diff --git a/packages/database/schema.yaml b/packages/database/schema.yaml
index 114d914be..9526ef1b7 100644
--- a/packages/database/schema.yaml
+++ b/packages/database/schema.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ enums:
       quote:
       sentence:
       phrase:
+  ContentVariant:
+    description: Is the text taken as-is, or is it a computed variant?
+    permissible_values:
+      direct:
+      direct_and_children:
+      direct_and_description:
   Validation:
     description: Whether a given value was given by a person, or suggested by an automated agent (and then possibly infirmed.)
     permissible_values:
@@ -139,7 +145,7 @@ classes:
       active:
         range: boolean
         required: true
-        ifabsent: 'true'
+        ifabsent: "true"
       agent_type:
         required: true
         range: AgentType
@@ -147,7 +153,7 @@ classes:
       metadata:
         range: JSON
         description: Additional platform-specific information about the account
-        ifabsent: '{}'
+        ifabsent: "{}"
       dg_account:
         range: Users
     unique_keys:
@@ -298,7 +304,7 @@ classes:
       obsolete:
         description: Whether this embedding is obsolete (becauses the Content was modified)
         range: boolean
-        ifabsent: 'false'
+        ifabsent: "false"
   ContentEmbedding_openai_text_embedding_3_small_1536:
     is_a: ContentEmbedding
     description: The table for the openai text_embedding_3_small model (1536 dimensions)
@@ -318,7 +324,7 @@ classes:
       arity:
         range: integer
         required: true
-        ifabsent: '0'
+        ifabsent: "0"
         description: The number of roles in this relation; nodes have zero, binary relations have 2, etc.
       schema:
         range: ConceptSchema
@@ -327,16 +333,16 @@ classes:
         description: "Aspects of the concept that reference other concepts. `{[key: string]: number|number[]}`"
         range: JSON
         required: true
-        ifabsent: '{}'
+        ifabsent: "{}"
       literal_content:
         range: JSON
         required: true
         description: "Aspects of the concept that have literal values. `{[key: string]: any}`"
-        ifabsent: '{}'
+        ifabsent: "{}"
       is_schema:
         range: boolean
         required: true
-        ifabsent: 'false'
+        ifabsent: "false"
       represented_by:
         description: This concept is explicitly represented by a given content unit
         range: Content
@@ -445,13 +451,13 @@ slots:
   position:
     description: The ordinal position of the content within its parent, wrt other content units of the same scale
     range: integer
-    ifabsent: '0'
+    ifabsent: "0"
     required: true
   char_position:
     description: The character position of the content within its parent.
     # Does not apply to outline sub-elements
     range: integer
-    ifabsent: '0'
+    ifabsent: "0"
   validation:
     range: Validation
     required: true
diff --git a/packages/database/supabase/migrations/20250718131540_content_variant.sql b/packages/database/supabase/migrations/20250718131540_content_variant.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2bb2f294e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/database/supabase/migrations/20250718131540_content_variant.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+CREATE TYPE public."ContentVariant" AS ENUM (
+    'direct',
+    'direct_and_children',
+    'direct_and_description'
+);
+
+ALTER TYPE public."ContentVariant" OWNER TO postgres;
+
+ALTER TABLE public."Content" ADD COLUMN variant public."ContentVariant" NOT NULL DEFAULT 'direct';
+
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS public."content_space_and_local_id_idx";
+
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX content_space_local_id_variant_idx ON public."Content" USING btree (space_id, source_local_id, variant);
+
+ALTER TYPE public.content_local_input ADD ATTRIBUTE variant public."ContentVariant";
+
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.upsert_content(v_space_id bigint, data jsonb, v_creator_id BIGINT, content_as_document boolean DEFAULT true)
+RETURNS SETOF BIGINT
+LANGUAGE plpgsql
+AS $$
+DECLARE
+  v_platform public."Platform";
+  db_document public."Document"%ROWTYPE;
+  document_id BIGINT;
+  local_content public.content_local_input;
+  db_content public."Content"%ROWTYPE;
+  content_row JSONB;
+  upsert_id BIGINT;
+BEGIN
+  SELECT platform INTO STRICT v_platform FROM public."Space" WHERE id=v_space_id;
+  FOR content_row IN SELECT * FROM jsonb_array_elements(data)
+  LOOP
+    local_content := jsonb_populate_record(NULL::public.content_local_input, content_row);
