diff --git a/k8s/apps/paperless/kustomization.yaml b/k8s/apps/paperless/kustomization.yaml
index b59b1f8..b9de4fe 100644
--- a/k8s/apps/paperless/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/k8s/apps/paperless/kustomization.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ resources:
   - backup-cronjob.yaml
   - adapter-configmap.yaml
   - rbac.yaml
+  - paperless-ai.yaml
 # postgres: paperless-db CNPG Cluster, deployed by k8s/infra/databases (wave 2,
 # before this app at wave 8) - not duplicated here. Same for the paperless-oidc
 # and paperless-minio-creds Secrets, written by PostSync provisioning Jobs in
diff --git a/k8s/apps/paperless/paperless-ai.yaml b/k8s/apps/paperless/paperless-ai.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b21555e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/k8s/apps/paperless/paperless-ai.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Secret paperless-ai-config managed via SOPS (argocd/secrets/paperless-ai-secrets.enc.yaml)
+---
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: paperless-ai
+  namespace: paperless
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: paperless-ai
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: paperless-ai
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: paperless-ai
+    spec:
+      tolerations:
+        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane
+          operator: Exists
+          effect: NoSchedule
+      containers:
+        - name: paperless-ai
+          image: clusterzx/paperless-ai:latest
+          env:
+            # Paperless-ngx connection
+            - name: PAPERLESS_API_URL
+              value: "http://paperless.paperless.svc.cluster.local:8000"
+            - name: PAPERLESS_API_TOKEN
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: paperless-ai-config
+                  key: PAPERLESS_API_TOKEN
+            # LLM API — local gateway, no auth required (phase 3 not built yet)
+            - name: AI_PROVIDER
+              value: "custom"
+            - name: CUSTOM_BASE_URL
+              value: "http://api-gateway.api.svc.cluster.local:8080/v1"
+            - name: CUSTOM_API_KEY
+              value: "not-required"
+            - name: CUSTOM_MODEL
+              value: "reasoning"
+            # Behavior
+            - name: SCAN_INTERVAL
+              value: "300"
+            - name: PROCESS_PREDEFINED_DOCUMENTS
+              value: "no"
+            - name: ADD_AI_TAG
+              value: "yes"
+            - name: AI_TAG_NAME
+              value: "ai-processed"
+            - name: USE_PROMPT_TAGS
+              value: "yes"
+          resources:
+            requests:
+              cpu: 50m
+              memory: 128Mi
+            limits:
+              cpu: 500m
+              memory: 512Mi
diff --git a/k8s/argocd/secrets/paperless-ai-secrets.enc.yaml b/k8s/argocd/secrets/paperless-ai-secrets.enc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9249ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/k8s/argocd/secrets/paperless-ai-secrets.enc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+apiVersion: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:l7I=,iv:NZY7r3JVW3zVwxeiScvWKpAQUDa9+nckHd0qWVrGU88=,tag:qpowp5OILdYKtTux/nlWpg==,type:str]
+kind: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:6oeEbuIk,iv:5flI9TtcYQ961wOYPBPhvQpitHFYAf8yMdNBXqytbJs=,tag:WNhlbKmSeZEqZ9ZgiB/BYg==,type:str]
+metadata:
+    name: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:fvJMsgy+wPZqMCdxm9hoV3n/+Q==,iv:I3rVtHIJBOME+bxhPws58Zjhj5i+KT5UtB9o7Vus5EU=,tag:6h4FnUu7PGxlQPIQxPYCRg==,type:str]
+    namespace: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:CDriLoLovROW,iv:rHXcN1xm5+t2D/Tq/2sx9lQFF8anD5jH24ZntPuBA8U=,tag:XstJAz6S8IM1c/pp9Cg0Ww==,type:str]
+type: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:JdTwBbag,iv:9Ys15Ketl0ghNK0u0N8IOpUt7+KoloutiG5M9zHPXxw=,tag:teau/udf41Ty34A5wLAm6Q==,type:str]
+stringData:
+    PAPERLESS_API_TOKEN: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:TuQeDx8po3h4loTRABlItVYQJ7gFjnmIn3zQQGtUcoNFMKpkqLK/GQ==,iv:TDg0stpca5pDtatqu8DFU7R0Bm/S/BI9ZoiG4K8mCT4=,tag:BfjX25V5gL7AeIsscClRAg==,type:str]
+sops:
+    age:
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBKVDN3aFVqVmFXY1VQVXZP
+            OUsrNHdNdlRvRFgvTDQrNE5uL2xaazVENTBjCkNPbGR5Vk16RXNDOW15OGNTRmFR
+            U0JOeTllaWU1dzNVY3lBbEVyVG5tOEkKLS0tIEZvajlvcUtJdFNNUkkzV3FKOFRj
+            UUE2TDBzT0xVc2E1NlUvQXAyZytMZEUKBv+ChaoQCstA742L3Bq5mBJlW/UC4Pyw
+            ZvFAyYbs1NaEqhjtHq+4T62jTWcH/St/vKgUuFQ9LCUQhYd8DUzAow==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1e5fq3hwxy78psus2nfvmtmua36g0u3suk78ephw6246l974d2utsvn0hla
+    lastmodified: "2026-09-12T21:04:26Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:0ks96xQzOa8ygNDDYfKV8EJ8dWLBaC0PCnLG73NinMByF/KoWkCdwMDPC34W9xxVoTD2NiF1i/3pgCG4QFezTE7tPHPPKdYcQfwda9fkooiXW4Nh2M/sgbq/xgsy9N3qpHD/O5iILgpehb9y0DuErOyxcn2AIYizynU7m8e63pc=,iv:fvPWBsfE6YHskKzdlxJidp14dUgRR0XdMkEu6IxMMSo=,tag:5FiuIrFOg/GXvlQVy7drJQ==,type:str]
+    unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted
+    version: 3.13.2
diff --git a/k8s/argocd/secrets/secret-generator.yaml b/k8s/argocd/secrets/secret-generator.yaml
index 3d3c7de..625c0a9 100644
--- a/k8s/argocd/secrets/secret-generator.yaml
+++ b/k8s/argocd/secrets/secret-generator.yaml
@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ files:
   - gotify-tokens-secrets.enc.yaml
   - gotify-smtp-secrets.enc.yaml
   - forgejo-smtp-secrets.enc.yaml
+  - paperless-ai-secrets.enc.yaml