fix: address review feedback on effective_content annotation skip

- _needs_effective_content_annotation() now checks for a non-blank,
  stripped param value rather than mere key presence, matching how
  SearchFilter/TitleContentFilter/EffectiveContentFilter themselves
  no-op on a blank value. An empty ?search= or a saved view with a
  cleared text filter no longer re-triggers the annotation.

- The "versions" prefetch on DocumentViewSet no longer carries content
  for every historical version of every document -- that's unused
  bloat for version-heavy documents. Added
  latest_version_content_prefetch() (versioning.py), a separate,
  windowed prefetch scoped to just the newest version's content per
  root, and taught Document.get_effective_content() to check it first.

- DocumentSerializer.to_representation() no longer unconditionally
  calls get_effective_content(). Added has_prefetched_effective_content()
  (versioning.py) as a cheap upfront check: only resolve version-aware
  content when an SQL annotation or a versions prefetch is already on
  the instance. TrashView and GlobalSearchView build their own
  querysets independently of DocumentViewSet and never display
  document content at all (checked both frontend components), so they
  now keep showing the document's own, unresolved content with zero
  extra queries -- the same behavior as before effective_content
  resolution existed, just generalized past the narrow hasattr() check
  it replaced.

docs/api.md

@@ -302,7 +302,8 @@ The following methods are supported:
 - `delete`
   - No `parameters` required
 - `reprocess`
-  - No `parameters` required
+  - Optional `parameters`: `{ "remote_ocr": true }` to send the documents to the
+    remote OCR engine, see [Remote OCR](usage.md#remote-ocr). Defaults to false.
 - `set_permissions`
   - Requires `parameters`:
     - `"set_permissions": PERMISSIONS_OBJ` (see format [above](#permissions)) and / or

docs/configuration.md

@@ -2066,6 +2066,18 @@ password. All of these options come from their similarly-named [Django settings]
 
     Defaults to None.
 
+#### [`PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE=<str>`](#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE) {#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE}
+
+: Which documents are sent to the remote OCR engine.
+
+    - `always`: every document of a supported file type is sent to the remote
+      engine, bypassing the local OCR engine.
+    - `workflow_only`: documents are processed locally unless a workflow
+      explicitly enables remote OCR for them, letting you use the remote engine
+      selectively.
+
+    Defaults to "always".
+
 ## AI {#ai}
 
 #### [`PAPERLESS_AI_ENABLED=<bool>`](#PAPERLESS_AI_ENABLED) {#PAPERLESS_AI_ENABLED}

docs/development.md

@@ -456,6 +456,20 @@ def score(
     return 10
 ```
 
+**Remote services**
+
+If your parser sends document content to a remote service, declare it:
+
+```python
+class MyCustomParser:
+    uses_remote_service = True
+```
+
+Paperless-ngx excludes such parsers when the document being consumed has not
+been marked for remote processing, so users can keep remote OCR off by default
+and enable it selectively with a workflow. Parsers that do not declare the
+attribute are treated as fully local and are always considered.
+
 **Archive and rendition flags**
 
 ```python

docs/usage.md

@@ -654,6 +654,19 @@ happened while it was still encrypted, that original version will likewise be mi
 **Current limitation**: Passwords are stored as a simple list without descriptions. To handle
 multiple PDF types with different passwords, create separate workflows for each use case.
 
+##### Remote OCR {#workflow-action-remote-ocr}
+
+"Remote OCR" actions send the document to the configured remote OCR engine instead of processing it
+locally. To use remote OCR selectively, set the [remote OCR mode](configuration.md#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE)
+to `workflow_only` then add this action to a workflow that matches only the documents you
+want sent to the remote engine. See [Remote OCR](#remote-ocr) for the engine setup. The action only works with
+a **Consumption Started** trigger.
+
+The action takes no options, its presence is what enables remote OCR for a matching document.
+
+If the remote engine is not configured, or does not support the document's file type, the document is
+processed locally instead and a warning is written to the log.
+
 #### Workflow placeholders
 
 Titles and webhook payloads can be generated by workflows using [Jinja templates](https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/3.1.x/templates/).
@@ -1090,11 +1103,19 @@ Paperless-ngx supports performing OCR on documents using remote services. At the
 [Microsoft's Azure "Document Intelligence" service](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/ai-document-intelligence).
 This is of course a paid service (with a free tier) which requires an Azure account and subscription. Azure AI is not affiliated with
 Paperless-ngx in any way. When enabled, Paperless-ngx will automatically send appropriate documents to Azure for OCR processing, bypassing
-the local OCR engine. See the [configuration](configuration.md#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE) options for more details.
+the local OCR engine. See the [configuration](configuration.md#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE) options for more details. These
+settings can be supplied as environment variables or via **Application Configuration**.
 
 Additionally, when using a commercial service with this feature, consider both potential costs as well as any associated file size
 or page limitations (e.g. with a free tier).
 
+By default, every document of a supported file type is sent to the remote engine. To use it more selectively, set the
+[remote OCR mode](configuration.md#PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE) to `workflow_only`. Documents are then processed locally
+unless a [remote OCR workflow action](#workflow-action-remote-ocr) enables it for them, so you can limit the remote
+engine to particular documents.
+
+Setting the mode to `workflow_only` also allows the **Reprocess** actions to selectively use remote OCR for individual documents.
+
 ## Architecture
 
 Paperless-ngx consists of the following components:

src-ui/src/app/components/admin/config/config.component.html

@@ -14,43 +14,48 @@
                 <a ngbNavLink>{{category}}</a>
                 <ng-template ngbNavContent>
                     <div class="p-3">
-                        <div class="row row-cols-1 row-cols-md-2 row-cols-lg-3 g-2">
-                            @for (option of getCategoryOptions(category); track option.key) {
-                                <div class="col">
-                                    <div class="card bg-light">
-                                        <div class="card-body">
-                                            <div class="card-title d-flex align-items-center">
-                                                <h6 class="mb-0">
-                                                  {{option.title}}
-                                                </h6>
-                                                <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link" title="Read the documentation about this setting" i18n-title [href]="getDocsUrl(option.config_key)" target="_blank" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
-                                                    <i-bs name="info-circle"></i-bs>
-                                                </a>
-                                                @if (isSet(option.key)) {
-                                                  <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-link text-danger ms-auto pe-0" title="Reset" i18n-title (click)="resetOption(option.key)">
-                                                      <i-bs class="me-1" name="x"></i-bs><ng-container i18n>Reset</ng-container>
-                                                  </button>
+                        @for (section of getCategorySections(category); track section) {
+                            @if (section) {
+                                <h5 class="mt-4 mb-3">{{section}}</h5>
+                            }
+                            <div class="row row-cols-1 row-cols-md-2 row-cols-lg-3 g-2">
+                                @for (option of getCategoryOptions(category, section); track option.key) {
+                                    <div class="col">
+                                        <div class="card bg-light">
+                                            <div class="card-body">
+                                                <div class="card-title d-flex align-items-center">
+                                                    <h6 class="mb-0">
+                                                      {{option.title}}
+                                                    </h6>
+                                                    <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link" title="Read the documentation about this setting" i18n-title [href]="getDocsUrl(option.config_key)" target="_blank" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
+                                                        <i-bs name="info-circle"></i-bs>
+                                                    </a>
+                                                    @if (isSet(option.key)) {
+                                                      <button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-link text-danger ms-auto pe-0" title="Reset" i18n-title (click)="resetOption(option.key)">
+                                                          <i-bs class="me-1" name="x"></i-bs><ng-container i18n>Reset</ng-container>
+                                                      </button>
+                                                    }
+                                                </div>
+                                                <div class="mb-n3">
+                                                    @switch (option.type) {
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.Select) { <pngx-input-select [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [items]="option.choices" [allowNull]="true"></pngx-input-select> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.Number) { <pngx-input-number [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [showAdd]="false"></pngx-input-number> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.Boolean) { <pngx-input-switch [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [showUnsetNote]="true" [horizontal]="true" title="Enable" i18n-title></pngx-input-switch> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.String) { <pngx-input-text [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-text> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.JSON) { <pngx-input-text [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-text> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.File) { <pngx-input-file [formControlName]="option.key" (upload)="uploadFile($event, option.key)" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-file> }
+                                                        @case (ConfigOptionType.Password) { <pngx-input-password [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-password> }
+                                                    }
+                                                </div>
+                                                @if (option.note) {
+                                                    <div class="form-text fst-italic">{{option.note}}</div>
                                                 }
                                             </div>
-                                            <div class="mb-n3">
-                                                @switch (option.type) {
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.Select) { <pngx-input-select [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [items]="option.choices" [allowNull]="true"></pngx-input-select> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.Number) { <pngx-input-number [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [showAdd]="false"></pngx-input-number> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.Boolean) { <pngx-input-switch [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]" [showUnsetNote]="true" [horizontal]="true" title="Enable" i18n-title></pngx-input-switch> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.String) { <pngx-input-text [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-text> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.JSON) { <pngx-input-text [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-text> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.File) { <pngx-input-file [formControlName]="option.key" (upload)="uploadFile($event, option.key)" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-file> }
-                                                    @case (ConfigOptionType.Password) { <pngx-input-password [formControlName]="option.key" [error]="errors[option.key]"></pngx-input-password> }
-                                                }
-                                            </div>
-                                            @if (option.note) {
-                                                <div class="form-text fst-italic">{{option.note}}</div>
-                                            }
                                         </div>
                                     </div>
-                                </div>
-                            }
-                        </div>
+                                }
+                            </div>
+                        }
                     </div>
                 </ng-template>
             </li>

src-ui/src/app/components/admin/config/config.component.spec.ts

@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ import { NgbModule } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap'
 import { NgSelectModule } from '@ng-select/ng-select'
 import { NgxBootstrapIconsModule, allIcons } from 'ngx-bootstrap-icons'
 import { of, throwError } from 'rxjs'
-import { OutputTypeConfig } from 'src/app/data/paperless-config'
+import {
+  ConfigCategory,
+  ConfigSection,
+  OutputTypeConfig,
+} from 'src/app/data/paperless-config'
 import { ConfigService } from 'src/app/services/config.service'
 import { SettingsService } from 'src/app/services/settings.service'
 import { ToastService } from 'src/app/services/toast.service'
@@ -158,4 +162,24 @@ describe('ConfigComponent', () => {
     component.resetOption('barcodes_enabled')
     expect(component.configForm.get('barcodes_enabled').value).toBeNull()
   })
+
+  it('should group options into sections within a category, or not', () => {
+    const sections = component.getCategorySections(ConfigCategory.OCR)
+    expect(sections).toEqual([null, ConfigSection.RemoteOCR])
+    expect(
+      component
+        .getCategoryOptions(ConfigCategory.OCR)
+        .map((option) => option.key)
+    ).toContain('output_type')
+    expect(
+      component
+        .getCategoryOptions(ConfigCategory.OCR, ConfigSection.RemoteOCR)
+        .map((option) => option.key)
+    ).toEqual([
+      'remote_ocr_engine',
+      'remote_ocr_api_key',
+      'remote_ocr_endpoint',
+      'remote_ocr_mode',
+    ])
+  })
 })

src-ui/src/app/components/admin/config/config.component.ts

@@ -74,8 +74,20 @@ export class ConfigComponent
     return Object.values(ConfigCategory)
   }
 
-  getCategoryOptions(category: string): ConfigOption[] {
-    return PaperlessConfigOptions.filter((o) => o.category === category)
+  getCategorySections(category: string): string[] {
+    return [
+      ...new Set(
+        PaperlessConfigOptions.filter((o) => o.category === category).map(
+          (o) => o.section ?? null // null means no section
+        )
+      ),
+    ]
+  }
+
+  getCategoryOptions(category: string, section: string = null): ConfigOption[] {
+    return PaperlessConfigOptions.filter(
+      (o) => o.category === category && (o.section ?? null) === section
+    )
   }
 
