diff --git a/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts b/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
index 210cd1bf3..d48b650d8 100644
--- a/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import {
 } from "@/lib/api-rate-limit";
 import { isDemoMode, isLocalNoAuthMode } from "@/lib/env";
 import { jsonError } from "@/lib/http";
-import { publicAccessContext, shouldResolvePublicCatalogAccess } from "@/lib/public-api-access";
+import { publicAccessContext } from "@/lib/public-api-access";
 import { createAdminClient } from "@/lib/supabase/admin";
 import { AuthenticationError, unauthorizedResponse } from "@/lib/supabase/auth";
 import { runUniversalSearch, universalSearchDomains, type UniversalSearchDomain } from "@/lib/universal-search";
@@ -17,8 +17,13 @@ import { parseRequestQuery, queryInteger } from "@/lib/validation/query";
 export const runtime = "nodejs";
 
 // Typeahead-friendly GET: cross-entity federated search over documents + the registry
-// catalogues. Access ladder mirrors /api/registry/records — demo/local serves fixtures,
-// unauthenticated public serves the public catalogues, owners get their seeded records.
+// catalogues. Only an explicit demo/local deploy serves synthetic fixtures. Unlike the pure
+// registry routes (which can short-circuit unauthenticated callers to an in-bundle catalogue),
+// the documents domain must reach the live retrieval pipeline, so every non-demo caller runs the
+// real search: anonymous callers are scoped to the public corpus (ownerId undefined ->
+// allowGlobalSearch) and rate limited, and owners get their own records. Serving demo documents
+// to live public callers here previously leaked the synthetic corpus (see runUniversalSearch demo
+// path); it must never be reachable in production.
 const universalSearchQuerySchema = z.object({
   q: z.string().trim().min(2).max(200),
   limit: queryInteger({ fallback: 5, min: 1, max: 10 }),
@@ -49,11 +54,6 @@ export async function GET(request: Request) {
       return universalResponse({ ...payload, demoMode: true });
     }
 
-    if (!shouldResolvePublicCatalogAccess(request)) {
-      const payload = await runUniversalSearch({ query: q, limitPerDomain: limit, domains, demo: true });
-      return universalResponse({ ...payload, publicAccess: true });
-    }
-
     const supabase = createAdminClient();
     const access = await publicAccessContext(request, supabase);
 
@@ -67,11 +67,9 @@ export async function GET(request: Request) {
       return rateLimitJsonResponse("Universal search requests are rate limited. Try again shortly.", rateLimit);
     }
 