+    local_content.space_id := v_space_id;
+    db_content := public._local_content_to_db_content(local_content);
+    IF account_local_id(author_inline(local_content)) IS NOT NULL THEN
+      SELECT public.create_account_in_space(
+        v_space_id,
+        account_local_id(author_inline(local_content)),
+        name(author_inline(local_content))
+      ) INTO STRICT upsert_id;
+      local_content.author_id := upsert_id;
+    END IF;
+    IF account_local_id(creator_inline(local_content)) IS NOT NULL THEN
+      SELECT public.create_account_in_space(
+        v_space_id,
+        account_local_id(creator_inline(local_content)),
+        name(creator_inline(local_content))
+      ) INTO STRICT upsert_id;
+      local_content.creator_id := upsert_id;
+    END IF;
+    IF content_as_document THEN
+      db_content.scale = 'document';
+    END IF;
+    IF content_as_document AND document_id(db_content) IS NULL AND source_local_id(document_inline(local_content)) IS NULL THEN
+      local_content.document_inline.space_id := v_space_id;
+      local_content.document_inline.source_local_id := db_content.source_local_id;
+      local_content.document_inline.last_modified := db_content.last_modified;
+      local_content.document_inline.created := db_content.created;
+      local_content.document_inline.author_id := db_content.author_id;
+    END IF;
+    IF source_local_id(document_inline(local_content)) IS NOT NULL THEN
+      db_document := _local_document_to_db_document(document_inline(local_content));
+      INSERT INTO public."Document" (
+        space_id,
+        source_local_id,
+        url,
+        created,
+        metadata,
+        last_modified,
+        author_id,
+        contents
+      ) VALUES (
+        COALESCE(db_document.space_id, v_space_id),
+        db_document.source_local_id,
+        db_document.url,
+        db_document.created,
+        COALESCE(db_document.metadata, '{}'::jsonb),
+        db_document.last_modified,
+        db_document.author_id,
+        db_document.contents
+      )
+      ON CONFLICT (space_id, source_local_id) DO UPDATE SET
+          url = COALESCE(db_document.url, EXCLUDED.url),
+          created = COALESCE(db_document.created, EXCLUDED.created),
+          metadata = COALESCE(db_document.metadata, EXCLUDED.metadata),
+          last_modified = COALESCE(db_document.last_modified, EXCLUDED.last_modified),
+          author_id = COALESCE(db_document.author_id, EXCLUDED.author_id),
+          contents = COALESCE(db_document.contents, EXCLUDED.contents)
+      RETURNING id INTO STRICT document_id;
+      db_content.document_id := document_id;
+    END IF;
+    INSERT INTO public."Content" (
+        document_id,
+        source_local_id,
+        variant,
+        author_id,
+        creator_id,
+        created,
+        text,
+        metadata,
+        scale,
+        space_id,
+        last_modified,
+        part_of_id
+    ) VALUES (
+        db_content.document_id,
+        db_content.source_local_id,
+        COALESCE(db_content.variant, 'direct'::public."ContentVariant"),
+        db_content.author_id,
+        db_content.creator_id,
+        db_content.created,
+        db_content.text,
+        COALESCE(db_content.metadata, '{}'::jsonb),
+        db_content.scale,
+        db_content.space_id,
+        db_content.last_modified,
+        db_content.part_of_id
+    )
+    ON CONFLICT (space_id, source_local_id, variant) DO UPDATE SET
+        document_id = COALESCE(db_content.document_id, EXCLUDED.document_id),
+        author_id = COALESCE(db_content.author_id, EXCLUDED.author_id),
+        creator_id = COALESCE(db_content.creator_id, EXCLUDED.creator_id),
+        created = COALESCE(db_content.created, EXCLUDED.created),
+        text = COALESCE(db_content.text, EXCLUDED.text),
+        metadata = COALESCE(db_content.metadata, EXCLUDED.metadata),
+        scale = COALESCE(db_content.scale, EXCLUDED.scale),
+        last_modified = COALESCE(db_content.last_modified, EXCLUDED.last_modified),
+        part_of_id = COALESCE(db_content.part_of_id, EXCLUDED.part_of_id)
+    RETURNING id INTO STRICT upsert_id;
+    IF model(embedding_inline(local_content)) IS NOT NULL THEN
+        PERFORM public.upsert_content_embedding(upsert_id, model(embedding_inline(local_content)),  vector(embedding_inline(local_content)));
+    END IF;
+    RETURN NEXT upsert_id;
+  END LOOP;
+END;
+$$;
diff --git a/packages/database/supabase/schemas/content.sql b/packages/database/supabase/schemas/content.sql
index bbe79b796..1021c2508 100644
--- a/packages/database/supabase/schemas/content.sql
+++ b/packages/database/supabase/schemas/content.sql
@@ -13,6 +13,14 @@ CREATE TYPE public."Scale" AS ENUM (
 