   initialConfig: PaperlessConfig

src-ui/src/app/components/app-frame/app-frame.component.html

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   <button class="navbar-toggler d-md-none collapsed border-0" type="button" data-toggle="collapse"
     data-target="#sidebarMenu" aria-controls="sidebarMenu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"
     (click)="closeMobileSearch(); toggleMenuCollapsed()">
-    <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
+    <i-bs width="1.5em" height="1.5em" name="list"></i-bs>
   </button>
   <a class="navbar-brand d-flex align-items-center me-0 ps-md-3 py-0 order-sm-0"
     [ngClass]="{ 'slim': slimSidebarEnabled, '' : !slimSidebarEnabled }"
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@
       </div>
     }
   </a>
-  <div class="search-container flex-grow-1 py-2 pb-3 pb-sm-2 px-3 ps-md-3 me-sm-auto order-3 order-sm-1"
+  <div class="search-container flex-grow-1 py-2 pb-3 pb-sm-2 me-sm-auto order-3 order-sm-1"
     [class.mobile-hidden]="mobileSearchHidden()">
-    <div class="col-12 header-search">
+    <div class="col-12 header-search mx-auto">
       <pngx-global-search></pngx-global-search>
     </div>
   </div>
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
         <ul class="nav flex-column">
           <li class="nav-item app-link">
             <a class="nav-link" routerLink="dashboard" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-              ngbPopover="Dashboard" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+              ngbPopover="Dashboard" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
               container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
               <i-bs class="me-2" name="house"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Dashboard</ng-container></span>
             </a>
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
             <a class="nav-link" routerLink="documents" routerLinkActive="active"
               [routerLinkActiveOptions]="{ paths: 'exact', queryParams: 'ignored', matrixParams: 'ignored', fragment: 'ignored' }"
               (click)="closeMenu()"
-              ngbPopover="Documents" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+              ngbPopover="Documents" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
               container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
               <i-bs class="me-2" name="files"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Documents</ng-container></span>
             </a>
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
                   (cdkDragEnded)="onDragEnd($event)">
                   <a class="nav-link" routerLink="view/{{view.id}}"
                     routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()" [ngbPopover]="view.name"
-                    [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave"
+                    [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave"
                     popoverClass="popover-slim">
                     <i-bs class="me-2" [name]="view.icon || 'funnel'"></i-bs><span><div class="d-inline-flex view-name"><span class="overflow-hidden" [class.text-wrap]="!slimSidebarEnabled">{{view.name}}</span></div>
                         @if (showSidebarCounts && !slimSidebarEnabled) {
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@
               <li class="nav-item w-100 app-link">
                 <a class="nav-link app-link" [class.text-truncate]="!slimSidebarEnabled" routerLink="documents/{{d.id}}"
                   routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()" [ngbPopover]="d.title | documentTitle"
-                  [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave"
+                  [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave"
                   popoverClass="popover-slim">
                   <i-bs class="me-2" name="file-text"></i-bs><span>{{d.title | documentTitle}}</span>
                   <span class="close flex-column justify-content-center"
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@
               <li class="nav-item w-100 app-link">
                 <button type="button" class="nav-link nav-link-action app-link w-100 text-start"
                   [class.text-truncate]="!slimSidebarEnabled" (click)="closeAll()"
-                  ngbPopover="Close all" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                  ngbPopover="Close all" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                   container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                   <i-bs class="me-2" name="x"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Close all</ng-container></span>
                 </button>
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
                 <div class="d-flex align-items-center attributes-row">
                   <a class="nav-link flex-fill" routerLink="attributes" routerLinkActive="active"
                     [routerLinkActiveOptions]="{ exact: !(slimSidebarEnabled || attributesSectionsCollapsed) }" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                    ngbPopover="Attributes" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                    ngbPopover="Attributes" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                     container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                     <i-bs name="stack"></i-bs><span class="ms-2"><ng-container i18n>Attributes</ng-container></span>
                   </a>
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@
             }
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.View, type: PermissionType.SavedView }">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="savedviews" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Saved Views" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Saved Views" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="window-stack"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Saved Views</ng-container></span>
               </a>
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@
               *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.View, type: PermissionType.Workflow }"
               tourAnchor="tour.workflows">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="workflows" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Workflows" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Workflows" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="boxes"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Workflows</ng-container></span>
               </a>
@@ -258,14 +258,14 @@
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.View, type: PermissionType.MailAccount }"
               tourAnchor="tour.mail">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="mail" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()" ngbPopover="Mail"
-                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
+                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
                 triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="envelope"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Mail</ng-container></span>
               </a>
             </li>
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.Delete, type: PermissionType.Document }">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="trash" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()" ngbPopover="Trash"
-                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
+                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
                 triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="trash"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Trash</ng-container></span>
               </a>
@@ -281,21 +281,21 @@
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.Change, type: PermissionType.UISettings }"
               tourAnchor="tour.settings">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="settings" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Settings" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Settings" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="gear"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Settings</ng-container></span>
               </a>
             </li>
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.Change, type: PermissionType.AppConfig }">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="config" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Configuration" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Configuration" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="sliders2-vertical"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Configuration</ng-container></span>
               </a>
             </li>
             <li class="nav-item app-link" *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.View, type: PermissionType.User }">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="usersgroups" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Users & Groups" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Users & Groups" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="people"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Users & Groups</ng-container></span>
               </a>
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@
               *pngxIfPermissions="{ action: PermissionAction.View, type: PermissionType.PaperlessTask }"
               tourAnchor="tour.file-tasks">
               <a class="nav-link" routerLink="tasks" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()"
-                ngbPopover="Tasks" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end"
+                ngbPopover="Tasks" i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end"
                 container="body" triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="me-2" name="list-task"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Tasks</ng-container>@if (tasksService.needsAttentionTasks.length > 0) {
                   <span><span class="badge bg-danger ms-2 d-inline">{{tasksService.needsAttentionTasks.length}}</span></span>
@@ -317,26 +317,26 @@
             @if (permissionsService.isAdmin()) {
               <li class="nav-item app-link">
                 <a class="nav-link" routerLink="logs" routerLinkActive="active" (click)="closeMenu()" ngbPopover="Logs"
-                  i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
+                  i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
                   triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                   <i-bs class="me-2" name="text-left"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Logs</ng-container></span>
                 </a>
               </li>
             }
             <li class="nav-item mt-2" tourAnchor="tour.outro">
-              <a class="px-3 py-2 text-muted small d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap text-decoration-none"
+              <a class="text-muted small d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap text-decoration-none nav-anchor"
                 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.paperless-ngx.com" ngbPopover="Documentation"
-                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
+                i18n-ngbPopover [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
                 triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                 <i-bs class="d-flex me-2" name="question-circle"></i-bs><span><ng-container i18n>Documentation</ng-container></span>
               </a>
             </li>
             <li class="nav-item" [class.visually-hidden]="slimSidebarEnabled">
-              <div class="px-3 py-0 text-muted small d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap">
+              <div class="text-muted small d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap nav-label">
                 <div class="me-3">
                   <a class="text-muted text-decoration-none" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
                     href="https://github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx" ngbPopover="GitHub" i18n-ngbPopover
-                    [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
+                    [disablePopover]="!slimSidebarPopoversEnabled" placement="end" container="body"
                     triggers="mouseenter:mouseleave" popoverClass="popover-slim">
                     {{ versionString }}
                   </a>

src-ui/src/app/components/app-frame/app-frame.component.scss

@@ -67,6 +67,23 @@
   main.mobile-search-hidden {
     padding-top: 56px;
   }
+
+  .navbar-toggler {
+    padding-left: calc(12px - (1.5em * 2.5 / 16));
+  }
+}
+
+.search-container {
+  padding-left: 1rem;
+  padding-right: 1rem;
+}
+
+// Below sm the search gets its own full-width row, so line it up with main's content edge
+@media (max-width: 575.98px) {
+  .search-container {
+    padding-left: 12px;
+    padding-right: 12px;
+  }
 }
 
 main {
@@ -97,7 +114,7 @@ main {
 
     li.nav-item span.badge {
       display: inline-block;
-      margin-right: 2px;
+      margin-right: -4px;
     }
   }
 
@@ -141,18 +158,11 @@ main {
     }
   }
 
-  .sidebar.slim {
-    li.nav-item span.badge {
-      display: inline-block;
-      margin-right: 2px;
-    }
-  }
-
   .sidebar-slim-toggler {
     display: block;
     position: fixed;
     left: calc(var(--pngx-sidebar-width) - 12px);
-    top: 72px;
+    bottom: 16px;
     z-index: 996;
     --bs-btn-padding-x: 0.35rem;
     --bs-btn-padding-y: 0.125rem;
@@ -227,6 +237,10 @@ main {
   }
 }
 
+.sidebar .nav-anchor, .sidebar .nav-label {
+  padding: .25rem .7rem;
+}
+
 .attributes-row {
   border-radius: .55rem;
   margin: .1rem 0;
@@ -403,7 +417,7 @@ main {
 
 :host ::ng-deep .navbar-official-logo {
   .leaf {
-    fill: color-mix(in srgb, var(--pngx-primary-text-contrast) 70%, var(--bs-primary)) !important;
+    fill: color-mix(in srgb, var(--pngx-primary-text-contrast) 85%, var(--bs-primary)) !important;
   }
 
   .text {
@@ -444,7 +458,7 @@ main {
 
 .header-search {
   width: 100%;
-  max-width: 44rem;
+  max-width: 55rem;
 }
 
 @media screen and (max-width: 575.98px) {
@@ -458,6 +472,7 @@ main {
 
   .navbar-toggler {
     grid-area: toggler;
+    color: var(--pngx-primary-text-contrast);
     text-align: left;
   }
 

src-ui/src/app/components/app-frame/app-frame.component.ts

@@ -278,6 +278,10 @@ export class AppFrameComponent
       })
   }
 
+  get slimSidebarPopoversEnabled(): boolean {
+    return this.slimSidebarEnabled && !this.isMobileViewport()
+  }
+
   get attributesSectionsCollapsed(): boolean {
     this.settingsService.trackChanges()
     return this.settingsService

src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog.component.html

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<div class="modal-header">
+  <h4 class="modal-title" id="modal-basic-title">{{title}}</h4>
+  <button type="button" class="btn-close" aria-label="Close" (click)="cancel()">
+  </button>
+</div>
+<div class="modal-body">
+  @if (messageBold) {
+    <p class="text-break"><b>{{messageBold}}</b></p>
+  }
+  @if (message) {
+    <p class="mb-0 text-break" [innerHTML]="message"></p>
+  }
+  @if (showRemoteOcr) {
+    <div class="form-check mt-3">
+      <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="reprocessRemoteOcr" [(ngModel)]="remoteOcr" />
+      <label class="form-check-label" for="reprocessRemoteOcr" i18n>Use remote OCR</label>
+      <div class="form-text" i18n>Sends the document to the configured remote OCR service, which may incur costs.</div>
+    </div>
+  }
+</div>
+<div class="modal-footer">
+  <button type="button" class="btn" [class]="cancelBtnClass" (click)="cancel()" [disabled]="!buttonsEnabled">
+    <span class="d-inline-block" style="padding-bottom: 1px;">{{cancelBtnCaption}}</span>
+  </button>
+  <button type="button" class="btn" [class]="btnClass" (click)="confirm()" [disabled]="!confirmButtonEnabled || !buttonsEnabled">
+    {{btnCaption}}
+  </button>
+</div>

src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog.component.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { provideHttpClient, withInterceptorsFromDi } from '@angular/common/http'
+import { provideHttpClientTesting } from '@angular/common/http/testing'
+import { ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing'
+import { NgbActiveModal } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap'
+import { RemoteOCRModeConfig } from 'src/app/data/paperless-config'
+import { SETTINGS_KEYS } from 'src/app/data/ui-settings'
+import { SettingsService } from 'src/app/services/settings.service'
+import { ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent } from './reprocess-confirm-dialog.component'
+
+describe('ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent', () => {
+  let component: ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent
+  let fixture: ComponentFixture<ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent>
+  let settingsService: SettingsService
+
+  const createComponent = (configured: boolean, mode: string) => {
+    settingsService.set(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED, configured)
+    settingsService.set(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE, mode)
+
+    fixture = TestBed.createComponent(ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent)
+    component = fixture.componentInstance
+    fixture.detectChanges()
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+      providers: [
+        NgbActiveModal,
+        provideHttpClient(withInterceptorsFromDi()),
+        provideHttpClientTesting(),
+      ],
+      imports: [ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent],
+    }).compileComponents()
+
+    settingsService = TestBed.inject(SettingsService)
+  })
+
+  it('should not request remote OCR by default', () => {
+    createComponent(true, RemoteOCRModeConfig.WORKFLOW_ONLY)
+
+    expect(component.remoteOcr).toBeFalsy()
+  })
+
+  it('should not offer remote OCR when no engine is configured', () => {
+    createComponent(false, RemoteOCRModeConfig.WORKFLOW_ONLY)
+
+    expect(component.showRemoteOcr).toBeFalsy()
+    expect(
+      fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('#reprocessRemoteOcr')
+    ).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('should not offer remote OCR when it already handles every document', () => {
+    createComponent(true, RemoteOCRModeConfig.ALWAYS)
+
+    expect(component.showRemoteOcr).toBeFalsy()
+    expect(
+      fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('#reprocessRemoteOcr')
+    ).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('should offer remote OCR when configured and selective', () => {
+    createComponent(true, RemoteOCRModeConfig.WORKFLOW_ONLY)
+
+    expect(component.showRemoteOcr).toBeTruthy()
+    const checkbox = fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('#reprocessRemoteOcr')
+    expect(checkbox).not.toBeNull()
+
+    checkbox.click()
+    fixture.detectChanges()
+    expect(component.remoteOcr).toBeTruthy()
+  })
+})

src-ui/src/app/components/common/confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog.component.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { Component, inject } from '@angular/core'
+import { FormsModule } from '@angular/forms'
+import { SettingsService } from 'src/app/services/settings.service'
+import { ConfirmDialogComponent } from '../confirm-dialog.component'
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'pngx-reprocess-confirm-dialog',
+  templateUrl: './reprocess-confirm-dialog.component.html',
+  imports: [FormsModule],
+})
+export class ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent extends ConfirmDialogComponent {
+  private settings = inject(SettingsService)
+
+  remoteOcr: boolean = false
+
+  public get showRemoteOcr(): boolean {
+    // Hidden when it is not configured, or when it already handles every document anyway.
+    return this.settings.remoteOCRIsSelectable
+  }
+}

src-ui/src/app/components/common/edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog.component.html

@@ -455,6 +455,13 @@
           </div>
         </div>
       }
+      @case (WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr) {
+        <div class="row">
+          <div class="col">
+            <p class="text-muted small" i18n>The document will be sent to the configured remote OCR service. May incur costs.</p>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      }
     }
   </div>
 </ng-template>

src-ui/src/app/components/common/edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog.component.spec.ts

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
   DocumentSource,
   WorkflowTriggerType,
 } from 'src/app/data/workflow-trigger'
+import { SETTINGS_KEYS } from 'src/app/data/ui-settings'
 import { IfOwnerDirective } from 'src/app/directives/if-owner.directive'
 import { IfPermissionsDirective } from 'src/app/directives/if-permissions.directive'
 import { CorrespondentService } from 'src/app/services/rest/correspondent.service'
@@ -224,7 +225,12 @@ describe('WorkflowEditDialogComponent', () => {
     ).toEqual('Document Added')
     expect(component.getTriggerTypeOptionName(null)).toEqual('')
     expect(component.sourceOptions).toEqual(DOCUMENT_SOURCE_OPTIONS)
-    expect(component.actionTypeOptions).toEqual(WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS)
+    // Remote OCR is absent until the workflow has a consumption trigger
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions).toEqual(
+      WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS.filter(
+        (a) => a.id !== WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+      )
+    )
     expect(
       component.getActionTypeOptionName(WorkflowActionType.Assignment)
     ).toEqual('Assignment')
@@ -237,7 +243,104 @@ describe('WorkflowEditDialogComponent', () => {
     jest.spyOn(settingsService, 'get').mockReturnValue(false)
     component.ngOnInit()
     expect(component.actionTypeOptions).toEqual(
-      WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS.filter((a) => a.id !== WorkflowActionType.Email)
+      WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS.filter(
+        (a) =>
+          a.id !== WorkflowActionType.Email &&
+          a.id !== WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+      )
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should offer remote OCR only for consumption workflows', () => {
+    jest.spyOn(settingsService, 'get').mockReturnValue(true)
+
+    // A consumption trigger makes the action reachable
+    component.object = {
+      name: 'Workflow 1',
+      order: 0,
+      enabled: true,
+      triggers: [{ type: WorkflowTriggerType.Consumption }],
+      actions: [],
+    } as Workflow
+    component.ngOnInit()
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+
+    // Any other trigger type runs after the document has been parsed
+    component.object = {
+      name: 'Workflow 2',
+      order: 0,
+      enabled: true,
+      triggers: [{ type: WorkflowTriggerType.DocumentAdded }],
+      actions: [],
+    } as Workflow
+    component.ngOnInit()
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).not.toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should offer remote OCR on a trigger added to a new workflow', () => {
+    jest.spyOn(settingsService, 'get').mockReturnValue(true)
+    component.ngOnInit()
+
+    // Nothing for the action to apply to yet
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).not.toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+
+    // addTrigger creates the form field with emitEvent false, so the options
+    // have to be computed on read rather than cached from valueChanges
+    component.addTrigger()
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+
+    // Switching that trigger to a type that runs after parsing removes it
+    component.triggerFields
+      .at(0)
+      .get('type')
+      .setValue(WorkflowTriggerType.DocumentAdded)
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).not.toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should keep remote OCR listed when an action already uses it', () => {
+    jest.spyOn(settingsService, 'get').mockReturnValue(true)
+
+    // Otherwise changing the trigger would silently blank the selection
+    component.object = {
+      name: 'Workflow 1',
+      order: 0,
+      enabled: true,
+      triggers: [{ type: WorkflowTriggerType.DocumentAdded }],
+      actions: [{ type: WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr }],
+    } as Workflow
+    component.ngOnInit()
+
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should not offer remote OCR when no engine is configured', () => {
+    jest
+      .spyOn(settingsService, 'get')
+      .mockImplementation((key) => key !== SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED)
+
+    component.object = {
+      name: 'Workflow 1',
+      order: 0,
+      enabled: true,
+      triggers: [{ type: WorkflowTriggerType.Consumption }],
+      actions: [],
+    } as Workflow
+    component.ngOnInit()
+
+    expect(component.actionTypeOptions.map((a) => a.id)).not.toContain(
+      WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
     )
   })
 

src-ui/src/app/components/common/edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog/workflow-edit-dialog.component.ts

