diff --git a/docs/branch-review-records/2f102c68fe61b45d4dbfd9b43a1ca1d14a753cf9a1522a6298f9286d8835adfd.record.md b/docs/branch-review-records/2f102c68fe61b45d4dbfd9b43a1ca1d14a753cf9a1522a6298f9286d8835adfd.record.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e3d39922ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/branch-review-records/2f102c68fe61b45d4dbfd9b43a1ca1d14a753cf9a1522a6298f9286d8835adfd.record.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+| 2026-08-16 | codex/chat-search-error-342-search-error-342 | 019281ae9c8a6883737691438feba82117335e14 | PR #2002 universal NDJSON stream error propagation review | Fixed reproducible P2: structured error rejection now cancels an open response body so upstream stream work is released; no P0/P1 findings | Manual adversarial pass; consumer Web Streams harness 4/4; server stream harness 3/3; pre-fix exact-head unit coverage, static checks, SAST and secret scan passed |
diff --git a/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts b/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
index 32d4d1702c..ed17b2a63d 100644
--- a/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/search/universal/route.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function universalStreamResponse(
           enqueue({ type: "complete", response: { ...response, ...decoration } });
           controller.close();
         })
-        .catch((error: unknown) => {
+        .catch(() => {
           if (searchController.signal.aborted) {
             try {
               controller.close();
@@ -104,7 +104,12 @@ function universalStreamResponse(
             }
             return;
           }
-          controller.error(error);
+          // Headers have already been returned, so this failure cannot become a
+          // JSON 500. End the NDJSON protocol with a fixed, non-sensitive error
+          // event instead of erroring the response stream (which Next reports as
+          // an unhandled server request error and can leave consumers waiting).
+          enqueue({ type: "error", code: "universal_search_failed" });
+          controller.close();
         })
         .finally(() => request.signal.removeEventListener("abort", abortFromRequest));
     },
diff --git a/src/lib/universal-search-stream.ts b/src/lib/universal-search-stream.ts
index c3ba49156a..33af25025f 100644
--- a/src/lib/universal-search-stream.ts
+++ b/src/lib/universal-search-stream.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ export type UniversalSearchStreamResponse = UniversalSearchResponse & {
 
 export type UniversalSearchStreamEvent =
   | { type: "group"; query: string; group: UniversalSearchGroup }
-  | { type: "complete"; response: UniversalSearchStreamResponse };
+  | { type: "complete"; response: UniversalSearchStreamResponse }
+  | { type: "error"; code: "universal_search_failed" };
 
 function abortReason(signal: AbortSignal): Error {
   return signal.reason instanceof Error ? signal.reason : new DOMException("The operation was aborted.", "AbortError");
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ function parseEvent(line: string): UniversalSearchStreamEvent {
   if (parsed.type === "complete" && parsed.response) {
     return parsed as Extract<UniversalSearchStreamEvent, { type: "complete" }>;
   }
+  if (parsed.type === "error" && parsed.code === "universal_search_failed") {
+    return parsed as Extract<UniversalSearchStreamEvent, { type: "error" }>;
+  }
   throw new Error("Invalid universal-search NDJSON event.");
 }
 
@@ -52,7 +56,12 @@ export async function consumeUniversalSearchNdjson(
     if (!line.trim()) return;
     const event = parseEvent(line);
     if (event.type === "group") await options.onGroup?.(event.group, event.query);
-    else complete = event.response;
+    else if (event.type === "complete") complete = event.response;
+    else {
+      const error = new Error("Universal search failed.");
+      void reader.cancel(error).catch(() => undefined);
+      throw error;
+    }
   };
 
   try {
diff --git a/tests/universal-search-stream.test.ts b/tests/universal-search-stream.test.ts
index 338be2f889..f4777f19ba 100644
--- a/tests/universal-search-stream.test.ts
+++ b/tests/universal-search-stream.test.ts
@@ -100,4 +100,24 @@ describe("consumeUniversalSearchNdjson", () => {
 
     await expect(consumeUniversalSearchNdjson(response)).rejects.toThrow("complete event");
   });
+
+  it("rejects a redacted server error and cancels the open response body", async () => {
+    const { consumeUniversalSearchNdjson } = await import("../src/lib/universal-search-stream");
+    const cancelled = vi.fn();
+    const response = new Response(
+      new ReadableStream<Uint8Array>({
+        start(controller) {
+          controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(`${JSON.stringify({ type: "error", code: "universal_search_failed" })}\n`));
+        },
+        cancel(reason) {
+          cancelled(reason);
+        },
+      }),
+      { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/x-ndjson; charset=utf-8" } },
+    );
+
+    await expect(consumeUniversalSearchNdjson(response)).rejects.toThrow("Universal search failed.");
+    expect(cancelled).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    expect(cancelled).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ message: "Universal search failed." }));
+  });
 });
diff --git a/tests/universal-search.test.ts b/tests/universal-search.test.ts
index e2f1a79ab5..6d96e0c5a3 100644
--- a/tests/universal-search.test.ts
+++ b/tests/universal-search.test.ts
@@ -789,4 +789,22 @@ describe("GET /api/search/universal (live public/owner path)", () => {
     expect(args.demo).toBe(false);
     expect(args.ownerId).toBe(userId);
   });
+
+  it("ends a rejected NDJSON search with a redacted error event", async () => {
+    const client = createSupabaseMock();
+    const runUniversalSearch = createRunMock();
+    runUniversalSearch.mockRejectedValue(new Error("private dependency failure"));
+    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&stream=ndjson"));
+    const events = (await response.text())
+      .trim()
+      .split("\n")
+      .map((line) => JSON.parse(line) as Record<string, unknown>);
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(events).toEqual([{ type: "error", code: "universal_search_failed" }]);
+    expect(JSON.stringify(events)).not.toContain("private dependency failure");
+  });
 });