diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d405b36e..1d60ff66 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ All notable changes to vouch are documented here. Format follows
   in config.yaml (#476).
 
 ### Fixed
+- `propose-claim`, `propose-relation`, and `propose-entity` now validate
+  the payload against the Claim/Relation/Entity model at propose time
+  instead of only at approve. an out-of-range `--confidence` or an
+  invalid entity/relation type used to file a proposal that could never
+  pass `approve()`, sitting stuck in the pending queue with no clear way
+  to fix it; it is now rejected immediately with the same error message
+  approve would have raised.
 - approve/reject/expire record the audit event *before* moving the
   proposal to decided/. a crash between the two used to leave a durable
   decision with no authoritative history; it now leaves a pending
diff --git a/src/vouch/proposals.py b/src/vouch/proposals.py
index ef90cbad..131d9ddb 100644
--- a/src/vouch/proposals.py
+++ b/src/vouch/proposals.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def propose_claim(
                 raise ProposalError(f"unknown source/evidence id: {eid}") from e
     claim_id = slug_hint or _slugify(text)
     claim_text = text.strip()
-    payload = {
+    payload: dict[str, Any] = {
         "id": claim_id,
         "text": claim_text,
         "type": claim_type,
@@ -140,6 +140,16 @@ def propose_claim(
         "entities": entities or [],
         "tags": tags or [],
     }
+    # Validate against the Claim model itself (same check approve()'s
+    # Claim(**payload) construction and the batch precheck in
+    # _payload_block_reason both already perform) so an out-of-range
+    # confidence or other model-level constraint violation is rejected here,
+    # at propose time, rather than filing a proposal that can never pass
+    # approve() and sits stuck in the pending queue until someone notices.
+    try:
+        Claim(**payload)
+    except (ValidationError, TypeError) as e:
+        raise ProposalError(f"invalid claim payload: {e}") from e
     exclude_claim: str | None = None
     if (store.kb_dir / "claims" / f"{claim_id}.yaml").exists():
         exclude_claim = claim_id
@@ -291,13 +301,23 @@ def propose_entity(
 ) -> Proposal:
     if not name.strip():
         raise ProposalError("entity name is empty")
-    payload = {
+    payload: dict[str, Any] = {
         "id": slug_hint or _slugify(name),
         "name": name.strip(),
         "type": entity_type,
         "aliases": aliases or [],
         "description": description,
     }
+    # Validate against the Entity model itself (same check approve()'s
+    # Entity(**payload) construction and the batch precheck in
+    # _payload_block_reason both already perform) so an invalid entity type
+    # is rejected here, at propose time, rather than filing a proposal that
+    # can never pass approve() and sits stuck in the pending queue until
+    # someone notices.
+    try:
+        Entity(**payload)
+    except (ValidationError, TypeError) as e:
+        raise ProposalError(f"invalid entity payload: {e}") from e
     return _file_proposal(
         store, kind=ProposalKind.ENTITY, payload=payload,
         proposed_by=proposed_by, session_id=session_id,
@@ -346,7 +366,7 @@ def propose_relation(
                     f"unknown source/evidence id: {eid}"
                 ) from e
     rid = f"{src}--{relation}--{target}"
-    payload = {
+    payload: dict[str, Any] = {
         "id": _slugify(rid),
         "source": src,
         "relation": relation,
@@ -354,6 +374,16 @@ def propose_relation(
         "confidence": confidence,
         "evidence": evidence or [],
     }
+    # Validate against the Relation model itself (same check approve()'s
+    # Relation(**payload) construction and the batch precheck in
+    # _payload_block_reason both already perform) so an out-of-range
+    # confidence or an invalid relation type is rejected here, at propose
+    # time, rather than filing a proposal that can never pass approve() and
+    # sits stuck in the pending queue until someone notices.
+    try:
+        Relation(**payload)
+    except (ValidationError, TypeError) as e:
+        raise ProposalError(f"invalid relation payload: {e}") from e
     return _file_proposal(
         store, kind=ProposalKind.RELATION, payload=payload,
         proposed_by=proposed_by, session_id=session_id,
diff --git a/tests/test_proposals.py b/tests/test_proposals.py
index 1665b718..5b9f02a9 100644
--- a/tests/test_proposals.py
+++ b/tests/test_proposals.py
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from vouch.proposals import propose_quoted_claim
+from vouch.proposals import (
+    ProposalError,
+    propose_claim,
+    propose_entity,
+    propose_quoted_claim,
+    propose_relation,
+)
 from vouch.receipts import ReceiptStatus, verify_evidence
 from vouch.storage import KBStore
 
@@ -60,3 +66,67 @@ def test_propose_quoted_claim_is_idempotent_on_repeated_span(store: KBStore) ->
     assert first is not None and second is not None
     # the span was stored once; both claims cite the same evidence
     assert len(store.list_evidence()) == 1
+
+
+# propose-time model validation: an out-of-range confidence (or other
+# model-level constraint violation) must be rejected at propose time, not
+# filed as a proposal that can never pass approve() and sits stuck in the
+# pending queue. Regression for the gap where propose_claim/propose_relation/
+# propose_entity built their payload dict and handed it straight to
+# _file_proposal with no check against the Claim/Relation/Entity model's own
+# Field(ge=0.0, le=1.0) / enum constraints -- approve() (via Claim(**payload)
+# etc.) was the only place that ever caught it, too late to give the
+# proposer a usable error and too late to keep the pending queue clean.
+
+
+def test_propose_claim_rejects_out_of_range_confidence(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    src = store.put_source(b"evidence text", title="t")
+    with pytest.raises(ProposalError, match="invalid claim payload"):
+        propose_claim(
+            store,
+            text="a claim with an impossible confidence",
+            evidence=[src.id],
+            proposed_by="tester",
+            confidence=1.5,
+        )
+    # nothing was filed -- the pending queue stays clean
+    assert store.list_proposals() == []
+
+
+def test_propose_claim_rejects_negative_confidence(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    src = store.put_source(b"evidence text", title="t")
+    with pytest.raises(ProposalError, match="invalid claim payload"):
+        propose_claim(
+            store,
+            text="a claim with a negative confidence",
+            evidence=[src.id],
+            proposed_by="tester",
+            confidence=-0.5,
+        )
+    assert store.list_proposals() == []
+
+
+def test_propose_relation_rejects_out_of_range_confidence(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    a = store.put_source(b"endpoint a", title="a")
+    b = store.put_source(b"endpoint b", title="b")
+    with pytest.raises(ProposalError, match="invalid relation payload"):
+        propose_relation(
+            store,
+            src=a.id,
+            relation="references",
+            target=b.id,
+            proposed_by="tester",
+            confidence=2.0,
+        )
+    assert store.list_proposals() == []
+
+
+def test_propose_entity_rejects_invalid_type(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(ProposalError, match="invalid entity payload"):
+        propose_entity(
+            store,
+            name="a thing",
+            entity_type="not-a-real-entity-type",
+            proposed_by="tester",
+        )
+    assert store.list_proposals() == []