@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ export const WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS = [
     id: WorkflowActionType.MoveToTrash,
     name: $localize`Move to trash`,
   },
+  {
+    id: WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr,
+    name: $localize`Remote OCR`,
+  },
 ]
 
 export enum TriggerFilterType {
@@ -504,8 +508,6 @@ export class WorkflowEditDialogComponent
 
   expandedItem: number = null
 
-  readonly allowedActionTypes = signal([])
-
   private readonly triggerFilterOptionsMap = new WeakMap<
     FormArray,
     TriggerFilterOption[]
@@ -548,13 +550,40 @@ export class WorkflowEditDialogComponent
       this.checkRemovalActionFields.bind(this)
     )
     this.checkRemovalActionFields(this.objectForm.value)
-    this.allowedActionTypes.set(
-      this.settingsService.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.EMAIL_ENABLED)
-        ? WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS
-        : WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS.filter(
-            (a) => a.id !== WorkflowActionType.Email
-          )
-    )
+  }
+
+  private allowedActionTypes: typeof WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS = null
+
+  private getAllowedActionTypes() {
+    let allowed = WORKFLOW_ACTION_OPTIONS
+
+    if (!this.settingsService.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.EMAIL_ENABLED)) {
+      allowed = allowed.filter((a) => a.id !== WorkflowActionType.Email)
+    }
+
+    // Remote OCR is decided before the document is parsed, so it is only
+    // offered for workflows that run at consumption.
+    const formWorkflow: Workflow = this.objectForm?.value
+    const remoteOcrUsable =
+      this.settingsService.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED) &&
+      (formWorkflow?.triggers?.some(
+        (trigger) => trigger.type === WorkflowTriggerType.Consumption
+      ) ||
+        formWorkflow?.actions?.some(
+          (action) => action.type === WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr
+        ))
+    if (!remoteOcrUsable) {
+      allowed = allowed.filter((a) => a.id !== WorkflowActionType.RemoteOcr)
+    }
+
+    if (
+      this.allowedActionTypes?.length === allowed.length &&
+      this.allowedActionTypes.every((a, i) => a.id === allowed[i].id)
+    ) {
+      return this.allowedActionTypes
+    }
+    this.allowedActionTypes = allowed
+    return allowed
   }
 
   private checkRemovalActionFields(formWorkflow: Workflow) {
@@ -1279,7 +1308,8 @@ export class WorkflowEditDialogComponent
 
   get actionTypeOptions() {
     this.settingsService.trackChanges()
-    return this.allowedActionTypes()
+    // Computed on read rather than cached
+    return this.getAllowedActionTypes()
   }
 
   getActionTypeOptionName(type: WorkflowActionType): string {

src-ui/src/app/components/common/page-header/page-header.component.html

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-<div class="row pt-3 pb-3 pb-md-2 align-items-center">
+<div class="row pt-3 pb-2 align-items-center">
   <div class="col-md text-truncate">
-    <h3 class="d-flex align-items-center mb-1" style="line-height: 1.4">
+    <h3 class="d-flex align-items-center mb-2 mb-md-1" style="line-height: 1.4">
       <span class="text-truncate">{{title()}}</span>
       @if (id()) {
         <span class="badge bg-primary text-primary-text-contrast ms-3 small fs-normal cursor-pointer" (click)="copyID()">
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@
         </span>
       }
       @if (subTitle()) {
-        <span class="h6 mb-0 mt-1 d-block d-md-inline fw-normal ms-md-3 text-truncate" style="line-height: 1.4">{{subTitle()}}</span>
+        <span class="page-subtitle h6 mb-0 mt-1 fw-normal ms-md-3 text-truncate" style="line-height: 1.4">{{subTitle()}}</span>
       }
       @if (info()) {
-        <button class="btn btn-sm btn-link text-muted p-0 p-md-2" title="What's this?" i18n-title type="button" [ngbPopover]="infoPopover" [autoClose]="true">
+        <button class="btn btn-sm btn-link text-muted p-0 ms-2 p-md-2 ms-md-0" title="What's this?" i18n-title type="button" [ngbPopover]="infoPopover" [autoClose]="true">
           <i-bs name="question-circle"></i-bs>
         </button>
         <ng-template #infoPopover>

src-ui/src/app/components/common/page-header/page-header.component.scss

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 h3 {
     min-height: calc(1.325rem + 0.9vw);
+    flex-wrap: wrap;
 
     .badge {
         font-size: 0.65rem;
@@ -7,6 +8,16 @@ h3 {
     }
 }
 
+// Drop the subtitle onto its own and shrink it
+@media (max-width: 767.98px) {
+    h3 > .page-subtitle {
+        flex: 0 0 100%;
+        margin-top: 0 !important;
+        font-size: .7rem;
+        line-height: 1.3 !important;
+    }
+}
+
 :host {
   display: block;
   margin-bottom: .35rem;

src-ui/src/app/components/document-detail/document-detail.component.spec.ts

@@ -963,12 +963,24 @@ describe('DocumentDetailComponent', () => {
     component.reprocess()
     const modalCloseSpy = jest.spyOn(openModal, 'close')
     openModal.componentInstance.confirmClicked.next()
-    expect(reprocessSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ documents: [doc.id] })
+    expect(reprocessSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ documents: [doc.id] }, false)
     expect(modalSpy).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(toastSpy).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(modalCloseSpy).toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  it('should pass remote OCR choice when reprocessing', () => {
+    initNormally()
+    const reprocessSpy = jest.spyOn(documentService, 'reprocessDocuments')
+    reprocessSpy.mockReturnValue(of(true))
+    let openModal: NgbModalRef
+    modalService.activeInstances.subscribe((modal) => (openModal = modal[0]))
+    component.reprocess()
+    openModal.componentInstance.remoteOcr = true
+    openModal.componentInstance.confirmClicked.next()
+    expect(reprocessSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ documents: [doc.id] }, true)
+  })
+
   it('should show error if redo ocr call fails', () => {
     initNormally()
     const reprocessSpy = jest.spyOn(documentService, 'reprocessDocuments')

src-ui/src/app/components/document-detail/document-detail.component.ts

@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ import { ISODateAdapter } from 'src/app/utils/ngb-iso-date-adapter'
 import * as UTIF from 'utif'
 import { DocumentDetailFieldID } from '../admin/settings/settings.component'
 import { ConfirmDialogComponent } from '../common/confirm-dialog/confirm-dialog.component'
+import { ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent } from '../common/confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog.component'
 import { PasswordRemovalConfirmDialogComponent } from '../common/confirm-dialog/password-removal-confirm-dialog/password-removal-confirm-dialog.component'
 import { CustomFieldsDropdownComponent } from '../common/custom-fields-dropdown/custom-fields-dropdown.component'
 import { CorrespondentEditDialogComponent } from '../common/edit-dialog/correspondent-edit-dialog/correspondent-edit-dialog.component'
@@ -1398,7 +1399,7 @@ export class DocumentDetailComponent
   }
 
   reprocess() {
-    let modal = this.modalService.open(ConfirmDialogComponent, {
+    let modal = this.modalService.open(ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent, {
       backdrop: 'static',
     })
     modal.componentInstance.title = $localize`Reprocess confirm`
@@ -1409,7 +1410,10 @@ export class DocumentDetailComponent
     modal.componentInstance.confirmClicked.subscribe(() => {
       modal.componentInstance.buttonsEnabled.set(false)
       this.documentsService
-        .reprocessDocuments({ documents: [this.document().id] })
+        .reprocessDocuments(
+          { documents: [this.document().id] },
+          modal.componentInstance.remoteOcr
+        )
         .subscribe({
           next: () => {
             this.toastService.showInfo(

src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.spec.ts

@@ -1122,6 +1122,7 @@ describe('BulkEditorComponent', () => {
     req.flush(true)
     expect(req.request.body).toEqual({
       documents: [3, 4],
+      remote_ocr: false,
     })
     httpTestingController.match(
       `${environment.apiBaseUrl}documents/?page=1&page_size=50&ordering=-created&truncate_content=true&include_selection_data=true`

src-ui/src/app/components/document-list/bulk-editor/bulk-editor.component.ts

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ import { flattenTags } from 'src/app/utils/flatten-tags'
 import { queryParamsFromFilterRules } from 'src/app/utils/query-params'
 import { MergeAsVersionsConfirmDialogComponent } from '../../common/confirm-dialog/merge-as-versions-confirm-dialog/merge-as-versions-confirm-dialog.component'
 import { MergeConfirmDialogComponent } from '../../common/confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog/merge-confirm-dialog.component'
+import { ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent } from '../../common/confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog/reprocess-confirm-dialog.component'
 import { RotateConfirmDialogComponent } from '../../common/confirm-dialog/rotate-confirm-dialog/rotate-confirm-dialog.component'
 import { CorrespondentEditDialogComponent } from '../../common/edit-dialog/correspondent-edit-dialog/correspondent-edit-dialog.component'
 import { CustomFieldEditDialogComponent } from '../../common/edit-dialog/custom-field-edit-dialog/custom-field-edit-dialog.component'
@@ -916,7 +917,7 @@ export class BulkEditorComponent
   }
 
   reprocessSelected() {
-    let modal = this.modalService.open(ConfirmDialogComponent, {
+    let modal = this.modalService.open(ReprocessConfirmDialogComponent, {
       backdrop: 'static',
     })
     modal.componentInstance.title = $localize`Reprocess confirm`
@@ -930,7 +931,10 @@ export class BulkEditorComponent
         modal.componentInstance.buttonsEnabled.set(false)
         this.executeDocumentAction(
           modal,
-          this.documentService.reprocessDocuments(this.getSelectionQuery())
+          this.documentService.reprocessDocuments(
+            this.getSelectionQuery(),
+            modal.componentInstance.remoteOcr
+          )
         )
       })
   }

src-ui/src/app/data/paperless-config.ts

@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ export const ConfigCategory = {
   AI: $localize`AI Settings`,
 }
 
+export const ConfigSection = {
+  RemoteOCR: $localize`Remote OCR`,
+}
+
 export const LLMEmbeddingBackendConfig = {
   OPENAI_LIKE: 'openai-like',
   HUGGINGFACE: 'huggingface',
@@ -65,6 +69,15 @@ export const LLMBackendConfig = {
   OLLAMA: 'ollama',
 }
 
+export const RemoteOCREngineConfig = {
+  AZURE_AI: 'azureai',
+}
+
+export const RemoteOCRModeConfig = {
+  ALWAYS: 'always',
+  WORKFLOW_ONLY: 'workflow_only',
+}
+
 export interface ConfigOption {
   key: string
   title: string
@@ -72,6 +85,7 @@ export interface ConfigOption {
   choices?: Array<{ id: string; name: string }>
   config_key?: string
   category: string
+  section?: string
   note?: string
 }
 
@@ -181,6 +195,43 @@ export const PaperlessConfigOptions: ConfigOption[] = [
     config_key: 'PAPERLESS_OCR_USER_ARGS',
     category: ConfigCategory.OCR,
   },
+  {
+    key: 'remote_ocr_engine',
+    title: $localize`Remote OCR Engine`,
+    type: ConfigOptionType.Select,
+    choices: mapToItems(RemoteOCREngineConfig),
+    config_key: 'PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE',
+    category: ConfigCategory.OCR,
+    section: ConfigSection.RemoteOCR,
+    note: $localize`Enabling remote OCR sends documents to a third-party service for processing. Consider the privacy implications as well as potential costs before enabling.`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'remote_ocr_api_key',
+    title: $localize`Remote OCR API Key`,
+    type: ConfigOptionType.Password,
+    config_key: 'PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY',
+    category: ConfigCategory.OCR,
+    section: ConfigSection.RemoteOCR,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'remote_ocr_endpoint',
+    title: $localize`Remote OCR Endpoint`,
+    type: ConfigOptionType.String,
+    config_key: 'PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT',
+    category: ConfigCategory.OCR,
+    section: ConfigSection.RemoteOCR,
+    note: $localize`Required when using the Azure AI engine.`,
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'remote_ocr_mode',
+    title: $localize`Remote OCR Mode`,
+    type: ConfigOptionType.Select,
+    choices: mapToItems(RemoteOCRModeConfig),
+    config_key: 'PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE',
+    category: ConfigCategory.OCR,
+    section: ConfigSection.RemoteOCR,
+    note: $localize`Which documents are sent to the remote engine. Use 'workflow_only' to keep remote OCR off unless a workflow enables it for a document.`,
+  },
   {
     key: 'app_logo',
     title: $localize`Application Logo`,
@@ -398,6 +449,10 @@ export interface PaperlessConfig extends ObjectWithId {
   barcode_enable_tag: boolean
   barcode_tag_mapping: object
   barcode_tag_split: boolean
+  remote_ocr_engine: string
+  remote_ocr_api_key: string
+  remote_ocr_endpoint: string
+  remote_ocr_mode: string
   ai_enabled: boolean
   llm_embedding_backend: string
   llm_embedding_model: string

src-ui/src/app/data/ui-settings.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { PdfEditorEditMode } from '../components/common/pdf-editor/pdf-editor-edit-mode'
 import { PdfZoomScale } from '../components/common/pdf-viewer/pdf-viewer.types'
+import { RemoteOCRModeConfig } from './paperless-config'
 import { User } from './user'
 
 export interface UiSettings {
@@ -94,6 +95,8 @@ export const SETTINGS_KEYS = {
   OUTLOOK_OAUTH_URL: 'outlook_oauth_url',
   EMAIL_ENABLED: 'email_enabled',
   AI_ENABLED: 'ai_enabled',
+  REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED: 'remote_ocr:configured',
+  REMOTE_OCR_MODE: 'remote_ocr:mode',
 }
 
 export const SETTINGS: UiSetting[] = [
@@ -347,4 +350,14 @@ export const SETTINGS: UiSetting[] = [
     type: 'string',
     default: PdfEditorEditMode.Create,
   },
+  {
+    key: SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED,
+    type: 'boolean',
+    default: false,
+  },
+  {
+    key: SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE,
+    type: 'string',
+    default: RemoteOCRModeConfig.ALWAYS,
+  },
 ]

src-ui/src/app/data/workflow-action.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export enum WorkflowActionType {
   Webhook = 4,
   PasswordRemoval = 5,
   MoveToTrash = 6,
+  RemoteOcr = 7,
 }
 
 export interface WorkflowActionEmail extends ObjectWithId {

src-ui/src/app/services/rest/document.service.spec.ts

@@ -284,6 +284,21 @@ describe(`DocumentService`, () => {
     expect(req.request.method).toEqual('POST')
     expect(req.request.body).toEqual({
       documents: ids,
+      remote_ocr: false,
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should request remote OCR when reprocessing with it enabled', () => {
+    const ids = [1, 2, 3]
+    subscription = service
+      .reprocessDocuments({ documents: ids }, true)
+      .subscribe()
+    const req = httpTestingController.expectOne(
+      `${environment.apiBaseUrl}${endpoint}/reprocess/`
+    )
+    expect(req.request.body).toEqual({
+      documents: ids,
+      remote_ocr: true,
     })
   })
 

src-ui/src/app/services/rest/document.service.ts

@@ -349,9 +349,13 @@ export class DocumentService extends AbstractPaperlessService<Document> {
     })
   }
 
