Backend changes and migration for remote OCR Config

src/paperless/config.py

@@ -185,6 +185,30 @@ class GeneralConfig(BaseConfig):
         self.app_logo = app_config.app_logo.url if app_config.app_logo else None
 
 
+@dataclasses.dataclass
+class RemoteOCRConfig(BaseConfig):
+    """
+    Settings for the remote (cloud) OCR parser
+    """
+
+    remote_ocr_engine: str | None = dataclasses.field(init=False)
+    remote_ocr_api_key: str | None = dataclasses.field(init=False)
+    remote_ocr_endpoint: str | None = dataclasses.field(init=False)
+
+    def __post_init__(self) -> None:
+        app_config = self._get_config_instance()
+
+        self.remote_ocr_engine = (
+            app_config.remote_ocr_engine or settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE
+        )
+        self.remote_ocr_api_key = (
+            app_config.remote_ocr_api_key or settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY
+        )
+        self.remote_ocr_endpoint = (
+            app_config.remote_ocr_endpoint or settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT
+        )
+
+
 @dataclasses.dataclass
 class AIConfig(BaseConfig):
     """

src/paperless/migrations/0014_applicationconfiguration_remote_ocr_api_key_and_more.py

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.16 on 2026-08-10 14:37
+
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("paperless", "0013_applicationconfiguration_llm_request_timeout"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="applicationconfiguration",
+            name="remote_ocr_api_key",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                max_length=1024,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="Sets the remote OCR API key",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="applicationconfiguration",
+            name="remote_ocr_endpoint",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                max_length=256,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="Sets the remote OCR endpoint",
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="applicationconfiguration",
+            name="remote_ocr_engine",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[("azureai", "Azure AI Document Intelligence")],
+                max_length=32,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="Sets the remote OCR engine",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]

src/paperless/models.py

@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ class ColorConvertChoices(models.TextChoices):
     CMYK = ("CMYK", _("CMYK"))
 
 
+class RemoteOCREngine(models.TextChoices):
+    """
+    Matches to PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE
+    """
+
+    AZURE_AI = ("azureai", _("Azure AI Document Intelligence"))
+
+
 class LLMEmbeddingBackend(models.TextChoices):
     OPENAI_LIKE = ("openai-like", _("OpenAI-compatible"))
     HUGGINGFACE = ("huggingface", _("Huggingface"))
@@ -286,6 +294,35 @@ class ApplicationConfiguration(AbstractSingletonModel):
         null=True,
     )
 
+    """
+    Settings for the remote OCR parser
+    """
+
+    # PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE
+    remote_ocr_engine = models.CharField(
+        verbose_name=_("Sets the remote OCR engine"),
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        max_length=32,
+        choices=RemoteOCREngine.choices,
+    )
+
+    # PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY
+    remote_ocr_api_key = models.CharField(
+        verbose_name=_("Sets the remote OCR API key"),
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        max_length=1024,
+    )
+
+    # PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT
+    remote_ocr_endpoint = models.CharField(
+        verbose_name=_("Sets the remote OCR endpoint"),
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        max_length=256,
+    )
+
     """
     AI related settings
     """

src/paperless/parsers/remote.py

@@ -57,6 +57,18 @@ class RemoteEngineConfig:
         self.api_key = api_key
         self.endpoint = endpoint
 
+    @classmethod
+    def from_app_config(cls) -> Self:
+        """Build the config from the app config, falling back to the env."""
+        from paperless.config import RemoteOCRConfig
+
+        app_config = RemoteOCRConfig()
+        return cls(
+            engine=app_config.remote_ocr_engine,
+            api_key=app_config.remote_ocr_api_key,
+            endpoint=app_config.remote_ocr_endpoint,
+        )
+
     def engine_is_valid(self) -> bool:
         """Return True when the engine is known and fully configured."""
         return (
@@ -138,11 +150,7 @@ class RemoteDocumentParser:
             20 when the remote engine is configured and the MIME type is
             supported, otherwise None.
         """
-        config = RemoteEngineConfig(
-            engine=settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE,
-            api_key=settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY,
-            endpoint=settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT,
-        )
+        config = RemoteEngineConfig.from_app_config()
         if not config.engine_is_valid():
             return None
         if mime_type not in _SUPPORTED_MIME_TYPES:
@@ -228,11 +236,7 @@ class RemoteDocumentParser:
             Ignored — the remote engine always returns a searchable PDF,
             which is stored as the archive copy regardless of this flag.
         """
-        config = RemoteEngineConfig(
-            engine=settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE,
-            api_key=settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY,
-            endpoint=settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT,
-        )
+        config = RemoteEngineConfig.from_app_config()
 
         if not config.engine_is_valid():
             logger.warning(

src/paperless/serialisers.py

@@ -219,6 +219,13 @@ class ApplicationConfigurationSerializer(
         allow_null=True,
         max_length=1024,
     )
+    remote_ocr_api_key = ObfuscatedPasswordField(
+        required=False,
+        allow_null=True,
+        max_length=1024,
+    )
+
+    OBFUSCATED_FIELDS = ("llm_api_key", "remote_ocr_api_key")
 
     def run_validation(self, data):
         # Empty strings treated as None to avoid unexpected behavior
@@ -230,11 +237,13 @@ class ApplicationConfigurationSerializer(
             data["language"] = None
         if "llm_output_language" in data and data["llm_output_language"] == "":
             data["llm_output_language"] = None
-        if "llm_api_key" in data and data["llm_api_key"] is not None:
-            if data["llm_api_key"] == "":
-                data["llm_api_key"] = None
-            elif len(data["llm_api_key"].replace("*", "")) == 0:
-                del data["llm_api_key"]
+        for field in self.OBFUSCATED_FIELDS:
+            if field in data and data[field] is not None:
+                if data[field] == "":
+                    data[field] = None
+                # Not a real value, don't overwrite the stored one
+                elif len(data[field].replace("*", "")) == 0:
+                    del data[field]
         return super().run_validation(data)
 
     def update(self, instance, validated_data):