 ALTER TYPE public."Scale" OWNER TO postgres;
 
+CREATE TYPE public."ContentVariant" AS ENUM (
+    'direct',
+    'direct_and_children',
+    'direct_and_description'
+);
+
+ALTER TYPE public."ContentVariant" OWNER TO postgres;
+
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS public."Document" (
     id bigint DEFAULT nextval(
         'public.entity_id_seq'::regclass
@@ -68,6 +76,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS public."Content" (
     ) NOT NULL,
     document_id bigint NOT NULL,
     source_local_id character varying,
+    variant public."ContentVariant" NOT NULL DEFAULT 'direct',
     author_id bigint,
     creator_id bigint,
     created timestamp without time zone NOT NULL,
@@ -119,8 +128,8 @@ CREATE INDEX "Content_part_of" ON public."Content" USING btree (
 
 CREATE INDEX "Content_space" ON public."Content" USING btree (space_id);
 
-CREATE UNIQUE INDEX content_space_and_local_id_idx ON public."Content" USING btree (
-    space_id, source_local_id
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX content_space_local_id_variant_idx ON public."Content" USING btree (
+    space_id, source_local_id, variant
 ) NULLS DISTINCT;
 
 CREATE INDEX "Content_text" ON public."Content" USING pgroonga (text);
@@ -178,6 +187,7 @@ CREATE TYPE public.content_local_input AS (
     -- content columns
     document_id bigint,
     source_local_id character varying,
+    variant public."ContentVariant",
     author_id bigint,
     creator_id bigint,
     created timestamp without time zone,
@@ -406,7 +416,6 @@ BEGIN
       local_content.document_inline.last_modified := db_content.last_modified;
       local_content.document_inline.created := db_content.created;
       local_content.document_inline.author_id := db_content.author_id;
-      local_content.document_inline.metadata := '{}';
     END IF;
     IF source_local_id(document_inline(local_content)) IS NOT NULL THEN
       db_document := _local_document_to_db_document(document_inline(local_content));
@@ -424,7 +433,7 @@ BEGIN
         db_document.source_local_id,
         db_document.url,
         db_document.created,
-        db_document.metadata,
+        COALESCE(db_document.metadata, '{}'::jsonb),
         db_document.last_modified,
         db_document.author_id,
         db_document.contents
@@ -442,6 +451,7 @@ BEGIN
     INSERT INTO public."Content" (
         document_id,
         source_local_id,
+        variant,
         author_id,
         creator_id,
         created,
@@ -454,17 +464,18 @@ BEGIN
     ) VALUES (
         db_content.document_id,
         db_content.source_local_id,
+        COALESCE(db_content.variant, 'direct'::public."ContentVariant"),
         db_content.author_id,
         db_content.creator_id,
         db_content.created,
         db_content.text,
-        db_content.metadata,
+        COALESCE(db_content.metadata, '{}'::jsonb),
         db_content.scale,
         db_content.space_id,
         db_content.last_modified,
         db_content.part_of_id
     )
-    ON CONFLICT (space_id, source_local_id) DO UPDATE SET
+    ON CONFLICT (space_id, source_local_id, variant) DO UPDATE SET
         document_id = COALESCE(db_content.document_id, EXCLUDED.document_id),
         author_id = COALESCE(db_content.author_id, EXCLUDED.author_id),
         creator_id = COALESCE(db_content.creator_id, EXCLUDED.creator_id),
@@ -508,9 +519,9 @@ COMMENT ON FUNCTION public.document_in_space IS 'security utility: does current
 ALTER TABLE public."Document" ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;
 
 DROP POLICY IF EXISTS document_policy ON public."Document";
-CREATE POLICY document_policy ON public."Document" FOR ALL USING (public.in_space (space_id));
+CREATE POLICY document_policy ON public."Document" FOR ALL USING (public.in_space(space_id));
 
 ALTER TABLE public."Content" ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;
 