-  reprocessDocuments(selection: DocumentSelectionQuery) {
+  reprocessDocuments(
+    selection: DocumentSelectionQuery,
+    remoteOcr: boolean = false
+  ) {
     return this.http.post(this.getResourceUrl(null, 'reprocess'), {
       ...selection,
+      remote_ocr: remoteOcr,
     })
   }
 

src-ui/src/app/services/settings.service.spec.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { environment } from 'src/environments/environment'
 import { CustomFieldDataType } from '../data/custom-field'
 import { DEFAULT_DISPLAY_FIELDS, DisplayField } from '../data/document'
 import { SavedView } from '../data/saved-view'
+import { RemoteOCRModeConfig } from '../data/paperless-config'
 import { SETTINGS_KEYS, UiSettings } from '../data/ui-settings'
 import { PermissionsService } from './permissions.service'
 import { CustomFieldsService } from './rest/custom-fields.service'
@@ -434,4 +435,26 @@ describe('SettingsService', () => {
         ).name
     ).toEqual(customFields[0].name)
   })
+  it('should offer remote OCR only when configured and selective', () => {
+    settingsService.set(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED, false)
+    settingsService.set(
+      SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE,
+      RemoteOCRModeConfig.WORKFLOW_ONLY
+    )
+    expect(settingsService.remoteOCRIsSelectable).toBeFalsy()
+
+    // configured, but already handling every document
+    settingsService.set(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED, true)
+    settingsService.set(
+      SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE,
+      RemoteOCRModeConfig.ALWAYS
+    )
+    expect(settingsService.remoteOCRIsSelectable).toBeFalsy()
+
+    settingsService.set(
+      SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE,
+      RemoteOCRModeConfig.WORKFLOW_ONLY
+    )
+    expect(settingsService.remoteOCRIsSelectable).toBeTruthy()
+  })
 })

src-ui/src/app/services/settings.service.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import {
 } from 'src/app/utils/color'
 import { DEFAULT_APP_TITLE, environment } from 'src/environments/environment'
 import { DEFAULT_DISPLAY_FIELDS, DisplayField } from '../data/document'
+import { RemoteOCRModeConfig } from '../data/paperless-config'
 import { SavedView } from '../data/saved-view'
 import {
   PAPERLESS_GREEN_HEX,
@@ -687,6 +688,17 @@ export class SettingsService {
     return this.settingIsSet(SETTINGS_KEYS.UPDATE_CHECKING_ENABLED)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Offering remote OCR as a  choice only makes sense when an engine
+   * is configured but is not already handling every document.
+   */
+  get remoteOCRIsSelectable(): boolean {
+    return (
+      this.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_CONFIGURED) &&
+      this.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.REMOTE_OCR_MODE) !== RemoteOCRModeConfig.ALWAYS
+    )
+  }
+
   offerTour(): boolean {
     return this.dashboardIsEmpty() && !this.get(SETTINGS_KEYS.TOUR_COMPLETE)
   }

src-ui/src/main.ts

@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ import {
   journalBookmarkFill,
   journals,
   link,
+  list,
   listNested,
   listTask,
   listUl,
@@ -365,6 +366,7 @@ const icons = {
   journalBookmarkFill,
   journals,
   link,
+  list,
   listNested,
   listTask,
   listUl,

src-ui/src/styles.scss

@@ -536,6 +536,7 @@ ul.pagination {
 }
 
 .nav-underline {
+  gap: calc(0.5 * var(--bs-nav-underline-gap)) var(--bs-nav-underline-gap);
   .nav-link {
     &.active, &:hover, &:focus {
       color: var(--bs-primary);

src/documents/bulk_edit.py

@@ -399,10 +399,16 @@ def delete(doc_ids: list[int]) -> Literal["OK"]:
     return "OK"
 
 
-def reprocess(doc_ids: list[int]) -> Literal["OK"]:
+def reprocess(doc_ids: list[int], *, remote_ocr: bool = False) -> Literal["OK"]:
+    """
+    Re-run parsing for the given documents.
+
+    Consumption workflows do not run here, so ``remote_ocr`` is how the user
+    asks for the remote engine when it is not configured to handle everything.
+    """
     for document_id in doc_ids:
         update_document_content_maybe_archive_file.apply_async(
-            kwargs={"document_id": document_id},
+            kwargs={"document_id": document_id, "remote_ocr": remote_ocr},
             headers={"trigger_source": PaperlessTask.TriggerSource.MANUAL},
         )
 

src/documents/consumer.py

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ from documents.utils import copy_basic_file_stats
 from documents.utils import copy_file_with_basic_stats
 from documents.utils import run_subprocess
 from paperless.config import OcrConfig
+from paperless.config import RemoteOCRConfig
 from paperless.models import ArchiveFileGenerationChoices
 from paperless.parsers import ParserContext
 from paperless.parsers import ParserProtocol
@@ -451,12 +452,19 @@ class ConsumerPlugin(
                 except Exception as e:
                     self.log.error(f"Error attempting to clean PDF: {e}")
 
+            # Workflows have already run at this point, so the metadata knows
+            # whether this document was singled out for remote OCR
+            allow_remote = (
+                self.metadata.remote_ocr or RemoteOCRConfig().remote_ocr_by_default
+            )
+
             # Based on the mime type, get the parser for that type
             parser_class: type[ParserProtocol] | None = (
                 get_parser_registry().get_parser_for_file(
                     mime_type,
                     self.filename,
                     self.working_copy,
+                    allow_remote=allow_remote,
                 )
             )
             if not parser_class:
@@ -465,6 +473,16 @@ class ConsumerPlugin(
                     f"Unsupported mime type {mime_type}",
                 )
 
+            if self.metadata.remote_ocr and not getattr(
+                parser_class,
+                "uses_remote_service",
+                False,
+            ):
+                self.log.warning(
+                    "Remote OCR was requested for this document but no remote "
+                    "parser is available for it, processing locally instead.",
+                )
+
             # Notify all listeners that we're going to do some work.
 
             document_consumption_started.send(

src/documents/data_models.py

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ class DocumentMetadataOverrides:
     skip_asn_if_exists: bool = False
     version_label: str | None = None
     actor_id: int | None = None
+    remote_ocr: bool = False
 
     def update(self, other: "DocumentMetadataOverrides") -> "DocumentMetadataOverrides":
         """
@@ -57,6 +58,8 @@ class DocumentMetadataOverrides:
             self.actor_id = other.actor_id
         if other.skip_asn_if_exists:
             self.skip_asn_if_exists = True
+        if other.remote_ocr:
+            self.remote_ocr = True
         if other.version_label is not None:
             self.version_label = other.version_label
 

src/documents/migrations/0024_alter_workflowaction_type.py

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.16 on 2026-08-10 17:27
+
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("documents", "0023_savedview_icon"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="workflowaction",
+            name="type",
+            field=models.PositiveSmallIntegerField(
+                choices=[
+                    (1, "Assignment"),
+                    (2, "Removal"),
+                    (3, "Email"),
+                    (4, "Webhook"),
+                    (5, "Password removal"),
+                    (6, "Move to trash"),
+                    (7, "Remote OCR"),
+                ],
+                default=1,
+                verbose_name="Workflow Action Type",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]

src/documents/models.py

@@ -373,6 +373,7 @@ class Document(SoftDeleteModel, ModelWithOwner):  # type: ignore[django-manager-
         If the queryset already annotated ``effective_content``, that value is used.
         """
         # Here to avoid circular import
+        from documents.versioning import LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR
         from documents.versioning import sort_versions_newest_first
         from documents.versioning import versions_newest_first
 
@@ -382,6 +383,19 @@ class Document(SoftDeleteModel, ModelWithOwner):  # type: ignore[django-manager-
         if self.root_document_id is not None or self.pk is None:
             return self.content
 
+        latest_version_prefetch = getattr(
+            self,
+            LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR,
+            None,
+        )
+        if latest_version_prefetch is not None:
+            # Empty list means prefetch ran and found no versions — use own content.
+            return (
+                latest_version_prefetch[0].content
+                if latest_version_prefetch
+                else self.content
+            )
+
         prefetched_cache = getattr(self, "_prefetched_objects_cache", None)
         prefetched_versions = (
             prefetched_cache.get("versions")
@@ -1670,6 +1684,10 @@ class WorkflowAction(models.Model):
             6,
             _("Move to trash"),
         )
+        REMOTE_OCR = (
+            7,
+            _("Remote OCR"),
+        )
 
     type = models.PositiveSmallIntegerField(
         _("Workflow Action Type"),

src/documents/serialisers.py

@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ from documents.templating.utils import convert_format_str_to_template_format
 from documents.templating.workflows import validate_workflow_template
 from documents.validators import uri_validator
 from documents.validators import url_validator
+from documents.versioning import has_prefetched_effective_content
 from documents.versioning import sort_versions_newest_first
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -1146,8 +1147,14 @@ class DocumentSerializer(
 
     def to_representation(self, instance):
         doc = super().to_representation(instance)
-        if "content" in self.fields and hasattr(instance, "effective_content"):
-            doc["content"] = getattr(instance, "effective_content") or ""
+        if "content" in self.fields and has_prefetched_effective_content(instance):
+            # Only resolve version-aware content when it's cheap: an SQL
+            # annotation or a versions prefetch is already on the instance.
+            # A caller that set up neither (e.g. TrashView, GlobalSearchView,
+            # which build their own querysets) gets the document's own,
+            # unresolved content instead of paying for an extra per-instance
+            # query -- same as before effective_content resolution existed.
+            doc["content"] = instance.get_effective_content() or ""
         if self.truncate_content and "content" in self.fields:
             doc["content"] = doc.get("content")[0:550]
         return doc
@@ -1795,7 +1802,7 @@ class DeleteDocumentsSerializer(DocumentSelectionSerializer):
 
 
 class ReprocessDocumentsSerializer(DocumentSelectionSerializer):
-    pass
+    remote_ocr = serializers.BooleanField(required=False, default=False)
 
 
 class BulkEditSerializer(
@@ -2137,6 +2144,13 @@ class BulkEditSerializer(
                         f"Page {op['page']} is out of bounds for document with {doc.page_count} pages.",
                     )
 
+    def _validate_parameters_reprocess(self, parameters) -> None:
+        if "remote_ocr" in parameters:
+            if not isinstance(parameters["remote_ocr"], bool):
+                raise serializers.ValidationError("remote_ocr must be a boolean")
+        else:
+            parameters["remote_ocr"] = False
+
     def validate_parameters_remove_password(self, parameters):
         if "password" not in parameters:
             raise serializers.ValidationError("password not specified")
@@ -2201,6 +2215,8 @@ class BulkEditSerializer(
             self._validate_parameters_edit_pdf(parameters, attrs["documents"][0])
         elif method == bulk_edit.remove_password:
             self.validate_parameters_remove_password(parameters)
+        elif method == bulk_edit.reprocess:
+            self._validate_parameters_reprocess(parameters)
 
         return attrs
 
@@ -3303,6 +3319,41 @@ class WorkflowSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer[Workflow]):
             "actions",
         ]
 
+    def validate(self, attrs):
+        attrs = super().validate(attrs)
+
+        if "actions" in attrs:
+            has_remote_ocr_action = any(
+                action.get("type") == WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR
+                for action in attrs["actions"]
+            )
+        else:
+            has_remote_ocr_action = self.instance is not None and (
+                self.instance.actions.filter(
+                    type=WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+                ).exists()
+            )
+
+        if "triggers" in attrs:
+            has_consumption_trigger = any(
+                trigger.get("type") == WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION
+                for trigger in attrs["triggers"]
+            )
+        else:
+            has_consumption_trigger = self.instance is not None and (
+                self.instance.triggers.filter(
+                    type=WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION,
+                ).exists()
+            )
+
+        # Remote OCR can only work with consumption triggers
+        if has_remote_ocr_action and not has_consumption_trigger:
+            raise serializers.ValidationError(
+                "Remote OCR actions require a consumption started trigger",
+            )
+
+        return attrs
+
     def update_triggers_and_actions(
         self,
         instance: Workflow,

src/documents/signals/handlers.py

@@ -973,6 +973,17 @@ def run_workflows(
                     )
                 elif action.type == WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.MOVE_TO_TRASH:
                     has_move_to_trash_action = True
+                elif action.type == WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR:
+                    if use_overrides and overrides:
+                        overrides.remote_ocr = True
+                    else:
+                        # If a workflow has a consumption trigger *and* another type,
+                        # the document has already been parsed by the time the other one fires
+                        logger.debug(
+                            "Remote OCR action only applies to consumption "
+                            "triggers, ignoring",
+                            extra={"group": logging_group},
+                        )
 
             if not use_overrides:
                 # limit title to 128 characters

src/documents/tasks.py

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ from documents.utils import identity
 from documents.versioning import annotate_effective_content
 from documents.workflows.utils import get_workflows_for_trigger
 from paperless.config import AIConfig
+from paperless.config import RemoteOCRConfig
 from paperless.logging import consume_task_id
 from paperless.parsers import ParserContext
 from paperless.parsers.registry import get_parser_registry
@@ -338,10 +339,17 @@ def bulk_update_documents(document_ids) -> None:
 
 
 @shared_task
-def update_document_content_maybe_archive_file(document_id) -> None:
+def update_document_content_maybe_archive_file(
+    document_id,
+    *,
+    remote_ocr: bool = False,
+) -> None:
     """
     Re-creates OCR content and thumbnail for a document, and archive file if
     it exists.
+
+    Remote OCR is used only when the engine is configured to handle everything
+    or if explicitly asked for via ``remote_ocr``.
     """
     document = Document.objects.get(id=document_id)
 
@@ -351,6 +359,7 @@ def update_document_content_maybe_archive_file(document_id) -> None:
         mime_type,
         document.original_filename or "",
         document.source_path,
+        allow_remote=remote_ocr or RemoteOCRConfig().remote_ocr_by_default,
     )
 
     if not parser_class:

src/documents/tests/test_api_app_config.py

@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ class TestApiAppConfig(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
                 "barcode_enable_tag": None,
                 "barcode_tag_mapping": None,
                 "barcode_tag_split": None,
+                "remote_ocr_engine": None,
+                "remote_ocr_api_key": None,
+                "remote_ocr_endpoint": None,
+                "remote_ocr_mode": None,
                 "ai_enabled": False,
                 "llm_embedding_backend": None,
                 "llm_embedding_model": None,
@@ -870,6 +874,49 @@ class TestApiAppConfig(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         config.refresh_from_db()
         self.assertEqual(config.llm_api_key, None)
 
+    def test_update_remote_ocr_api_key(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - Existing config with remote_ocr_api_key specified
+        WHEN:
+            - API to update remote_ocr_api_key is called with all *s
+            - API to update remote_ocr_api_key is called with empty string
+        THEN:
+            - remote_ocr_api_key is unchanged
+            - remote_ocr_api_key is set to None
+        """
+        config = ApplicationConfiguration.objects.first()
+        assert config is not None
+        config.remote_ocr_api_key = "1234567890"
+        config.save()
+
+        # Test with all *
+        response = self.client.patch(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}1/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "remote_ocr_api_key": "*" * 32,
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        config.refresh_from_db()
+        self.assertEqual(config.remote_ocr_api_key, "1234567890")
+        # Test with empty string
+        response = self.client.patch(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}1/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "remote_ocr_api_key": "",
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        config.refresh_from_db()
+        self.assertEqual(config.remote_ocr_api_key, None)
+
     def test_enable_ai_index_triggers_update(self) -> None:
         """
         GIVEN:

src/documents/tests/test_api_bulk_edit.py

@@ -532,7 +532,29 @@ class TestBulkEditAPI(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         m.assert_called_once()
         args, kwargs = m.call_args
         self.assertEqual(args[0], [self.doc1.id])
-        self.assertEqual(len(kwargs), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(kwargs, {"remote_ocr": False})
+
+    @mock.patch("documents.views.bulk_edit.reprocess")
+    def test_reprocess_documents_endpoint_remote_ocr(self, m) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - API data to reprocess a document with remote OCR requested
+        WHEN:
+            - API is called
+        THEN:
+            - reprocess is called with remote_ocr=True
+        """
+        self.setup_mock(m, "reprocess")
+        response = self.client.post(
+            "/api/documents/reprocess/",
+            json.dumps({"documents": [self.doc1.id], "remote_ocr": True}),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        m.assert_called_once()
+        args, kwargs = m.call_args
+        self.assertEqual(args[0], [self.doc1.id])
+        self.assertEqual(kwargs, {"remote_ocr": True})
 
