diff --git a/src/documents/migrations/0017_document_latest_content.py b/src/documents/migrations/0017_document_latest_content.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d6063bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/documents/migrations/0017_document_latest_content.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.12 on 2026-03-31 18:52
+
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("documents", "0016_sha256_checksums"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="document",
+            name="latest_content",
+            field=models.TextField(
+                blank=True,
+                help_text="Materialized effective content for root documents. Uses the latest version content when available.",
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="latest content",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/src/documents/models.py b/src/documents/models.py
index 08f995ff6..fc6e83625 100644
--- a/src/documents/models.py
+++ b/src/documents/models.py
@@ -196,6 +196,16 @@ class Document(SoftDeleteModel, ModelWithOwner):  # type: ignore[django-manager-
         ),
     )
 
+    latest_content = models.TextField(
+        _("latest content"),
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        help_text=_(
+            "Materialized effective content for root documents. "
+            "Uses the latest version content when available.",
+        ),
+    )
+
     content_length = models.GeneratedField(
         expression=Length("content"),
         output_field=PositiveIntegerField(default=0),