 DROP POLICY IF EXISTS content_policy ON public."Content";
-CREATE POLICY content_policy ON public."Content" FOR ALL USING (public.in_space (space_id));
+CREATE POLICY content_policy ON public."Content" FOR ALL USING (public.in_space(space_id));
diff --git a/packages/database/types.gen.ts b/packages/database/types.gen.ts
index c9a0c8650..823501ee3 100644
--- a/packages/database/types.gen.ts
+++ b/packages/database/types.gen.ts
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ export type Database = {
           source_local_id: string | null
           space_id: number | null
           text: string
+          variant: Database["public"]["Enums"]["ContentVariant"]
         }
         Insert: {
           author_id?: number | null
@@ -211,6 +212,7 @@ export type Database = {
           source_local_id?: string | null
           space_id?: number | null
           text: string
+          variant?: Database["public"]["Enums"]["ContentVariant"]
         }
         Update: {
           author_id?: number | null
@@ -225,6 +227,7 @@ export type Database = {
           source_local_id?: string | null
           space_id?: number | null
           text?: string
+          variant?: Database["public"]["Enums"]["ContentVariant"]
         }
         Relationships: [
           {
@@ -547,6 +550,7 @@ export type Database = {
           source_local_id: string | null
           space_id: number | null
           text: string
+          variant: Database["public"]["Enums"]["ContentVariant"]
         }
       }
       _local_document_to_db_document: {
@@ -602,11 +606,11 @@ export type Database = {
       }
       create_account_in_space: {
         Args: {
-          email_trusted?: boolean
           space_id_: number
           account_local_id_: string
           name_: string
           email_?: string
+          email_trusted?: boolean
           editor_?: boolean
         }
         Returns: number
@@ -630,8 +634,8 @@ export type Database = {
       }
       generic_entity_access: {
         Args: {
-          target_id: number
           target_type: Database["public"]["Enums"]["EntityType"]
+          target_id: number
         }
         Returns: boolean
       }
@@ -643,8 +647,8 @@ export type Database = {
       }
       get_space_anonymous_email: {
         Args: {
-          space_id: number
           platform: Database["public"]["Enums"]["Platform"]
+          space_id: number
         }
         Returns: string
       }
@@ -681,11 +685,11 @@ export type Database = {
       }
       propose_sync_task: {
         Args: {
+          s_function: string
           s_target: number
-          s_worker: string
-          timeout: unknown
           task_interval: unknown
-          s_function: string
+          timeout: unknown
+          s_worker: string
         }
         Returns: string
       }
@@ -694,20 +698,20 @@ export type Database = {
         Returns: boolean
       }
       upsert_concepts: {
-        Args: { v_space_id: number; data: Json }
+        Args: { data: Json; v_space_id: number }
         Returns: number[]
       }
       upsert_content: {
         Args: {
           v_space_id: number
-          content_as_document?: boolean
           v_creator_id: number
+          content_as_document?: boolean
           data: Json
         }
         Returns: number[]
       }
       upsert_content_embedding: {
-        Args: { model: string; embedding_array: number[]; content_id: number }
+        Args: { content_id: number; embedding_array: number[]; model: string }
         Returns: undefined
       }
       upsert_discourse_nodes: {
@@ -731,13 +735,17 @@ export type Database = {
         }[]
       }
       upsert_documents: {
-        Args: { data: Json; v_space_id: number }
+        Args: { v_space_id: number; data: Json }
         Returns: number[]
       }
     }
     Enums: {
       AgentIdentifierType: "email" | "orcid"
       AgentType: "person" | "organization" | "automated_agent" | "anonymous"
+      ContentVariant:
+        | "direct"
+        | "direct_and_children"
+        | "direct_and_description"
       EmbeddingName:
         | "openai_text_embedding_ada2_1536"
         | "openai_text_embedding_3_small_512"
@@ -830,6 +838,7 @@ export type Database = {
         embedding_inline:
           | Database["public"]["CompositeTypes"]["inline_embedding_input"]
           | null
+        variant: Database["public"]["Enums"]["ContentVariant"] | null
       }
       document_local_input: {
         space_id: number | null
@@ -964,6 +973,11 @@ export const Constants = {
     Enums: {
       AgentIdentifierType: ["email", "orcid"],
       AgentType: ["person", "organization", "automated_agent", "anonymous"],
+      ContentVariant: [
+        "direct",
+        "direct_and_children",
+        "direct_and_description",
+      ],
       EmbeddingName: [
         "openai_text_embedding_ada2_1536",
         "openai_text_embedding_3_small_512",