diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/__tests__/preview-pdf-native.test.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/__tests__/preview-pdf-native.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8899e36e7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/__tests__/preview-pdf-native.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import type { PreviewTarget } from "@/features/rag/api/rag-api";
+import { PreviewPdfNativeView } from "@/features/rag/components/preview-pdf-native";
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import React from "react";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+function makeTarget(overrides: Partial<PreviewTarget> = {}): PreviewTarget {
+  return {
+    documentId: "doc-1",
+    filename: "report.pdf",
+    contentType: "application/pdf",
+    mediaKind: "pdf",
+    byteSize: 100,
+    status: "completed",
+    kbId: "kb-1",
+    threadId: null,
+    chunkId: "c1",
+    chunkIndex: 0,
+    targetPage: 3,
+    // pageCharStart/End span the second line of the snippet below.
+    snippet: "Intro line\nThe cited sentence here\nOutro",
+    kind: "text",
+    sourcePageIndex: 2,
+    pageCharStart: 11,
+    pageCharEnd: 34,
+    lineStart: null,
+    lineEnd: null,
+    pdfRegions: [],
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe("PreviewPdfNativeView", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("renders a native PDF iframe jumped to the cited page from a signed URL", () => {
+    render(
+      React.createElement(PreviewPdfNativeView, {
+        target: makeTarget(),
+        file: "/api/rag/documents/doc-1/file-signed?token=abc",
+      }),
+    );
+    const iframe = document.querySelector("iframe");
+    expect(iframe).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(iframe?.getAttribute("src")).toBe(
+      "/api/rag/documents/doc-1/file-signed?token=abc#page=3&view=FitH",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("highlights the cited excerpt beside the viewer", () => {
+    render(
+      React.createElement(PreviewPdfNativeView, {
+        target: makeTarget(),
+        file: "/signed?token=x",
+      }),
+    );
+    const mark = screen.getByText("The cited sentence here");
+    expect(mark.tagName).toBe("MARK");
+  });
+
+  it("uses an object URL for a Blob and revokes it on unmount", () => {
+    const createSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(URL, "createObjectURL")
+      .mockReturnValue("blob:obj");
+    const revokeSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(URL, "revokeObjectURL")
+      .mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+
+    const { unmount } = render(
+      React.createElement(PreviewPdfNativeView, {
+        target: makeTarget({ targetPage: 2 }),
+        file: new Blob(["%PDF-1.4"], { type: "application/pdf" }),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    const iframe = document.querySelector("iframe");
+    expect(iframe?.getAttribute("src")).toBe("blob:obj#page=2&view=FitH");
+    expect(createSpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    unmount();
+    expect(revokeSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith("blob:obj");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-panel.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-panel.tsx
index 9a576c229b..0b418932f4 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-panel.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-panel.tsx
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import {
   isInlineBlobAllowed,
   usePreviewStore,
 } from "../stores/preview-store";
-import { PreviewPdfView } from "./preview-pdf-view";
+import { PreviewPdfNativeView } from "./preview-pdf-native";
 import { PreviewTextView } from "./preview-text-view";
 import { PreviewUnavailable } from "./preview-unavailable";
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ function renderPreviewBody({
       pdfFile &&
       isInlineBlobAllowed(target.mediaKind)
     ) {
-      return <PreviewPdfView target={target} file={pdfFile} />;
+      return <PreviewPdfNativeView target={target} file={pdfFile} />;
     }
 
     // text/image/docx/html/unknown all route through text-view: text
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-pdf-native.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-pdf-native.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d887852496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-pdf-native.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
+// Copyright 2026-present the Unsloth AI Inc. team. All rights reserved. See /studio/LICENSE.AGPL-3.0
+
+import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
+import { ExternalLinkIcon } from "lucide-react";
+import { type FC, useEffect, useMemo } from "react";
+import type { PreviewTarget } from "../api/rag-api";
+import { renderHighlightedSnippet } from "./preview-text-view";
+
+interface PreviewPdfNativeViewProps {
+  target: PreviewTarget;
+  /** Signed file URL (preferred — supports HTTP Range) or a Blob of bytes. */
+  file: string | Blob;
+}
+
+/** Lightweight PDF preview: render the document in the browser's built-in
+ *  PDF viewer via an <iframe> jumped to the cited page (`#page=N`). A
+ *  companion strip shows the cited excerpt highlighted, since the native
+ *  viewer can't be overlaid with on-page region boxes. This deliberately
+ *  avoids bundling a JS PDF renderer (react-pdf/pdfjs). The file response is
+ *  served same-origin with `frame-ancestors` allowing this iframe (see
+ *  routes/rag.py `_serve_document_file_row` + main.py `_is_frameable_path`). */
+export const PreviewPdfNativeView: FC<PreviewPdfNativeViewProps> = ({
+  target,
+  file,
+}) => {
+  // A Blob needs an object URL; a signed URL string is used directly.
+  const objectUrl = useMemo(
+    () => (typeof file === "string" ? null : URL.createObjectURL(file)),
+    [file],
+  );
+  useEffect(() => {
+    return () => {
+      if (objectUrl) {
+        URL.revokeObjectURL(objectUrl);
+      }
+    };
+  }, [objectUrl]);
+
+  const baseUrl = typeof file === "string" ? file : objectUrl;
+  const page = target.targetPage ?? 1;
+  // #page=N + view=FitH are honored by the Chrome/Firefox/Edge native PDF
+  // viewers; the hash is never sent to the server.
+  const src = baseUrl ? `${baseUrl}#page=${page}&view=FitH` : null;
+
+  const snippet = target.snippet;
+  const hasSnippet = snippet !== null && snippet.trim().length > 0;
+
+  return (
+    <div className="flex h-full flex-col overflow-hidden">
+      <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-2 border-b border-border/60 px-3 py-2">
+        <span className="truncate text-sm font-medium" title={target.filename}>
+          {target.filename}
+        </span>
+        {target.targetPage != null ? (
+          <span className="shrink-0 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+            Page {target.targetPage}
+          </span>
+        ) : null}
+      </div>
+
+      {src ? (
+        <iframe
+          src={src}
+          title={`PDF preview: ${target.filename}`}
+          className="min-h-0 w-full flex-1 border-0 bg-muted/20"
+        />
+      ) : (
+        <div className="flex flex-1 items-center justify-center text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+          Preview unavailable.
+        </div>
+      )}
+
+      {hasSnippet ? (
+        <details
+          open={true}
+          className="max-h-40 shrink-0 overflow-auto border-t border-border/60 bg-muted/30 px-3 py-2"
+        >
+          <summary className="cursor-pointer text-[10px] uppercase tracking-wider text-muted-foreground">
+            Cited excerpt
+          </summary>
+          <pre className="mt-1.5 whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-xs leading-relaxed text-foreground/85">
+            {renderHighlightedSnippet(snippet, target)}
+          </pre>
+        </details>
+      ) : null}
+
+      {src ? (
+        <div className="shrink-0 border-t border-border/60 px-3 py-2">
+          <Button asChild={true} variant="outline" size="sm" className="w-full">
+            <a href={src} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
+              <ExternalLinkIcon className="size-3.5" />
+              Open in new tab
+            </a>
+          </Button>
+        </div>
+      ) : null}
+    </div>
+  );
+};
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-text-view.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-text-view.tsx
index 1f003a69c5..87c6d26ac4 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-text-view.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/rag/components/preview-text-view.tsx
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ function findFuzzyMatch(
   );
 }
 
-const renderHighlightedSnippet = (
+export const renderHighlightedSnippet = (
   snippet: string,
   target: PreviewTarget,
 ): ReactNode => {