     @mock.patch("documents.serialisers.bulk_edit.set_storage_path")
     def test_api_set_storage_path(self, m) -> None:
@@ -1553,6 +1575,29 @@ class TestBulkEditAPI(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
                             ),
                         )
 
+    def test_legacy_bulk_edit_reprocess_invalid_remote_ocr(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - The deprecated bulk_edit endpoint with a non-boolean remote_ocr
+        WHEN:
+            - API is called
+        THEN:
+            - The request is rejected rather than passed through to the task
+        """
+        response = self.client.post(
+            "/api/documents/bulk_edit/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "documents": [self.doc1.id],
+                    "method": "reprocess",
+                    "parameters": {"remote_ocr": "yes please"},
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)
+
     @mock.patch("documents.views.bulk_edit.edit_pdf")
     def test_edit_pdf(self, m) -> None:
         self.setup_mock(m, "edit_pdf")

src/documents/tests/test_api_uisettings.py

@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ class TestApiUiSettings(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
                 },
                 "email_enabled": False,
                 "ai_enabled": False,
+                "remote_ocr": {
+                    "configured": False,
+                    "mode": "always",
+                },
             },
         )
 
@@ -154,6 +158,50 @@ class TestApiUiSettings(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
             str(response.data["settings"]),
         )
 
+    @override_settings(
+        REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE="azureai",
+        REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY="somekey",
+        REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT="https://example.cognitiveservices.azure.com",
+        REMOTE_OCR_MODE="workflow_only",
+    )
+    def test_settings_reports_remote_ocr_when_configured(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - A fully configured remote OCR engine in workflow_only mode
+        WHEN:
+            - The ui_settings endpoint is called
+        THEN:
+            - The UI is told remote OCR is available and selective, so it can
+              offer it where it would actually change something
+        """
+        response = self.client.get(self.ENDPOINT, format="json")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            response.data["settings"]["remote_ocr"],
+            {"configured": True, "mode": "workflow_only"},
+        )
+
+    @override_settings(
+        REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE="azureai",
+        REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY=None,
+        REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT=None,
+    )
+    def test_settings_reports_remote_ocr_incompletely_configured(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - An engine named but missing its endpoint and API key
+        WHEN:
+            - The ui_settings endpoint is called
+        THEN:
+            - It is reported as not configured, matching what the parser
+              registry will actually do
+        """
+        response = self.client.get(self.ENDPOINT, format="json")
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        self.assertFalse(response.data["settings"]["remote_ocr"]["configured"])
+
     @override_settings(
         OAUTH_CALLBACK_BASE_URL="http://localhost:8000",
         GMAIL_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID="abc123",

src/documents/tests/test_api_workflows.py

@@ -506,6 +506,141 @@ class TestApiWorkflows(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
 
         self.assertEqual(Workflow.objects.count(), 1)
 
+    def test_api_create_remote_ocr_action_requires_consumption_trigger(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - API request to create a workflow with a remote OCR action
+            - No consumption started trigger, so the action could never run
+        WHEN:
+            - API is called
+        THEN:
+            - Correct HTTP 400 response
+            - No objects are created
+        """
+        existing_count = Workflow.objects.count()
+
+        response = self.client.post(
+            self.ENDPOINT,
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "name": "Remote OCR too late",
+                    "order": 1,
+                    "triggers": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.DOCUMENT_ADDED,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                    "actions": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)
+        self.assertEqual(Workflow.objects.count(), existing_count)
+
+    def test_api_create_remote_ocr_action_with_consumption_trigger(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - API request to create a workflow with a remote OCR action
+            - A consumption started trigger alongside another trigger type
+        WHEN:
+            - API is called
+        THEN:
+            - The workflow is created, the action applies to consumption only
+        """
+        response = self.client.post(
+            self.ENDPOINT,
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "name": "Remote OCR on consume",
+                    "order": 1,
+                    "triggers": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION,
+                            "filter_filename": "*.pdf",
+                        },
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.DOCUMENT_ADDED,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                    "actions": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
+
+    def test_api_partial_update_adds_remote_ocr_action(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - An existing workflow with a consumption started trigger
+        WHEN:
+            - A partial update adds a remote OCR action without resubmitting triggers
+        THEN:
+            - The existing trigger is considered and the update succeeds
+        """
+        response = self.client.patch(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}{self.workflow.id}/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "actions": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.workflow.actions.get().type,
+            WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+        )
+
+    def test_api_partial_update_cannot_remove_remote_ocr_trigger(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - An existing workflow with a remote OCR action
+            - An existing consumption started trigger
+        WHEN:
+            - A partial update replaces the trigger without resubmitting actions
+        THEN:
+            - The existing action is considered and the update is rejected
+        """
+        self.action.type = WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR
+        self.action.save()
+
+        response = self.client.patch(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}{self.workflow.id}/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "triggers": [
+                        {
+                            "type": WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.DOCUMENT_UPDATED,
+                        },
+                    ],
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)
+        self.assertEqual(self.workflow.triggers.get(), self.trigger)
+
     def test_api_create_workflow_trigger_action_empty_fields(self) -> None:
         """
         GIVEN:

src/documents/tests/test_bulk_edit.py

@@ -1782,3 +1782,56 @@ class TestPDFActions(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
 
         self.assertIn("wrong password", str(exc.exception))
         self.assertIn("Error removing password from document", cm.output[0])
+
+
+class TestBulkEditReprocess(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        super().setUp()
+
+        self.doc = Document.objects.create(
+            title="test",
+            checksum="A",
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+        )
+
+    @mock.patch("documents.bulk_edit.update_document_content_maybe_archive_file")
+    def test_reprocess_defaults_to_local(self, mock_task: mock.Mock) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - A reprocess request that says nothing about remote OCR
+        WHEN:
+            - reprocess is called
+        THEN:
+            - The task is queued without asking for the remote engine
+        """
+        result = bulk_edit.reprocess([self.doc.id])
+
+        self.assertEqual(result, "OK")
+        mock_task.apply_async.assert_called_once()
+        _, kwargs = mock_task.apply_async.call_args
+        self.assertEqual(
+            kwargs["kwargs"],
+            {"document_id": self.doc.id, "remote_ocr": False},
+        )
+
+    @mock.patch("documents.bulk_edit.update_document_content_maybe_archive_file")
+    def test_reprocess_passes_remote_ocr(self, mock_task: mock.Mock) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - A reprocess request that explicitly asks for remote OCR
+        WHEN:
+            - reprocess is called
+        THEN:
+            - The request is forwarded to the task for every document
+        """
+        other = Document.objects.create(
+            title="test2",
+            checksum="B",
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+        )
+
+        bulk_edit.reprocess([self.doc.id, other.id], remote_ocr=True)
+
+        self.assertEqual(mock_task.apply_async.call_count, 2)
+        for call in mock_task.apply_async.call_args_list:
+            self.assertTrue(call.kwargs["kwargs"]["remote_ocr"])

src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py

@@ -1559,6 +1559,72 @@ class PostConsumeTestCase(DirectoriesMixin, GetConsumerMixin, TestCase):
                         consumer.run_post_consume_script(doc)
 
 
+class TestConsumerRemoteOCR(
+    DirectoriesMixin,
+    FileSystemAssertsMixin,
+    GetConsumerMixin,
+    TestCase,
+):
+    """
+    The consumer resolves the remote OCR mode and the per-document request from
+    workflows into the allow_remote flag it hands to the parser registry.
+    """
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        super().setUp()
+
+        patcher = mock.patch("documents.consumer.get_parser_registry")
+        self.mock_registry = patcher.start()
+        self.mock_registry.return_value.get_parser_for_file.return_value = DummyParser
+        self.addCleanup(patcher.stop)
+
+    def _consume(self, *, overrides: DocumentMetadataOverrides | None = None) -> bool:
+        src = (
+            Path(__file__).parent
+            / "samples"
+            / "documents"
+            / "originals"
+            / "0000001.pdf"
+        )
+        dst = self.dirs.scratch_dir / "sample.pdf"
+        shutil.copy(src, dst)
+
+        with self.get_consumer(dst, overrides=overrides) as consumer:
+            consumer.run()
+
+        _, kwargs = self.mock_registry.return_value.get_parser_for_file.call_args
+        return kwargs["allow_remote"]
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="always")
+    def test_always_mode_allows_remote(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: Remote OCR mode is 'always'.
+        WHEN:  A document is consumed without any workflow asking for it.
+        THEN:  The registry is allowed to pick the remote parser.
+        """
+        self.assertTrue(self._consume())
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="workflow_only")
+    def test_workflow_only_mode_denies_remote_by_default(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: Remote OCR mode is 'workflow_only'.
+        WHEN:  A document is consumed and nothing asked for remote OCR.
+        THEN:  The remote parser is excluded.
+        """
+        self.assertFalse(self._consume())
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="workflow_only")
+    def test_workflow_only_mode_allows_remote_when_requested(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: Remote OCR mode is 'workflow_only'.
+        WHEN:  A workflow set remote_ocr on the metadata overrides.
+        THEN:  The registry is allowed to pick the remote parser.
+        """
+        self.assertTrue(
+            self._consume(overrides=DocumentMetadataOverrides(remote_ocr=True)),
+        )
+
+
 class TestMetadataOverrides(TestCase):
     def test_update_skip_asn_if_exists(self) -> None:
         base = DocumentMetadataOverrides()
@@ -1566,6 +1632,20 @@ class TestMetadataOverrides(TestCase):
         base.update(incoming)
         self.assertTrue(base.skip_asn_if_exists)
 
+    def test_update_remote_ocr(self) -> None:
+        base = DocumentMetadataOverrides()
+        base.update(DocumentMetadataOverrides(remote_ocr=True))
+        self.assertTrue(base.remote_ocr)
+
+    def test_update_remote_ocr_is_not_unset(self) -> None:
+        """
+        A later workflow that says nothing must not undo an earlier one that
+        asked for remote OCR.
+        """
+        base = DocumentMetadataOverrides(remote_ocr=True)
+        base.update(DocumentMetadataOverrides())
+        self.assertTrue(base.remote_ocr)
+
     def test_update_actor_and_version_label(self) -> None:
         base = DocumentMetadataOverrides(
             actor_id=1,

src/documents/tests/test_document_list_effective_content_annotation.py

@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+import pytest
+from django.db import connection
+from django.test.utils import CaptureQueriesContext
+from rest_framework import status
+
+from documents.models import Document
+from documents.tests.factories import DocumentFactory
+from documents.versioning import LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR
+from documents.versioning import has_prefetched_effective_content
+from documents.versioning import latest_version_content_prefetch
+from documents.views import DocumentViewSet
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from rest_framework.test import APIClient
+
+
+class TestNeedsEffectiveContentAnnotation:
+    """
+    DocumentViewSet._needs_effective_content_annotation() decides whether
+    the effective_content correlated subquery is worth attaching to the
+    queryset at all -- see TestDocumentListEffectiveContentAnnotation below
+    for why. This only checks that decision's own logic (a plain query-param
+    membership test), not that Django/DRF's filtering machinery works.
+    """
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ("params", "expected"),
+        [
+            ({}, False),
+            ({"ordering": "-added"}, False),
+            ({"tags__id__in": "1,2"}, False),
+            ({"search": ""}, False),
+            ({"search": "   "}, False),
+            ({"content__icontains": ""}, False),
+            ({"search": "foo"}, True),
+            ({"title_content": "foo"}, True),
+            ({"content__istartswith": "foo"}, True),
+            ({"content__iendswith": "foo"}, True),
+            ({"content__icontains": "foo"}, True),
+            ({"content__iexact": "foo"}, True),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_detects_content_filter_params(
+        self,
+        params: dict[str, str],
+        expected: bool,  # noqa: FBT001
+    ) -> None:
+        # GIVEN a view bound to a request carrying the given query params
+        view = DocumentViewSet()
+        view.request = SimpleNamespace(query_params=params)
+
+        # WHEN checking whether the effective_content annotation is needed
+        # THEN it's needed only for requests that actually filter on it
+        assert view._needs_effective_content_annotation() is expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+class TestDocumentListEffectiveContentAnnotation:
+    """
+    DocumentViewSet.get_queryset() only attaches the effective_content
+    correlated subquery when a request actually filters on it. Attaching it
+    unconditionally re-executes it once per candidate row before the page's
+    LIMIT is applied -- fine on SQLite/Postgres, but pathological on
+    MariaDB's default cardinality estimation for the root_document_id
+    self-join once candidate counts get large (see the root_document_id /
+    effective_content perf investigation).
+    """
+
+    def test_list_without_content_filter_skips_annotation_but_returns_latest_content(
+        self,
+        admin_client: APIClient,
+    ) -> None:
+        # GIVEN a root document whose latest version has different content
+        root = DocumentFactory(content="old-root-content")
+        DocumentFactory(
+            root_document=root,
+            version_index=1,
+            content="new-version-content",
+        )
+
+        # WHEN listing documents with no search/content-filter param
+        with CaptureQueriesContext(connection) as ctx:
+            response = admin_client.get("/api/documents/?fields=id,content")
+
+        # THEN the response still reflects the latest version's content...
+        assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
+        assert response.data["results"] == [
+            {"id": root.id, "content": "new-version-content"},
+        ]
+        # ...without the database ever evaluating effective_content per row
+        assert not any(
+            "effective_content" in query["sql"] for query in ctx.captured_queries
+        )
+
+    def test_latest_version_content_prefetch_carries_only_the_newest_version(
+        self,
+    ) -> None:
+        # GIVEN a root document with two versions
+        root = DocumentFactory(content="root-content")
+        DocumentFactory(
+            root_document=root,
+            version_index=1,
+            content="older-version-content",
+        )
+        DocumentFactory(
+            root_document=root,
+            version_index=2,
+            content="newest-version-content",
+        )
+
+        # WHEN fetching the root through latest_version_content_prefetch()
+        fetched_root = (
+            Document.objects.filter(pk=root.pk)
+            .prefetch_related(
+                latest_version_content_prefetch(),
+            )
+            .get()
+        )
+
+        # THEN the prefetch carries only the single newest version, not
+        # every historical version's content (the whole point of not
+        # reusing the metadata-only "versions" prefetch for this)
+        latest = getattr(fetched_root, LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR)
+        assert [v.content for v in latest] == ["newest-version-content"]
+
+
+class TestHasPrefetchedEffectiveContent:
+    """
+    DocumentSerializer.to_representation() only calls get_effective_content()
+    when has_prefetched_effective_content() says it's cheap -- otherwise a
+    caller that never set up an annotation or prefetch (TrashView,
+    GlobalSearchView, which build their own querysets and don't display
+    content at all) would pay for a per-instance query nobody asked for.
+    """
+
+    def test_false_with_no_annotation_or_prefetch(self) -> None:
+        document = Document()
+        assert has_prefetched_effective_content(document) is False
+
+    def test_true_with_effective_content_annotation(self) -> None:
+        document = Document()
+        document.effective_content = "resolved"
+        assert has_prefetched_effective_content(document) is True
+
+    def test_true_with_lean_prefetch_attr_even_when_empty(self) -> None:
+        document = Document()
+        setattr(document, LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR, [])
+        assert has_prefetched_effective_content(document) is True
+
+    def test_true_with_metadata_versions_prefetch_cache(self) -> None:
+        document = Document()
+        document._prefetched_objects_cache = {"versions": []}
+        assert has_prefetched_effective_content(document) is True
+
+
+def _get_effective_content_fallback_queries(
+    ctx: CaptureQueriesContext,
+) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
+    """
+    Document.get_effective_content()'s per-instance fallback (no annotation,
+    no prefetch) is a `.values_list("content", flat=True).first()` query --
+    a SELECT of just the content column. Distinct from get_versions()'s own,
+    unrelated per-instance metadata query (id/checksum/added/etc, no
+    content) run to build the "versions" response field, which isn't part
+    of what this test file covers.
+    """
+    return [
+        q
+        for q in ctx.captured_queries
+        if q["sql"].startswith('SELECT "documents_document"."content" FROM')
+    ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+class TestTrashAndGlobalSearchDoNotResolveEffectiveContent:
+    """
+    TrashView and GlobalSearchView serialize Document instances with
+    DocumentSerializer too, but build their querysets independently of
+    DocumentViewSet.get_queryset() -- and neither actually displays
+    document content. They should keep showing the document's own,
+    unresolved content with no extra query, exactly as before
+    effective_content resolution existed.
+    """
+
+    def test_trash_list_shows_unresolved_content_with_no_extra_query(
+        self,
+        admin_client: APIClient,
+    ) -> None:
+        # GIVEN a trashed root document whose own content differs from what
+        # a (also trashed, since deletion cascades) version would have had
+        root = DocumentFactory(content="own-content")
+        DocumentFactory(
+            root_document=root,
+            version_index=1,
+            content="version-content",
+        )
+        root.delete()
+
+        # WHEN listing trash
+        with CaptureQueriesContext(connection) as ctx:
+            response = admin_client.get("/api/trash/")
+
+        # THEN the response shows the document's own content...
+        assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
+        [result] = [r for r in response.data["results"] if r["id"] == root.id]
+        assert result["content"] == "own-content"
+        # ...without ever querying for versions to resolve it
+        assert _get_effective_content_fallback_queries(ctx) == []
+
+    def test_global_search_db_only_shows_unresolved_content_with_no_extra_query(
+        self,
+        admin_client: APIClient,
+    ) -> None:
+        # GIVEN a root document, findable by title, whose own content
+        # differs from its latest version's
+        root = DocumentFactory(title="findme", content="own-content")
+        DocumentFactory(
+            root_document=root,
+            version_index=1,
+            content="version-content",
+        )
+
+        # WHEN using the global search endpoint's db_only mode
+        with CaptureQueriesContext(connection) as ctx:
+            response = admin_client.get(
+                "/api/search/?query=findme&db_only=true",
+            )
+
+        # THEN the response shows the document's own content...
+        assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
+        [result] = [d for d in response.data["documents"] if d["id"] == root.id]
+        assert result["content"] == "own-content"
+        # ...without ever querying for versions to resolve it
+        assert _get_effective_content_fallback_queries(ctx) == []

