Great, now use latest_content for reading/filtering

src/documents/consumer.py

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ from documents.utils import compute_checksum
 from documents.utils import copy_basic_file_stats
 from documents.utils import copy_file_with_basic_stats
 from documents.utils import run_subprocess
+from documents.versioning import sync_root_latest_content
 from paperless.parsers import ParserContext
 from paperless.parsers import ParserProtocol
 from paperless.parsers.registry import get_parser_registry
@@ -538,6 +539,8 @@ class ConsumerPlugin(
                             else:
                                 original_document.save()
 
+                            sync_root_latest_content(root_doc)
+
                             # Create a log entry for the version addition, if enabled
                             if settings.AUDIT_LOG_ENABLED:
                                 from auditlog.models import (  # type: ignore[import-untyped]

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",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]

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),
@@ -375,27 +385,7 @@ class Document(SoftDeleteModel, ModelWithOwner):  # type: ignore[django-manager-
         if self.root_document_id is not None or self.pk is None:
             return self.content
 
-        prefetched_cache = getattr(self, "_prefetched_objects_cache", None)
-        prefetched_versions = (
-            prefetched_cache.get("versions")
-            if isinstance(prefetched_cache, dict)
-            else None
-        )
-        if prefetched_versions:
-            latest_prefetched = max(prefetched_versions, key=lambda doc: doc.id)
-            return latest_prefetched.content
-
-        latest_version_content = (
-            Document.objects.filter(root_document=self)
-            .order_by("-id")
-            .values_list("content", flat=True)
-            .first()
-        )
-        return (
-            latest_version_content
-            if latest_version_content is not None
-            else self.content
-        )
+        return self.latest_content if self.latest_content is not None else self.content
 
     @property
     def suggestion_content(self):

src/documents/tests/test_api_document_versions.py

@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="v2-content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = v2.content
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         with (
             mock.patch("documents.index.remove_document_from_index"),
@@ -148,6 +150,7 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         self.assertEqual(resp.data["current_version_id"], v1.id)
         root.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertEqual(root.content, "root-content")
+        self.assertEqual(root.latest_content, "v1-content")
 
         with (
             mock.patch("documents.index.remove_document_from_index"),
@@ -160,6 +163,7 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         self.assertEqual(resp.data["current_version_id"], root.id)
         root.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertEqual(root.content, "root-content")
+        self.assertIsNone(root.latest_content)
 
     def test_delete_version_writes_audit_log_entry(self) -> None:
         root = Document.objects.create(
@@ -695,6 +699,7 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         v2.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertEqual(v2.content, "edited-content")
         self.assertEqual(root.content, "root-content")
+        self.assertEqual(root.latest_content, "edited-content")
         self.assertEqual(v1.content, "v1-content")
 
     def test_patch_content_updates_selected_version_content(self) -> None:
@@ -718,6 +723,8 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="v2-content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = v2.content
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         resp = self.client.patch(
             f"/api/documents/{root.id}/?version={v1.id}",
@@ -733,6 +740,28 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         self.assertEqual(v1.content, "edited-v1")
         self.assertEqual(v2.content, "v2-content")
         self.assertEqual(root.content, "root-content")
+        self.assertEqual(root.latest_content, "v2-content")
+
+    def test_patch_root_content_without_versions_keeps_latest_content_null(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        root = Document.objects.create(
+            title="root",
+            checksum="root",
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+            content="root-content",
+        )
+
+        resp = self.client.patch(
+            f"/api/documents/{root.id}/",
+            {"content": "edited-root"},
+            format="json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        root.refresh_from_db()
+        self.assertEqual(root.content, "edited-root")
+        self.assertIsNone(root.latest_content)
 
     def test_retrieve_returns_latest_version_content(self) -> None:
         root = Document.objects.create(
@@ -748,6 +777,8 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="v1-content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = "v1-content"
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         resp = self.client.get(f"/api/documents/{root.id}/")
 
