diff --git a/docs/CLINICAL_ASSISTANT.md b/docs/CLINICAL_ASSISTANT.md
index ec448696..2ca5d727 100644
--- a/docs/CLINICAL_ASSISTANT.md
+++ b/docs/CLINICAL_ASSISTANT.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ The Clinical Assistant is a retrieval-grounded assistant for pediatric clinical
 ```txt
 User asks a question
   -> browser posts to Ped-AI
-  -> Ped-AI calls MCP `nc_semantic_search`
+  -> Ped-AI calls MCP `clinical_semantic_search`
   -> MCP returns source excerpts and metadata
   -> Ped-AI builds an answer prompt with source constraints
   -> LiteLLM model returns answer text
diff --git a/src/utils/clinicalMcpClient.js b/src/utils/clinicalMcpClient.js
index 3fae5326..c5468030 100644
--- a/src/utils/clinicalMcpClient.js
+++ b/src/utils/clinicalMcpClient.js
@@ -3,13 +3,12 @@ var sleep = require('node:timers/promises').setTimeout;
 
 var MCP_URLS = buildMcpUrls();
 var _lastGoodMcpUrl = MCP_URLS[0];
-// Search tool name is env-driven; invalid values stop the app before any MCP call.
+// The server names this tool clinical_semantic_search. The old nc_ alias is
+// gone from both sides; a stale override would silently retrieve nothing, so it
+// stops the app here rather than at the first search.
 var SEARCH_TOOL_NAME = process.env.CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_SEARCH_TOOL || 'clinical_semantic_search';
-if (SEARCH_TOOL_NAME !== 'clinical_semantic_search' && SEARCH_TOOL_NAME !== 'nc_semantic_search') {
-  throw new Error('CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_SEARCH_TOOL must be clinical_semantic_search or nc_semantic_search');
-}
-if (SEARCH_TOOL_NAME === 'nc_semantic_search') {
-  console.warn('[clinical-mcp] CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_SEARCH_TOOL=nc_semantic_search is deprecated; prefer clinical_semantic_search');
+if (SEARCH_TOOL_NAME !== 'clinical_semantic_search') {
+  throw new Error('CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_SEARCH_TOOL must be clinical_semantic_search (the nc_semantic_search alias was removed)');
 }
 var MCP_INITIALIZE_TIMEOUT_MS = positiveInt(process.env.CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_MCP_INITIALIZE_TIMEOUT_MS, 30000);
 var MCP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = positiveInt(process.env.CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_MCP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS, 90000);