src/documents/tests/test_tasks.py

@@ -287,6 +287,45 @@ class TestUpdateContent(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
         self.assertNotEqual(Document.objects.get(pk=doc.pk).content, "test")
 
 
+class TestUpdateContentRemoteOCR(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
+    """
+    Consumption workflows do not run on reprocess, so the remote parser is
+    used only in 'always' mode or when the caller explicitly asks for it.
+    """
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        super().setUp()
+
+        patcher = mock.patch("documents.tasks.get_parser_registry")
+        self.mock_registry = patcher.start()
+        self.mock_registry.return_value.get_parser_for_file.return_value = None
+        self.addCleanup(patcher.stop)
+
+        self.doc = Document.objects.create(
+            title="test",
+            content="my document",
+            checksum="wow",
+            mime_type="application/pdf",
+        )
+
+    def _allow_remote(self, **kwargs) -> bool:
+        tasks.update_document_content_maybe_archive_file(self.doc.pk, **kwargs)
+        _, call_kwargs = self.mock_registry.return_value.get_parser_for_file.call_args
+        return call_kwargs["allow_remote"]
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="always")
+    def test_always_mode_allows_remote(self) -> None:
+        self.assertTrue(self._allow_remote())
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="workflow_only")
+    def test_workflow_only_mode_denies_remote_by_default(self) -> None:
+        self.assertFalse(self._allow_remote())
+
+    @override_settings(REMOTE_OCR_MODE="workflow_only")
+    def test_workflow_only_mode_allows_remote_when_requested(self) -> None:
+        self.assertTrue(self._allow_remote(remote_ocr=True))
+
+
 class TestAIIndex(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
     @override_settings(
         AI_ENABLED=True,

src/documents/tests/test_workflows.py

@@ -5409,3 +5409,82 @@ class TestDateWorkflowLocalization(
             document = Document.objects.first()
             assert document is not None
             assert document.title == expected_title
+
+
+class TestRemoteOCRWorkflowAction(DirectoriesMixin, SampleDirMixin, APITestCase):
+    def _make_workflow(self, trigger_type) -> None:
+        trigger = WorkflowTrigger.objects.create(type=trigger_type)
+        action = WorkflowAction.objects.create(
+            type=WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+        )
+        w = Workflow.objects.create(name="Remote OCR", order=0)
+        w.triggers.add(trigger)
+        w.actions.add(action)
+        w.save()
+
+    def test_consumption_trigger_requests_remote_ocr(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - A consumption workflow with a remote OCR action
+        WHEN:
+            - A matching document is consumed
+        THEN:
+            - The overrides ask for remote OCR, which is what the consumer
+              reads when choosing a parser
+        """
+        self._make_workflow(WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION)
+
+        test_file = shutil.copy(
+            self.SAMPLE_DIR / "simple.pdf",
+            self.dirs.scratch_dir / "simple.pdf",
+        )
+        overrides = DocumentMetadataOverrides()
+
+        run_workflows(
+            WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION,
+            ConsumableDocument(
+                source=DocumentSource.ConsumeFolder,
+                original_file=test_file,
+            ),
+            overrides=overrides,
+        )
+
+        self.assertTrue(overrides.remote_ocr)
+
+    def test_other_trigger_types_are_ignored(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - A workflow with a remote OCR action that also has a
+              non-consumption trigger, which is a valid combination
+        WHEN:
+            - The non-consumption trigger fires
+        THEN:
+            - The action is skipped, since the document has already been
+              parsed by this point
+        """
+        trigger = WorkflowTrigger.objects.create(
+            type=WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.CONSUMPTION,
+        )
+        updated_trigger = WorkflowTrigger.objects.create(
+            type=WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.DOCUMENT_UPDATED,
+        )
+        action = WorkflowAction.objects.create(
+            type=WorkflowAction.WorkflowActionType.REMOTE_OCR,
+        )
+        w = Workflow.objects.create(name="Remote OCR", order=0)
+        w.triggers.add(trigger, updated_trigger)
+        w.actions.add(action)
+        w.save()
+
+        doc = Document.objects.create(
+            title="sample test",
+            original_filename="sample.pdf",
+        )
+
+        with self.assertLogs("paperless.handlers", level="DEBUG") as cm:
+            run_workflows(
+                WorkflowTrigger.WorkflowTriggerType.DOCUMENT_UPDATED,
+                doc,
+            )
+
+        self.assertIn("only applies to consumption triggers", "".join(cm.output))

src/documents/versioning.py

@@ -7,9 +7,12 @@ from typing import Any
 
 from django.db.models import F
 from django.db.models import OuterRef
+from django.db.models import Prefetch
 from django.db.models import QuerySet
 from django.db.models import Subquery
+from django.db.models import Window
 from django.db.models.functions import Coalesce
+from django.db.models.functions import RowNumber
 
 from documents.models import Document
 
@@ -43,6 +46,68 @@ def annotate_effective_content(documents: QuerySet[Document]) -> QuerySet[Docume
     )
 
 
+LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR = "_latest_version_content_prefetch"
+
+
+def latest_version_content_prefetch() -> Prefetch:
+    """
+    A Prefetch for Document.versions scoped to just the newest version's
+    content, for get_effective_content()'s fallback when no SQL annotation
+    is present.
+
+    Deliberately not merged into a metadata-only "versions" prefetch (the one
+    used for the serialized versions list): that one fetches every historical
+    version of every document, and pulling full OCR content for versions
+    nobody will read wastes DB transfer/memory at scale. This one is windowed
+    down to a single row per root, then bounded by Prefetch's own IN-list to
+    whatever page/result set it's attached to -- one cheap bulk query total,
+    not one per document and not one per version.
+    """
+    return Prefetch(
+        "versions",
+        queryset=(
+            Document.objects.filter(
+                root_document_id__isnull=False,
+                deleted_at__isnull=True,
+            )
+            .annotate(
+                rn=Window(
+                    RowNumber(),
+                    partition_by=F("root_document_id"),
+                    order_by=[
+                        F("version_index").desc(nulls_last=True),
+                        F("id").desc(),
+                    ],
+                ),
+            )
+            .filter(rn=1)
+            .only("id", "root_document_id", "content")
+        ),
+        to_attr=LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR,
+    )
+
+
+def has_prefetched_effective_content(document: Document) -> bool:
+    """
+    True if document.get_effective_content() can answer without an extra
+    per-instance query -- an SQL ``effective_content`` annotation, the lean
+    latest_version_content_prefetch(), or the metadata-only "versions"
+    prefetch is already present on the instance.
+
+    Callers that haven't set any of those up (e.g. views that build their
+    own querysets independently of DocumentViewSet.get_queryset(), like
+    TrashView or GlobalSearchView) intentionally don't pay for version-aware
+    content resolution -- see DocumentSerializer.to_representation(), which
+    uses this to decide whether to call get_effective_content() at all.
+    """
+    if hasattr(document, "effective_content"):
+        return True
+    if getattr(document, LATEST_VERSION_CONTENT_PREFETCH_ATTR, None) is not None:
+        return True
+    prefetched_cache = getattr(document, "_prefetched_objects_cache", None)
+    return isinstance(prefetched_cache, dict) and "versions" in prefetched_cache
+
+
 def sort_versions_newest_first(documents: list[Document]) -> list[Document]:
     """
     Same sorting as versions_newest_first()

src/documents/views.py

@@ -233,14 +233,17 @@ from documents.versioning import VersionResolutionError
 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 latest_version_content_prefetch
 from documents.versioning import resolve_requested_version_for_root
 from documents.versioning import versions_newest_first
 from paperless import version
 from paperless.celery import app as celery_app
 from paperless.config import AIConfig
 from paperless.config import GeneralConfig
+from paperless.config import RemoteOCRConfig
 from paperless.models import ApplicationConfiguration
 from paperless.parsers.registry import get_parser_registry
+from paperless.parsers.remote import RemoteEngineConfig
 from paperless.serialisers import GroupSerializer
 from paperless.serialisers import UserSerializer
 from paperless.views import StandardPagination
@@ -1083,12 +1086,40 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
             ],
         }
 
-    def get_queryset(self):
-        latest_version_content = Subquery(
-            versions_newest_first(
-                Document.objects.filter(root_document=OuterRef("pk")),
-            ).values("content")[:1],
+    # Query params whose filtering needs effective_content evaluated in SQL
+    # against every candidate row -- see _needs_effective_content_annotation().
+    _CONTENT_FILTER_PARAMS = (
+        "search",  # DRF SearchFilter's search_fields includes effective_content
+        "title_content",
+        "content__istartswith",
+        "content__iendswith",
+        "content__icontains",
+        "content__iexact",
+    )
+
+    def _needs_effective_content_annotation(self) -> bool:
+        # effective_content is a per-row correlated subquery resolving each
+        # document's latest version. Cheap when evaluated only for the page
+        # that survives filtering/sorting/pagination (the common case, via
+        # the "versions" prefetch + Document.get_effective_content()'s
+        # fallback), but if anything filters *on* it, the database has to
+        # evaluate it for every candidate row before the LIMIT is reached --
+        # pathological on MariaDB specifically for the root_document_id
+        # self-join once real candidate counts get large. Everything on this
+        # list is deprecated in favor of the Tantivy-backed search endpoint
+        # (see filters.py's TitleContentFilter/EffectiveContentFilter docs),
+        # so keep paying that cost only when one is actually used. Checked as
+        # a stripped, non-blank value (not just key presence) to match how
+        # DRF's SearchFilter and TitleContentFilter/EffectiveContentFilter
+        # themselves no-op on a blank value -- otherwise an empty `?search=`
+        # or a saved view with a cleared text filter would still pay for the
+        # annotation despite applying no actual predicate.
+        params = self.request.query_params
+        return any(
+            params.get(param, "").strip() for param in self._CONTENT_FILTER_PARAMS
         )
+
+    def get_queryset(self):
         # A correlated subquery avoids the LEFT JOIN + Count() this used to
         # be, which forced a GROUP BY aggregate over every matching document
         # before the query could even be sorted or limited.
@@ -1108,10 +1139,9 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
         # ObjectFilter.filter(). A blanket .distinct() here forces the
         # database to fully sort and dedupe every visible document before
         # it can apply LIMIT, which is disastrous at scale.
-        return (
+        queryset = (
             Document.objects.filter(root_document__isnull=True)
             .order_by("-created", "-id")
-            .annotate(effective_content=Coalesce(latest_version_content, F("content")))
             .annotate(num_notes=Coalesce(note_count, 0))
             .select_related("correspondent", "storage_path", "document_type", "owner")
             .prefetch_related(
@@ -1126,6 +1156,7 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
                         "version_index",
                     ),
                 ),
+                latest_version_content_prefetch(),
                 "tags",
                 Prefetch(
                     "custom_fields",
@@ -1134,6 +1165,16 @@ class DocumentViewSet(
                 "notes",
             )
         )
+        if self._needs_effective_content_annotation():
+            latest_version_content = Subquery(
+                versions_newest_first(
+                    Document.objects.filter(root_document=OuterRef("pk")),
+                ).values("content")[:1],
+            )
+            queryset = queryset.annotate(
+                effective_content=Coalesce(latest_version_content, F("content")),
+            )
+        return queryset
 
     def get_serializer(self, *args, **kwargs):
         fields_param = self.request.query_params.get("fields", None)
@@ -4100,6 +4141,11 @@ class UiSettingsView(GenericAPIView[Any]):
 
         ui_settings["auditlog_enabled"] = settings.AUDIT_LOG_ENABLED
 
+        ui_settings["remote_ocr"] = {
+            "configured": RemoteEngineConfig.from_app_config().engine_is_valid(),
+            "mode": RemoteOCRConfig().remote_ocr_mode,
+        }
+
         if settings.GMAIL_OAUTH_ENABLED or settings.OUTLOOK_OAUTH_ENABLED:
             manager = PaperlessMailOAuth2Manager()
             if settings.GMAIL_OAUTH_ENABLED:

src/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/django.po

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 "Project-Id-Version: paperless-ngx\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2026-08-19 18:18+0000\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2026-08-24 21:43+0000\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: 2022-02-17 04:17\n"
 "Last-Translator: \n"
 "Language-Team: English\n"
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Automatic"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:65 documents/models.py:606 documents/models.py:1920
+#: documents/models.py:65 documents/models.py:606 documents/models.py:1924
 #: paperless_mail/models.py:23 paperless_mail/models.py:143
 msgid "name"
 msgstr ""
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ msgid "Optional short label for a document version."
 msgstr ""
 