@@ -768,6 +799,8 @@ class TestDocumentVersioningApi(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="v1-content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = v1.content
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         resp = self.client.get(f"/api/documents/{root.id}/?version={v1.id}")
 

src/documents/tests/test_api_documents.py

@@ -1356,6 +1356,8 @@ class TestDocumentApi(DirectoriesMixin, DocumentConsumeDelayMixin, APITestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="latest-version-content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = version.content
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         response = self.client.get(
             "/api/documents/?content__icontains=latest-version-content",

src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py

@@ -785,11 +785,13 @@ class TestConsumer(
         version = versions.first()
         assert version is not None
         assert version.original_filename is not None
+        root_doc.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertEqual(version.version_index, 1)
         self.assertEqual(version.version_label, "v2")
         self.assertIsNone(version.archive_serial_number)
         self.assertEqual(version.original_filename, version_file.name)
         self.assertTrue(bool(version.content))
+        self.assertEqual(root_doc.latest_content, version.content)
 
     @override_settings(AUDIT_LOG_ENABLED=True)
     @mock.patch("documents.consumer.load_classifier")

src/documents/tests/test_document_model.py

@@ -172,6 +172,8 @@ class TestDocument(TestCase):
             root_document=root,
             content="latest version content",
         )
+        root.latest_content = version.content
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
 
         self.assertEqual(root.suggestion_content, version.content)
 

src/documents/tests/test_matchables.py

@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ class TestMatching(_TestMatchingBase):
             root_document=root,
             content="latest version contains keyword",
         )
+        root.latest_content = "latest version contains keyword"
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
         tag = Tag.objects.create(
             name="tag",
             match="keyword",
@@ -86,6 +88,8 @@ class TestMatching(_TestMatchingBase):
             root_document=root,
             content="latest version without token",
         )
+        root.latest_content = "latest version without token"
+        root.save(update_fields=["latest_content"])
         tag = Tag.objects.create(
             name="tag",
             match="keyword",

src/documents/versioning.py

@@ -55,6 +55,23 @@ def get_latest_version_for_root(
     return latest or root_doc
 
 
+def sync_root_latest_content(
+    root_doc: Document,
+    *,
+    include_deleted: bool = False,
+) -> None:
+    manager = _document_manager(include_deleted=include_deleted)
+    latest_version_content = (
+        manager.filter(root_document_id=root_doc.pk)
+        .order_by("-id")
+        .values_list("content", flat=True)
+        .first()
+    )
+    Document.objects.filter(pk=root_doc.pk).update(
+        latest_content=latest_version_content,
+    )
+
+
 def resolve_requested_version_for_root(
     root_doc: Document,
     request: Any,

src/documents/views.py

@@ -35,10 +35,8 @@ from django.db.models import F
 from django.db.models import IntegerField
 from django.db.models import Max
 from django.db.models import Model
-from django.db.models import OuterRef
 from django.db.models import Prefetch
 from django.db.models import Q
-from django.db.models import Subquery
 from django.db.models import Sum
 from django.db.models import When
 from django.db.models.functions import Coalesce
@@ -220,6 +218,7 @@ from documents.versioning import get_latest_version_for_root
 from documents.versioning import get_request_version_param
 from documents.versioning import get_root_document
 from documents.versioning import resolve_requested_version_for_root
+from documents.versioning import sync_root_latest_content
 from paperless import version
 from paperless.celery import app as celery_app
 from paperless.config import AIConfig
@@ -894,16 +893,11 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
         }
 
     def get_queryset(self):
-        latest_version_content = Subquery(
-            Document.objects.filter(root_document=OuterRef("pk"))
-            .order_by("-id")
-            .values("content")[:1],
-        )
         return (
             Document.objects.filter(root_document__isnull=True)
             .distinct()
             .order_by("-created")
-            .annotate(effective_content=Coalesce(latest_version_content, F("content")))
+            .annotate(effective_content=Coalesce(F("latest_content"), F("content")))
             .annotate(num_notes=Count("notes"))
             .select_related("correspondent", "storage_path", "document_type", "owner")
             .prefetch_related(
@@ -1022,6 +1016,7 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
                 str(updated_content) if updated_content is not None else ""
             )
             content_doc.save(update_fields=["content", "modified"])
+            sync_root_latest_content(root_doc)
 
         refreshed_doc = self.get_queryset().get(pk=root_doc.pk)
         response_data = self.get_serializer(refreshed_doc).data
@@ -1825,6 +1820,7 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
         index.remove_document_from_index(version_doc)
         version_doc_id = version_doc.id
         version_doc.delete()
+        sync_root_latest_content(root_doc)
         index.add_or_update_document(root_doc)
         if settings.AUDIT_LOG_ENABLED:
             actor = (