diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md
index f5cd100..aa8b7d4 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide.md
@@ -207,6 +207,12 @@ Run `get_corpus_readiness` to distinguish a service problem from a valid empty
 result. Connection errors identify the configured API origin without
 including access tokens.
 
+Readiness compares the code index with the API's code-search catalog checkpoint.
+The broader corpus checkpoint can advance after enrichment without changing code
+content. A difference from that broader checkpoint does not establish an index
+problem. If the catalog checkpoint is absent, the brief makes no checkpoint
+comparison and preserves the API's reported subsystem status.
+
 ### A page cursor is rejected
 
 Repeat the same tool with the same query, filters, sort, and limit. Copy
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c8bdc6c..fe82c13 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "eip-mcp"
-version = "3.0.1"
+version = "3.0.2"
 description = "MCP server for the Exploit Intelligence Platform v3 research API"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
diff --git a/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_common.py b/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_common.py
index fcf997c..09b6317 100644
--- a/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_common.py
+++ b/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_common.py
@@ -21,11 +21,9 @@
     "alone."
 )
 
-INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS = (
-    "This checkpoint differs from the corpus source checkpoint above: the index "
-    "was built from a different snapshot, so a code-search result may omit "
-    "artifacts the rest of this server can see. EIP states the difference and "
-    "makes no claim about which is newer."
+INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH = (
+    "The index checkpoint differs from the API's code-search catalog checkpoint. "
+    "Code search is not aligned with the current catalog."
 )
 
 UNDATED_TOTALS = (
diff --git a/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_system.py b/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_system.py
index f93c37c..dc6d393 100644
--- a/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_system.py
+++ b/src/eip_mcp_v3/format_system.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     _FILE_LIMIT,
     _POINT_LIMIT,
     _SERIES_LIMIT,
-    INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS,
+    INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH,
     MANIFEST_UNREACHABLE,
     UNDATED_TOTALS,
     VIEWABILITY_POLICY,
@@ -195,18 +195,18 @@ def format_readiness(data: dict[str, Any]) -> str:
     built_at = inline(data.get("code_search_built_at"), max_len=40)
     if built_at:
         lines.append(f"- Index built at: {built_at}")
-    # The one field that says *what* the index was built from. `code_search_status:
-    # ready` is subsystem health - an index built from a stale checkpoint reports
-    # `ready` exactly like a current one, and this page's own tool description
-    # promises it distinguishes an empty result from a degraded index. Without the
-    # checkpoint the two build times sit side by side with nothing reconciling them,
-    # and an empty `search_exploit_code` result reads as corpus absence.
+    # Optional enrichment can advance the corpus checkpoint without changing the
+    # code catalog. Only the catalog checkpoint is comparable to the index.
     index_checkpoint = inline(data.get("code_search_checkpoint_sha256"), max_len=88)
     if index_checkpoint:
         lines.append(f"- Index checkpoint: {index_checkpoint}")
-        source_checkpoint = inline(data.get("source_checkpoint_sha256"), max_len=88)
-        if source_checkpoint and source_checkpoint != index_checkpoint:
-            lines.append(f"- {INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS}")
+    catalog_checkpoint = inline(data.get("code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256"), max_len=88)
+    if catalog_checkpoint:
+        lines.append(f"- Catalog checkpoint: {catalog_checkpoint}")
+        if index_checkpoint and data["code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256"] != data.get(
+            "code_search_checkpoint_sha256"
+        ):
+            lines.append(f"- {INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH}")
     for label, key in (
         ("Artifacts indexed", "code_search_artifact_count"),
         ("Files indexed", "code_search_file_count"),
diff --git a/tests/test_format_vulnerability.py b/tests/test_format_vulnerability.py
index 16c9609..bc72552 100644
--- a/tests/test_format_vulnerability.py
+++ b/tests/test_format_vulnerability.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 import eip_mcp_v3.format as fmt
 from eip_mcp_v3.format import SOURCE_DATE_RULE, VULN_SECTIONS, format_vulnerability
-from eip_mcp_v3.format_common import INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS
+from eip_mcp_v3.format_common import INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH
 from eip_mcp_v3.format_system import format_readiness, format_statistics
 from eip_mcp_v3.text import UNTRUSTED_NOTE
 
@@ -2048,34 +2048,57 @@ def test_a_dated_trend_page_does_not_carry_the_undated_notice():
     assert "2026-08-04" in page
 
 
-# `code_search_status: ready` is subsystem health, not freshness. An index built
-# from an older checkpoint reports ready exactly like a current one, and an empty
-# code-search result then reads as corpus absence.
-def test_readiness_states_the_checkpoint_the_index_was_built_from():
+def test_readiness_compares_catalog_even_when_enrichment_changes_corpus():
     page = format_readiness(
         {
             "status": "ready",
             "source_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:aaa",
             "code_search_status": "ready",
-            "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:aaa",
+            "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:bbb",
+            "code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:bbb",
         }
     )
     assert "Index checkpoint" in page
-    assert INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS not in page
+    assert "Catalog checkpoint" in page
+    assert INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH not in page
 
 
-def test_readiness_flags_an_index_built_from_a_different_snapshot():
+def test_readiness_flags_a_catalog_mismatch_even_when_corpus_matches_index():
     page = format_readiness(
         {
             "status": "ready",
             "source_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:aaa",
             "code_search_status": "ready",
-            "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:bbb",
+            "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:aaa",
+            "code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:bbb",
         }
     )
-    assert INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS in page
-    # EIP must not say which snapshot is newer; it has no basis for that.
-    assert "newer" in INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS and "makes no claim" in INDEX_BEHIND_CORPUS
+    assert INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH in page
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "missing", ["code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256", "code_search_checkpoint_sha256"]
+)
+def test_readiness_does_not_infer_alignment_from_missing_checkpoints(missing):
+    data = {
+        "source_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:aaa",
+        "code_search_status": "unavailable",
+        "code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:bbb",
+        "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "sha256:ccc",
+    }
+    del data[missing]
+    page = format_readiness(data)
+    assert INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH not in page
+    assert "fail closed" in page
+
+
+def test_readiness_compares_full_checkpoint_values_before_display_truncation():
+    data = {
+        "code_search_status": "ready",
+        "code_search_catalog_checkpoint_sha256": "x" * 100 + "a",
+        "code_search_checkpoint_sha256": "x" * 100 + "b",
+    }
+    assert INDEX_CATALOG_MISMATCH in format_readiness(data)
 
 
 # SSVC was the only line under `## Exploitation context` rendered with no source