 #: documents/models.py:340 documents/models.py:922 documents/models.py:976
-#: documents/models.py:1963
+#: documents/models.py:1967
 msgid "document"
 msgstr ""
 
@@ -1385,198 +1385,202 @@ msgid "Move to trash"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: documents/models.py:1675
+msgid "Remote OCR"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: documents/models.py:1679
 msgid "Workflow Action Type"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1680 documents/models.py:1922
+#: documents/models.py:1684 documents/models.py:1926
 #: paperless_mail/models.py:145
 msgid "order"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1683
+#: documents/models.py:1687
 msgid "assign title"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1687
+#: documents/models.py:1691
 msgid "Assign a document title, must  be a Jinja2 template, see documentation."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1695 paperless_mail/models.py:274
+#: documents/models.py:1699 paperless_mail/models.py:274
 msgid "assign this tag"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1704 paperless_mail/models.py:282
+#: documents/models.py:1708 paperless_mail/models.py:282
 msgid "assign this document type"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1713 paperless_mail/models.py:296
+#: documents/models.py:1717 paperless_mail/models.py:296
 msgid "assign this correspondent"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1722
+#: documents/models.py:1726
 msgid "assign this storage path"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1731
+#: documents/models.py:1735
 msgid "assign this owner"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1738
+#: documents/models.py:1742
 msgid "grant view permissions to these users"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1745
+#: documents/models.py:1749
 msgid "grant view permissions to these groups"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1752
+#: documents/models.py:1756
 msgid "grant change permissions to these users"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1759
+#: documents/models.py:1763
 msgid "grant change permissions to these groups"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1766
+#: documents/models.py:1770
 msgid "assign these custom fields"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1770
+#: documents/models.py:1774
 msgid "custom field values"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1774
+#: documents/models.py:1778
 msgid "Optional values to assign to the custom fields."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1783
+#: documents/models.py:1787
 msgid "remove these tag(s)"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1788
+#: documents/models.py:1792
 msgid "remove all tags"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1795
+#: documents/models.py:1799
 msgid "remove these document type(s)"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1800
+#: documents/models.py:1804
 msgid "remove all document types"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1807
+#: documents/models.py:1811
 msgid "remove these correspondent(s)"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1812
+#: documents/models.py:1816
 msgid "remove all correspondents"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1819
+#: documents/models.py:1823
 msgid "remove these storage path(s)"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1824
+#: documents/models.py:1828
 msgid "remove all storage paths"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1831
+#: documents/models.py:1835
 msgid "remove these owner(s)"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1836
+#: documents/models.py:1840
 msgid "remove all owners"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1843
+#: documents/models.py:1847
 msgid "remove view permissions for these users"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1850
+#: documents/models.py:1854
 msgid "remove view permissions for these groups"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1857
+#: documents/models.py:1861
 msgid "remove change permissions for these users"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1864
+#: documents/models.py:1868
 msgid "remove change permissions for these groups"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1869
+#: documents/models.py:1873
 msgid "remove all permissions"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1876
+#: documents/models.py:1880
 msgid "remove these custom fields"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1881
+#: documents/models.py:1885
 msgid "remove all custom fields"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1890
+#: documents/models.py:1894
 msgid "email"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1899
+#: documents/models.py:1903
 msgid "webhook"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1903
+#: documents/models.py:1907
 msgid "passwords"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1907
+#: documents/models.py:1911
 msgid ""
 "Passwords to try when removing PDF protection. Separate with commas or new "
 "lines."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1912
+#: documents/models.py:1916
 msgid "workflow action"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1913
+#: documents/models.py:1917
 msgid "workflow actions"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1928
+#: documents/models.py:1932
 msgid "triggers"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1935
+#: documents/models.py:1939
 msgid "actions"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1938 paperless_mail/models.py:154
+#: documents/models.py:1942 paperless_mail/models.py:154
 msgid "enabled"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1949
+#: documents/models.py:1953
 msgid "workflow"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1953
+#: documents/models.py:1957
 msgid "workflow trigger type"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1967
+#: documents/models.py:1971
 msgid "date run"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1973
+#: documents/models.py:1977
 msgid "workflow run"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/models.py:1974
+#: documents/models.py:1978
 msgid "workflow runs"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: documents/serialisers.py:523 documents/serialisers.py:875
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2818 documents/views.py:309 documents/views.py:2610
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2827 documents/views.py:311 documents/views.py:2612
 #: paperless_mail/serialisers.py:155
 msgid "Insufficient permissions."
 msgstr ""
@@ -1585,39 +1589,39 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Invalid color."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2295
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2304
 #, python-format
 msgid "File type %(type)s not supported"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2339
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2348
 #, python-format
 msgid "Custom field id must be an integer: %(id)s"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2346
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2355
 #, python-format
 msgid "Custom field with id %(id)s does not exist"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2363 documents/serialisers.py:2373
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2372 documents/serialisers.py:2382
 msgid ""
 "Custom fields must be a list of integers or an object mapping ids to values."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2368
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2377
 msgid "Some custom fields don't exist or were specified twice."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2515
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2524
 msgid "Invalid variable detected."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2874
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2883
 msgid "Duplicate document identifiers are not allowed."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/serialisers.py:2904 documents/views.py:4599
+#: documents/serialisers.py:2913 documents/views.py:4606
 #, python-format
 msgid "Documents not found: %(ids)s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -1885,36 +1889,36 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Unable to parse URI {value}"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:302 documents/views.py:2607
+#: documents/views.py:304 documents/views.py:2609
 msgid "Invalid more_like_id"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:1584
+#: documents/views.py:1586
 msgid "Invalid AI configuration."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:1595
+#: documents/views.py:1597
 msgid "AI backend request timed out."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:2432 documents/views.py:2753
+#: documents/views.py:2434 documents/views.py:2755
 msgid "Specify only one of text, title_search, query, or more_like_id."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:4612
+#: documents/views.py:4619
 #, python-format
 msgid "Insufficient permissions to share document %(id)s."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:4658
+#: documents/views.py:4665
 msgid "Bundle is already being processed."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:4719
+#: documents/views.py:4726
 msgid "The share link bundle is still being prepared. Please try again later."
 msgstr ""
 
-#: documents/views.py:4729
+#: documents/views.py:4736
 msgid "The share link bundle is unavailable."
 msgstr ""
 
@@ -1998,175 +2002,203 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "CMYK"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:78 paperless/models.py:88
+#: paperless/models.py:82
+msgid "Azure AI Document Intelligence"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:90
+msgid "All supported documents"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:91
+msgid "Only when a workflow enables it"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:95 paperless/models.py:105
 msgid "OpenAI-compatible"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:79
+#: paperless/models.py:96
 msgid "Huggingface"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:80 paperless/models.py:89
+#: paperless/models.py:97 paperless/models.py:106
 msgid "Ollama"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:98
+#: paperless/models.py:115
 msgid "Sets the output PDF type"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:110
+#: paperless/models.py:127
 msgid "Do OCR from page 1 to this value"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:116
+#: paperless/models.py:133
 msgid "Do OCR using these languages"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:123
+#: paperless/models.py:140
 msgid "Sets the OCR mode"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:131
+#: paperless/models.py:148
 msgid "Controls archive file generation"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:139
+#: paperless/models.py:156
 msgid "Sets image DPI fallback value"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:146
+#: paperless/models.py:163
 msgid "Controls the unpaper cleaning"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:153
+#: paperless/models.py:170
 msgid "Enables deskew"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:156
+#: paperless/models.py:173
 msgid "Enables page rotation"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:161
+#: paperless/models.py:178
 msgid "Sets the threshold for rotation of pages"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:167
+#: paperless/models.py:184
 msgid "Sets the maximum image size for decompression"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:173
+#: paperless/models.py:190
 msgid "Sets the Ghostscript color conversion strategy"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:181
+#: paperless/models.py:198
 msgid "Adds additional user arguments for OCRMyPDF"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:190
+#: paperless/models.py:207
 msgid "Application title"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:197
+#: paperless/models.py:214
 msgid "Application logo"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:212
+#: paperless/models.py:229
 msgid "Enables barcode scanning"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:218
+#: paperless/models.py:235
 msgid "Enables barcode TIFF support"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:224
+#: paperless/models.py:241
 msgid "Sets the barcode string"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:232
+#: paperless/models.py:249
 msgid "Retains split pages"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:238
+#: paperless/models.py:255
 msgid "Enables ASN barcode"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:244
+#: paperless/models.py:261
 msgid "Sets the ASN barcode prefix"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:252
+#: paperless/models.py:269
 msgid "Sets the barcode upscale factor"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:259
+#: paperless/models.py:276
 msgid "Sets the barcode DPI"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:266
+#: paperless/models.py:283
 msgid "Sets the maximum pages for barcode"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:273
+#: paperless/models.py:290
 msgid "Enables tag barcode"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:279
+#: paperless/models.py:296
 msgid "Sets the tag barcode mapping"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:285
+#: paperless/models.py:302
 msgid "Enables splitting on tag barcodes"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:294
-msgid "Enables AI features"
+#: paperless/models.py:312
+msgid "Sets the remote OCR engine"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:300
-msgid "Sets the LLM embedding backend"
+#: paperless/models.py:321
+msgid "Sets the remote OCR API key"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:308
-msgid "Sets the LLM embedding model"
+#: paperless/models.py:329
+msgid "Sets the remote OCR endpoint"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:315
-msgid "Sets the LLM embedding endpoint, optional"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: paperless/models.py:322
-msgid "Sets the LLM embedding chunk size"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: paperless/models.py:328
-msgid "Sets the LLM context size"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: paperless/models.py:334
-msgid "Sets the LLM backend"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: paperless/models.py:342
-msgid "Sets the LLM model"
+#: paperless/models.py:337
+msgid "Sets which documents are sent to the remote OCR engine"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: paperless/models.py:349
-msgid "Sets the LLM API key"
+msgid "Enables AI features"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:356
-msgid "Sets the LLM endpoint, optional"
+#: paperless/models.py:355
+msgid "Sets the LLM embedding backend"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: paperless/models.py:363
-msgid "Sets the LLM output language"
+msgid "Sets the LLM embedding model"
 msgstr ""
 
 #: paperless/models.py:370
+msgid "Sets the LLM embedding endpoint, optional"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:377
+msgid "Sets the LLM embedding chunk size"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:383
+msgid "Sets the LLM context size"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:389
+msgid "Sets the LLM backend"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:397
+msgid "Sets the LLM model"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:404
+msgid "Sets the LLM API key"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:411
+msgid "Sets the LLM endpoint, optional"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:418
+msgid "Sets the LLM output language"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: paperless/models.py:425
 msgid "Sets the LLM timeout in seconds"
 msgstr ""
 
-#: paperless/models.py:376
+#: paperless/models.py:431
 msgid "paperless application settings"
 msgstr ""
 

src/paperless/checks.py

@@ -337,20 +337,6 @@ def check_deprecated_v2_ocr_env_vars(
     return warnings
 
 
-@register()
-def check_remote_parser_configured(app_configs: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> list[Error]:
-    if settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE == "azureai" and not (
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT and settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY
-    ):
-        return [
-            Error(
-                "Azure AI remote parser requires endpoint and API key to be configured.",
-            ),
-        ]
-
-    return []
-
-
 def get_tesseract_langs():
     proc = subprocess.run(
         [shutil.which("tesseract"), "--list-langs"],

src/paperless/config.py

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from paperless.models import CleanChoices
 from paperless.models import ColorConvertChoices
 from paperless.models import ModeChoices
 from paperless.models import OutputTypeChoices
+from paperless.models import RemoteOCRMode
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
@@ -185,6 +186,45 @@ 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)
+    remote_ocr_mode: RemoteOCRMode = 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
+        )
+        self.remote_ocr_mode = app_config.remote_ocr_mode or RemoteOCRMode(
+            settings.REMOTE_OCR_MODE,
+        )
+
+    @property
+    def remote_ocr_by_default(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Whether every supported document goes to the remote engine.
+
+        When False the remote engine is used only for documents that
+        explicitly asked for it, i.e. a workflow matched during consumption or
+        the user ticked the box when reprocessing.
+        """
+        return self.remote_ocr_mode == RemoteOCRMode.ALWAYS
+
+
 @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/migrations/0015_applicationconfiguration_remote_ocr_mode.py

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.16 on 2026-08-10 15:43
+
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("paperless", "0014_applicationconfiguration_remote_ocr_api_key_and_more"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="applicationconfiguration",
+            name="remote_ocr_mode",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[
+                    ("always", "All supported documents"),
+                    ("workflow_only", "Only when a workflow enables it"),
+                ],
+                max_length=32,
+                null=True,
+                verbose_name="Sets which documents are sent to the remote OCR engine",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]

src/paperless/models.py

@@ -74,6 +74,23 @@ 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 RemoteOCRMode(models.TextChoices):
+    """
+    Matches to PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE
+    """
+
+    ALWAYS = ("always", _("All supported documents"))
+    WORKFLOW_ONLY = ("workflow_only", _("Only when a workflow enables it"))
+
+
 class LLMEmbeddingBackend(models.TextChoices):
     OPENAI_LIKE = ("openai-like", _("OpenAI-compatible"))
     HUGGINGFACE = ("huggingface", _("Huggingface"))
@@ -286,6 +303,44 @@ 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,
+    )
+
+    # PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE
+    remote_ocr_mode = models.CharField(
+        verbose_name=_("Sets which documents are sent to the remote OCR engine"),
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        max_length=32,
+        choices=RemoteOCRMode.choices,
+    )
+
     """
     AI related settings
     """

src/paperless/parsers/__init__.py

@@ -134,6 +134,11 @@ class ParserProtocol(Protocol):
         Author or organisation name.
     url : str
         URL for documentation, source code, or issue tracker.
+
+    Parsers that send document content to a remote service should additionally
+    set ``uses_remote_service = True`` so the registry can exclude them when
+    remote processing has not been requested for a document. The attribute is
+    optional so a parser that omits it is treated as fully local.
     """
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -145,6 +150,10 @@ class ParserProtocol(Protocol):
     author: str
     url: str
 
+    # NOTE: uses_remote_service is not declared here, the registry reads it
+    # with getattr(cls, ..., False) for backwards-compatibility with existing
+    # parsers
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Class methods
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------

src/paperless/parsers/registry.py

@@ -334,6 +334,8 @@ class ParserRegistry:
         mime_type: str,
         filename: str,
         path: Path | None = None,
+        *,
+        allow_remote: bool = True,
     ) -> type[ParserProtocol] | None:
         """Return the best parser class for the given file, or None.
 
@@ -359,6 +361,11 @@ class ParserRegistry:
         path:
             Optional filesystem path to the file. Forwarded to each
             parser's score method.
+        allow_remote:
+            When False, parsers that declare ``uses_remote_service = True``
+            are excluded from consideration, so a document is never sent to
+            a remote service. Parsers that do not declare the attribute
+            are treated as local and are always considered.
 
