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      '## Description',
+      '',
+      'The filter was swallowed.',
+      '',
+    ].join('\n')
+    expect(stdin.parse(contents)).toEqual({
+      body: '## Description\n\nThe filter was swallowed.',
+      severity: 'major',
+      title: 'Filters ignored',
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('behavior: a frontmatter block without severity defaults to minor', () => {
+    const contents = ["---", "title: 'Filters ignored'", '---', '', 'Body.'].join('\n')
+    expect(stdin.parse(contents)).toEqual({
+      body: 'Body.',
+      severity: 'minor',
+      title: 'Filters ignored',
+    })
+  })
+
+  test.for([
+    '---\ntitle:\n---\n\nBody.',
+    '---\nseverity: minor\n---\n\nBody.',
+    '---\ntitle: one\n\nBody without a closing fence.',
+  ])('behavior: malformed frontmatter %j has no title', (contents) => {
+    expect(stdin.parse(contents)).toBeUndefined()
+  })
 })
 
 describe('read', () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/internal/stdin.ts b/src/cli/internal/stdin.ts
index 5925018..c2da06d 100644
--- a/src/cli/internal/stdin.ts
+++ b/src/cli/internal/stdin.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs'
 import type { Readable } from 'node:stream'
+import * as Entry from '../../Entry.js'
 
 /** How long to wait for the first byte when it is unclear whether anything is coming. */
 export const grace = 100
@@ -103,20 +104,28 @@ function arriving(stream: Readable, deadline: number): Promise<boolean> {
 }
 
 /**
- * Splits piped input into a title and a body.
+ * Splits piped input into a title, a body, and an optional severity.
  *
  * Shaped like a commit message: the first line is the title, the rest is the body. A caller never has to
  * quote a multi-line string on a command line, where an apostrophe in the body would end the argument.
  *
+ * A complete entry write-up is recognized by its opening fence: when the first non-empty line is `---`,
+ * the title and severity come from the YAML frontmatter block and the body is the Markdown after the
+ * closing fence. Malformed frontmatter yields nothing rather than a `---` title that would poison
+ * later duplicate detection.
+ *
  * @param contents - Piped input.
- * @returns The title and body, or `undefined` when there is no title to take.
+ * @returns The title, body, and frontmatter severity when present, or `undefined` when there is no
+ * title to take.
  */
-export function parse(contents: string): { body: string; title: string } | undefined {
+export function parse(contents: string): parse.Result | undefined {
   const lines = contents.replace(/\r\n/g, '\n').split('\n')
 
   const start = lines.findIndex((line) => line.trim())
   if (start === -1) return undefined
 
+  if (lines[start]?.trim() === '---') return parseFrontmatter(lines.slice(start))
+
   const title = lines[start]?.trim()
   if (!title) return undefined
 
@@ -128,3 +137,31 @@ export function parse(contents: string): { body: string; title: string } | undef
     title,
   }
 }
+
+export declare namespace parse {
+  /** Piped entry: commit-message title and body, plus frontmatter severity when piped as a file. */
+  type Result = {
+    /** Markdown body: everything after the title, or after the frontmatter block. */
+    body: string
+    /** Frontmatter severity. Absent for the commit-message shape; the caller defaults it. */
+    severity?: Entry.Severity | undefined
+    /** One line, specific enough to search for. */
+    title: string
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parses piped input that starts with a YAML frontmatter fence.
+ *
+ * @param lines - Piped lines starting at the opening `---`.
+ * @returns The frontmatter title, severity, and Markdown body, or `undefined` when the block is
+ * malformed or names no title.
+ */
+function parseFrontmatter(lines: readonly string[]): parse.Result | undefined {
+  try {
+    const parsed = Entry.parse(lines.join('\n'), { id: 'piped' })
+    return { body: parsed.body, severity: parsed.severity, title: parsed.title }
+  } catch {
+    return undefined
+  }
+}