-    if (!access.ownerId) {
-      const payload = await runUniversalSearch({ query: q, limitPerDomain: limit, domains, demo: true });
-      return universalResponse({ ...payload, publicAccess: true });
-    }
-
+    // demo:false + supabase always run the live pipeline. An anonymous caller (ownerId
+    // undefined) is scoped to the public corpus via allowGlobalSearch and the real default
+    // catalogues — never the synthetic demo fixtures.
     const payload = await runUniversalSearch({
       query: q,
       limitPerDomain: limit,
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ export async function GET(request: Request) {
       ownerId: access.ownerId,
       demo: false,
     });
-    return universalResponse(payload);
+    return universalResponse(access.ownerId ? payload : { ...payload, publicAccess: true });
   } catch (error) {
     if (error instanceof AuthenticationError) {
       return unauthorizedResponse();
diff --git a/tests/universal-search.test.ts b/tests/universal-search.test.ts
index abba267d8..d7bfab3ba 100644
--- a/tests/universal-search.test.ts
+++ b/tests/universal-search.test.ts
@@ -199,3 +199,120 @@ describe("runUniversalSearch (query intelligence & ranking)", () => {
     expect(expanded.some((match) => match.medication.name.toLowerCase() === "clozapine")).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+// Regression guard: outside an explicit demo/local deploy, no caller — including an anonymous,
+// no-cookie live visitor — may be served the synthetic demo corpus. The documents domain must
+// reach the real retrieval pipeline (demo:false + supabase), scoped to the public corpus for
+// anonymous callers, and the anonymous path must be rate limited.
+describe("GET /api/search/universal (live public/owner path)", () => {
+  const userId = "11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111";
+  const token = "session-token";
+
+  type RunArgs = { demo: boolean; ownerId?: string; supabase?: unknown };
+  const createRunMock = () =>
+    vi.fn<(args: RunArgs) => Promise<{ query: string; groups: unknown[]; tookMs: number }>>(async () => ({
+      query: "clozapine",
+      groups: [],
+      tookMs: 1,
+    }));
+
+  function createSupabaseMock(options: { limited?: boolean } = {}) {
+    const rpc = vi.fn(async () => ({
+      data: [
+        {
+          limited: Boolean(options.limited),
+          limit_value: 120,
+          remaining: options.limited ? 0 : 119,
+          retry_after_seconds: 60,
+          reset_at: new Date(Date.now() + 60_000).toISOString(),
+        },
+      ],
+      error: null,
+    }));
+    const getUser = vi.fn(async (receivedToken?: string) =>
+      receivedToken === token
+        ? { data: { user: { id: userId } }, error: null }
+        : { data: { user: null }, error: { message: "Invalid token" } },
+    );
+    return { rpc, auth: { getUser } };
+  }
+
+  function mockRuntime(
+    client: ReturnType<typeof createSupabaseMock>,
+    runUniversalSearch: ReturnType<typeof createRunMock>,
+  ) {
+    // env:{} keeps isDemoMode false (forcing the live path) while leaving the Supabase public
+    // keys unset, so the cookie-session probe resolves anonymous without a network call.
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/env", () => ({
+      env: {},
+      isDemoMode: () => false,
+      isLocalNoAuthMode: () => false,
+      requireOpenAIEnv: () => undefined,
+      requireServerEnv: () => undefined,
+    }));
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/supabase/admin", () => ({ createAdminClient: () => client }));
+    // Replace only the entrypoint; the schema still needs the real domain list.
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/universal-search", () => ({
+      runUniversalSearch,
+      universalSearchDomains: ["documents", "medications", "services", "forms", "differentials", "tools"],
+    }));
+  }
+
+  it("runs the REAL public pipeline (never demo fixtures) for an unauthenticated live request", async () => {
+    const client = createSupabaseMock();
+    const runUniversalSearch = createRunMock();
+    mockRuntime(client, runUniversalSearch);
+    const { GET } = await import("../src/app/api/search/universal/route");
+
+    const response = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/search/universal?q=clozapine"));
+    const payload = (await response.json()) as { demoMode?: boolean; publicAccess?: boolean };
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    // The anonymous public view is flagged; demo is NOT — the synthetic corpus must not leak.
+    expect(payload.publicAccess).toBe(true);
+    expect(payload.demoMode).toBeUndefined();
+    // The live pipeline is invoked with demo:false + a supabase client and no ownerId, so the
+    // documents domain runs allowGlobalSearch against the real public corpus.
+    expect(runUniversalSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const args = runUniversalSearch.mock.calls[0]![0];
+    expect(args.demo).toBe(false);
+    expect(args.ownerId).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(args.supabase).toBeDefined();
+    // The anonymous path is now rate limited (it previously short-circuited before any limit).
+    expect(client.rpc).toHaveBeenCalledWith("consume_api_subject_rate_limit", expect.anything());
+  });
+
+  it("rate limits the anonymous universal-search path instead of leaving it unthrottled", async () => {
+    const client = createSupabaseMock({ limited: true });
+    const runUniversalSearch = createRunMock();
+    mockRuntime(client, runUniversalSearch);
+    const { GET } = await import("../src/app/api/search/universal/route");
+
+    const response = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/search/universal?q=clozapine"));
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(429);
+    // A throttled request must never fall through to any search pipeline.
+    expect(runUniversalSearch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("serves an authenticated owner their own records with demo:false and no public flag", async () => {
+    const client = createSupabaseMock();
+    const runUniversalSearch = createRunMock();
+    mockRuntime(client, runUniversalSearch);
+    const { GET } = await import("../src/app/api/search/universal/route");
+
+    const response = await GET(
+      new Request("http://localhost/api/search/universal?q=clozapine", {
+        headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
+      }),
+    );
+    const payload = (await response.json()) as { demoMode?: boolean; publicAccess?: boolean };
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(payload.publicAccess).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(payload.demoMode).toBeUndefined();
+    const args = runUniversalSearch.mock.calls[0]![0];
+    expect(args.demo).toBe(false);
+    expect(args.ownerId).toBe(userId);
+  });
+});