         Returns
         -------
@@ -374,6 +381,13 @@ class ParserRegistry:
             if mime_type not in parser_class.supported_mime_types():
                 continue
 
+            if not allow_remote and getattr(
+                parser_class,
+                "uses_remote_service",
+                False,
+            ):
+                continue
+
             score = parser_class.score(mime_type, filename, path)
             if score is None:
                 continue

src/paperless/parsers/remote.py

@@ -61,6 +61,18 @@ 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 (
@@ -90,6 +102,9 @@ class RemoteDocumentParser:
         Maintainer name.
     url : str
         Issue tracker / source URL.
+    uses_remote_service : bool
+        Content is sent to a remote service, True so that the registry
+        can skip this parser if remote processing was not requested.
     """
 
     name: str = "Paperless-ngx Remote OCR Parser"
@@ -97,6 +112,8 @@ class RemoteDocumentParser:
     author: str = "Paperless-ngx Contributors"
     url: str = "https://github.com/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx"
 
+    uses_remote_service: bool = True
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Class methods
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -145,11 +162,7 @@ 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:
@@ -244,11 +257,7 @@ class RemoteDocumentParser:
             Whether an archive copy is wanted. For PDFs, False skips the
             remote engine and uses locally-extracted text instead.
         """
-        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):

src/paperless/settings/__init__.py

@@ -1203,6 +1203,11 @@ WEBHOOKS_ALLOW_INTERNAL_REQUESTS = get_bool_from_env(
 REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE")
 REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY")
 REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT")
+REMOTE_OCR_MODE = get_choice_from_env(
+    "PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_MODE",
+    {"always", "workflow_only"},
+    default="always",
+)
 
 ################################################################################
 # AI Settings                                                                  #

src/paperless/tests/parsers/conftest.py

@@ -114,7 +114,26 @@ def remote_parser() -> Generator[RemoteDocumentParser, None, None]:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
-def azure_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
+def empty_remote_ocr_app_config(mocker: MockerFixture) -> MagicMock:
+    # empty app config without accessing db
+    app_config = mocker.MagicMock(
+        remote_ocr_engine=None,
+        remote_ocr_api_key=None,
+        remote_ocr_endpoint=None,
+        remote_ocr_mode=None,
+    )
+    mocker.patch(
+        "paperless.config.BaseConfig._get_config_instance",
+        return_value=app_config,
+    )
+    return app_config
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def azure_settings(
+    settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    empty_remote_ocr_app_config: MagicMock,
+) -> SettingsWrapper:
     """Configure Django settings for a valid Azure AI OCR engine.
 
     Sets ``REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE``, ``REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY``, and
@@ -133,7 +152,10 @@ def azure_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
-def no_engine_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
+def no_engine_settings(
+    settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    empty_remote_ocr_app_config: MagicMock,
+) -> SettingsWrapper:
     """Configure Django settings with no remote engine configured.
 
     Returns

src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_remote_parser.py

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from unittest.mock import Mock
 import pytest
 
 from documents.parsers import ParseError
+from paperless.models import ApplicationConfiguration
 from paperless.parsers import ParserContext
 from paperless.parsers import ParserProtocol
 from paperless.parsers.remote import RemoteDocumentParser
@@ -198,21 +199,21 @@ class TestRemoteParserScore:
 
     def test_score_returns_none_when_api_key_missing(
         self,
-        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+        no_engine_settings: SettingsWrapper,
     ) -> None:
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = None
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = "https://test.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = (
+            "https://test.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        )
         result = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert result is None
 
     def test_score_returns_none_when_endpoint_missing(
         self,
-        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+        no_engine_settings: SettingsWrapper,
     ) -> None:
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = "key"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = None
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = "key"
         result = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert result is None
 
@@ -227,6 +228,24 @@ class TestRemoteParserScore:
         score = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert score is not None and score > 10
 
+    @pytest.mark.django_db
+    def test_score_uses_app_config_when_env_unset(
+        self,
+        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    ) -> None:
+        """The app config alone is enough to activate the parser."""
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = None
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = None
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = None
+        config = ApplicationConfiguration.objects.first()
+        assert config is not None
+        config.remote_ocr_engine = "azureai"
+        config.remote_ocr_api_key = "app-config-key"
+        config.remote_ocr_endpoint = "https://config.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        config.save()
+
+        assert RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf") == 20
+
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Properties

src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_tesseract_parser.py

@@ -1277,6 +1277,8 @@ class TestParserFileTypes:
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+# Remote ocr config from ApplicationConfiguration needs DB access
+@pytest.mark.django_db
 class TestRasterisedDocumentParserRegistry:
     def test_registered_in_defaults(self) -> None:
         from paperless.parsers.registry import ParserRegistry

src/paperless/tests/test_checks.py

@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ from paperless.checks import audit_log_check
 from paperless.checks import binaries_check
 from paperless.checks import check_default_language_available
 from paperless.checks import check_deprecated_db_settings
-from paperless.checks import check_remote_parser_configured
 from paperless.checks import check_v3_minimum_upgrade_version
 from paperless.checks import debug_mode_check
 from paperless.checks import paths_check
@@ -631,31 +630,6 @@ class TestV3MinimumUpgradeVersionCheck:
         assert check_v3_minimum_upgrade_version(None) == []
 
 
-class TestRemoteParserChecks:
-    def test_no_engine(self, settings: SettingsWrapper) -> None:
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = None
-        msgs = check_remote_parser_configured(None)
-
-        assert len(msgs) == 0
-
-    def test_azure_no_endpoint(self, settings: SettingsWrapper) -> None:
-
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = "somekey"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = None
-
-        msgs = check_remote_parser_configured(None)
-
-        assert len(msgs) == 1
-
-        msg = msgs[0]
-
-        assert (
-            "Azure AI remote parser requires endpoint and API key to be configured."
-            in msg.msg
-        )
-
-
 class TestTesseractChecks:
     def test_default_language(self) -> None:
         check_default_language_available(None)

src/paperless/tests/test_registry.py

@@ -468,6 +468,124 @@ class TestParserRegistryGetParserForFile:
         assert result is AcceptingBuiltin
 
 
+class TestParserRegistryRemoteParsers:
+    """Verify the allow_remote filter in ParserRegistry.get_parser_for_file()."""
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _remote_parser_cls() -> type:
+        class RemoteParser:
+            name = "remote"
+            version = "1.0"
+            author = "A"
+            url = "https://example.com/remote"
+            uses_remote_service = True
+
+            @classmethod
+            def supported_mime_types(cls):
+                return {"text/plain": ".txt"}
+
+            @classmethod
+            def score(cls, mime_type, filename, path=None):
+                return 20
+
+        return RemoteParser
+
+    def test_remote_parser_wins_when_remote_allowed(
+        self,
+        dummy_parser_cls: type,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: A remote parser scoring 20 and a local parser scoring 10.
+        WHEN:  get_parser_for_file() is called with allow_remote=True.
+        THEN:  The remote parser is returned.
+        """
+        remote_parser_cls = self._remote_parser_cls()
+        registry = ParserRegistry()
+        registry.register_builtin(dummy_parser_cls)
+        registry.register_builtin(remote_parser_cls)
+
+        result = registry.get_parser_for_file(
+            "text/plain",
+            "readme.txt",
+            allow_remote=True,
+        )
+        assert result is remote_parser_cls
+
+    def test_remote_parser_skipped_when_remote_not_allowed(
+        self,
+        dummy_parser_cls: type,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: A remote parser scoring 20 and a local parser scoring 10.
+        WHEN:  get_parser_for_file() is called with allow_remote=False.
+        THEN:  The local parser is returned despite its lower score.
+        """
+        registry = ParserRegistry()
+        registry.register_builtin(dummy_parser_cls)
+        registry.register_builtin(self._remote_parser_cls())
+
+        result = registry.get_parser_for_file(
+            "text/plain",
+            "readme.txt",
+            allow_remote=False,
+        )
+        assert result is dummy_parser_cls
+
+    def test_no_parser_when_only_remote_available_and_not_allowed(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: A registry whose only candidate declares uses_remote_service.
+        WHEN:  get_parser_for_file() is called with allow_remote=False.
+        THEN:  None is returned — the remote parser is never used as a
+               fallback when remote processing was not requested.
+        """
+        registry = ParserRegistry()
+        registry.register_builtin(self._remote_parser_cls())
+
+        result = registry.get_parser_for_file(
+            "text/plain",
+            "readme.txt",
+            allow_remote=False,
+        )
+        assert result is None
+
+    def test_parser_without_attribute_treated_as_local(
+        self,
+        dummy_parser_cls: type,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: A third-party parser predating uses_remote_service, so it does
+               not declare the attribute at all.
+        WHEN:  get_parser_for_file() is called with allow_remote=False.
+        THEN:  It is still considered, i.e. treated as fully local, rather
+               than raising AttributeError.
+        """
+        assert not hasattr(dummy_parser_cls, "uses_remote_service")
+
+        registry = ParserRegistry()
+        registry.register_builtin(dummy_parser_cls)
+
+        result = registry.get_parser_for_file(
+            "text/plain",
+            "readme.txt",
+            allow_remote=False,
+        )
+        assert result is dummy_parser_cls
+
+    def test_remote_allowed_by_default(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN: A registry containing only a remote parser.
+        WHEN:  get_parser_for_file() is called without allow_remote.
+        THEN:  The remote parser is returned — callers that do not opt in to
+               the filter keep the previous behaviour.
+        """
+        remote_parser_cls = self._remote_parser_cls()
+        registry = ParserRegistry()
+        registry.register_builtin(remote_parser_cls)
+
+        result = registry.get_parser_for_file("text/plain", "readme.txt")
+        assert result is remote_parser_cls
+
+
 class TestDiscover:
     """Verify entrypoint discovery in ParserRegistry.discover()."""
 

src/paperless/tests/test_remote_ocr_config.py

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+"""Tests for RemoteOCRConfig precedence between app config and Django settings."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+import pytest
+from django.test import override_settings
+
+from paperless.config import RemoteOCRConfig
+from paperless.models import RemoteOCRMode
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def null_app_config(mocker) -> MagicMock:
+    """Mock ApplicationConfiguration with all fields None → falls back to Django settings."""
+    return mocker.MagicMock(
+        remote_ocr_engine=None,
+        remote_ocr_api_key=None,
+        remote_ocr_endpoint=None,
+        remote_ocr_mode=None,
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def make_remote_ocr_config(mocker):
+    def _make(app_config, **django_settings_overrides):
+        mocker.patch(
+            "paperless.config.BaseConfig._get_config_instance",
+            return_value=app_config,
+        )
+        with override_settings(**django_settings_overrides):
+            return RemoteOCRConfig()
+
+    return _make
+
+
+class TestRemoteOCRConfig:
+    def test_falls_back_to_settings(
+        self,
+        make_remote_ocr_config,
+        null_app_config,
+    ) -> None:
+        cfg = make_remote_ocr_config(
+            null_app_config,
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE="azureai",
+            REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY="env-key",
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT="https://env.cognitiveservices.azure.com",
+            REMOTE_OCR_MODE=RemoteOCRMode.WORKFLOW_ONLY,
+        )
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_engine == "azureai"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_api_key == "env-key"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_endpoint == "https://env.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_mode == RemoteOCRMode.WORKFLOW_ONLY
+
+    def test_app_config_takes_precedence(
+        self,
+        make_remote_ocr_config,
+        mocker,
+    ) -> None:
+        app_config = mocker.MagicMock(
+            remote_ocr_engine="azureai",
+            remote_ocr_api_key="db-key",
+            remote_ocr_endpoint="https://db.cognitiveservices.azure.com",
+            remote_ocr_mode=RemoteOCRMode.WORKFLOW_ONLY,
+        )
+        cfg = make_remote_ocr_config(
+            app_config,
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE=None,
+            REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY="env-key",
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT="https://env.cognitiveservices.azure.com",
+            REMOTE_OCR_MODE=RemoteOCRMode.ALWAYS,
+        )
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_engine == "azureai"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_api_key == "db-key"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_endpoint == "https://db.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_mode == RemoteOCRMode.WORKFLOW_ONLY
+
+    def test_unset_everywhere(
+        self,
+        make_remote_ocr_config,
+        null_app_config,
+    ) -> None:
+        cfg = make_remote_ocr_config(
+            null_app_config,
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE=None,
+            REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY=None,
+            REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT=None,
+        )
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_engine is None
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_api_key is None
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_endpoint is None
+
+
+class TestRemoteOCRByDefault:
+    def test_always_mode(self, make_remote_ocr_config, null_app_config) -> None:
+        cfg = make_remote_ocr_config(
+            null_app_config,
+            REMOTE_OCR_MODE=RemoteOCRMode.ALWAYS,
+        )
+
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_by_default is True
+
+    def test_workflow_only_mode(self, make_remote_ocr_config, null_app_config) -> None:
+        cfg = make_remote_ocr_config(
+            null_app_config,
+            REMOTE_OCR_MODE=RemoteOCRMode.WORKFLOW_ONLY,
+        )
+
+        assert cfg.remote_ocr_by_default is False

src/paperless_mail/tests/test_api.py

@@ -253,6 +253,81 @@ class TestAPIMailAccounts(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
         self.assertEqual(response.data["success"], True)
 
+    def test_mail_account_test_existing_no_global_perms(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - Existing account without an owner
+            - User without any mail account permissions
+        WHEN:
+            - API call is made to test the account by id
+        THEN:
+            - API returns forbidden
+        """
+        account = MailAccountFactory(
+            username="admin",
+            password="secret",
+            imap_server="server.example.com",
+            imap_port=443,
+            owner=None,
+        )
+        user = User.objects.create_user(username="no_perms")
+        self.client.force_authenticate(user=user)
+
+        response = self.client.post(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}test/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "id": account.pk,
+                    "imap_server": "server.example.com",
+                    "imap_port": 443,
+                    "imap_security": MailAccount.ImapSecurity.SSL,
+                    "username": "admin",
+                    "password": "******",
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN)
+        self.assertEqual(response.content.decode(), "Insufficient permissions")
+
+    def test_mail_account_test_existing_object_perms_only(self) -> None:
+        """
+        GIVEN:
+            - Existing account owned by another user
+            - User with an object level grant but no global change permission
+        WHEN:
+            - API call is made to test the account by id
+        THEN:
+            - API returns forbidden
+        """
+        owner = User.objects.create_user(username="account_owner")
+        account = MailAccountFactory(
+            username="admin",
+            password="secret",
+            imap_server="server.example.com",
+            imap_port=443,
+            owner=owner,
+        )
+        user = User.objects.create_user(username="object_perms_only")
+        assign_perm("change_mailaccount", user, account)
+        self.client.force_authenticate(user=user)
+
+        response = self.client.post(
+            f"{self.ENDPOINT}test/",
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "id": account.pk,
+                    "imap_server": "server.example.com",
+                    "imap_port": 443,
+                    "imap_security": MailAccount.ImapSecurity.SSL,
+                    "username": "admin",
+                    "password": "******",
+                },
+            ),
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN)
+
     def test_mail_account_test_existing_nonexistent_id_forbidden(self) -> None:
         response = self.client.post(
             f"{self.ENDPOINT}test/",

src/paperless_mail/tests/test_mail.py

@@ -2195,7 +2195,9 @@ class TestMailAccountTestView(APITestCase):
             password="testpassword",
         )
         self.user.user_permissions.add(
-            *Permission.objects.filter(codename__in=["add_mailaccount"]),
+            *Permission.objects.filter(
+                codename__in=["add_mailaccount", "change_mailaccount"],
+            ),
         )
         self.user.save()
         self.client.force_authenticate(user=self.user)

src/paperless_mail/views.py

@@ -106,7 +106,9 @@ class MailAccountViewSet(PassUserMixin, ModelViewSet[MailAccount]):
             except (TypeError, ValueError, MailAccount.DoesNotExist):
                 return HttpResponseForbidden("Insufficient permissions")
 
-            if not has_perms_owner_aware(
+            if not request.user.has_perms(
+                ["paperless_mail.change_mailaccount"],
+            ) or not has_perms_owner_aware(
                 request.user,
                 "change_mailaccount",
                 existing_account,