diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/image.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/image.tsx
index 65059bcdc..c147eede4 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/image.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/assistant-ui/image.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { ImageIcon, ImageOffIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import { memo, type PropsWithChildren, useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
+import NextImage from 'next/image';
 
 const imageVariants = cva("aui-image-root relative overflow-hidden rounded-lg", {
 	variants: {
@@ -86,23 +87,57 @@ function ImagePreview({
 				>
 					<ImageOffIcon className="size-8 text-muted-foreground" />
 				</div>
-			) : (
+			) : isDataOrBlobUrl(src) ? (
+                // biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: data/blob URLs need plain img
+                <img
+                    ref={imgRef}
+                    src={src}
+                    alt={alt}
+                    className={cn("block h-auto w-full object-contain", !loaded && "invisible", className)}
+                    onLoad={(e) => {
+                        if (typeof src === "string") setLoadedSrc(src);
+                        onLoad?.(e);
+                    }}
+                    onError={(e) => {
+                        if (typeof src === "string") setErrorSrc(src);
+                        onError?.(e);
+                    }}
+                    {...props}
+                />
+            ) : (
 				// biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: intentional for dynamic external URLs
-				<img
-					ref={imgRef}
-					src={src}
-					alt={alt}
-					className={cn("block h-auto w-full object-contain", !loaded && "invisible", className)}
-					onLoad={(e) => {
-						if (typeof src === "string") setLoadedSrc(src);
-						onLoad?.(e);
-					}}
-					onError={(e) => {
-						if (typeof src === "string") setErrorSrc(src);
-						onError?.(e);
-					}}
-					{...props}
-				/>
+				// <img
+				// 	ref={imgRef}
+				// 	src={src}
+				// 	alt={alt}
+				// 	className={cn("block h-auto w-full object-contain", !loaded && "invisible", className)}
+				// 	onLoad={(e) => {
+				// 		if (typeof src === "string") setLoadedSrc(src);
+				// 		onLoad?.(e);
+				// 	}}
+				// 	onError={(e) => {
+				// 		if (typeof src === "string") setErrorSrc(src);
+				// 		onError?.(e);
+				// 	}}
+				// 	{...props}
+				// />
+				<NextImage
+				fill
+				src={src || ""}
+				alt={alt}
+				sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, (max-width: 1200px) 80vw, 60vw"
+				className={cn("block object-contain", !loaded && "invisible", className)}
+				onLoad={() => {
+					if (typeof src === "string") setLoadedSrc(src);
+					onLoad?.();
+				}}
+				onError={() => {
+					if (typeof src === "string") setErrorSrc(src);
+					onError?.();
+				}}
+				unoptimized={false}
+				{...props}
+			/>
 			)}
 		</div>
 	);
@@ -126,7 +161,10 @@ type ImageZoomProps = PropsWithChildren<{
 	src: string;
 	alt?: string;
 }>;
-
+function isDataOrBlobUrl(src: string | undefined): boolean {
+    if (!src || typeof src !== "string") return false;
+    return src.startsWith("data:") || src.startsWith("blob:");
+}
 function ImageZoom({ src, alt = "Image preview", children }: ImageZoomProps) {
 	const [isMounted, setIsMounted] = useState(false);
 	const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
@@ -177,22 +215,39 @@ function ImageZoom({ src, alt = "Image preview", children }: ImageZoomProps) {
 						aria-label="Close zoomed image"
 					>
 						{/** biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: <explanation> */}
-						<img
-							data-slot="image-zoom-content"
-							src={src}
-							alt={alt}
-							className="aui-image-zoom-content fade-in zoom-in-95 max-h-[90vh] max-w-[90vw] animate-in object-contain duration-200"
-							onClick={(e) => {
-								e.stopPropagation();
-								handleClose();
-							}}
-							onKeyDown={(e) => {
-								if (e.key === "Enter") {
-									e.stopPropagation();
-									handleClose();
-								}
-							}}
-						/>
+						{isDataOrBlobUrl(src) ? (
+                            // biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: data/blob URLs need plain img
+                            <img
+                                data-slot="image-zoom-content"
+                                src={src}
+                                alt={alt}
+                                className="aui-image-zoom-content fade-in zoom-in-95 max-h-[90vh] max-w-[90vw] animate-in object-contain duration-200"
+                                onClick={(e) => {
+                                    e.stopPropagation();
+                                    handleClose();
+                                }}
+                                onKeyDown={(e) => {
+                                    if (e.key === "Enter") {
+                                        e.stopPropagation();
+                                        handleClose();
+                                    }
+                                }}
+                            />
+                        ) : (
+							<NextImage
+                                data-slot="image-zoom-content"
+                                fill
+                                src={src}
+                                alt={alt}
+                                sizes="90vw"
+                                className="aui-image-zoom-content fade-in zoom-in-95 object-contain duration-200"
+                                onClick={(e) => {
+                                    e.stopPropagation();
+                                    handleClose();
+                                }}
+                                unoptimized={false}
+                            />
+                        )}
 					</button>,
 					document.body
 				)}
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/homepage/use-cases-grid.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/homepage/use-cases-grid.tsx
index 2f8c2d537..f9d315b49 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/homepage/use-cases-grid.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/homepage/use-cases-grid.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 "use client";
+import Image from 'next/image';
 
 import { AnimatePresence, motion } from "motion/react";
 import { ExpandedGifOverlay, useExpandedGif } from "@/components/ui/expanded-gif-overlay";
@@ -81,6 +82,15 @@ function UseCaseCard({
 						alt={title}
 						className="w-full rounded-xl object-cover transition-transform duration-500 group-hover:scale-[1.02]"
 					/>
+					<div className="relative w-full h-48">
+					<Image
+						src={src}
+						alt={title}
+						fill
+						className="rounded-xl object-cover transition-transform duration-500 group-hover:scale-[1.02]"
+						unoptimized={src.endsWith('.gif')}
+					/>
+					</div>
 				</div>
 				<div className="px-5 py-4">
 					<h3 className="text-base font-semibold text-neutral-900 dark:text-white">{title}</h3>
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/markdown-viewer.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/markdown-viewer.tsx
index a568bd698..1c39f03a0 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/markdown-viewer.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/markdown-viewer.tsx
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { createMathPlugin } from "@streamdown/math";
 import { Streamdown, type StreamdownProps } from "streamdown";
 import "katex/dist/katex.min.css";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
+import Image from 'next/image';
+import { is } from "drizzle-orm";
 
 const code = createCodePlugin({
 	themes: ["nord", "nord"],
@@ -127,16 +129,31 @@ export function MarkdownViewer({ content, className, maxLength }: MarkdownViewer
 			<blockquote className="border-l-4 border-muted pl-4 italic my-2" {...props} />
 		),
 		hr: ({ ...props }) => <hr className="my-4 border-muted" {...props} />,
-		img: ({ src, alt, width: _w, height: _h, ...props }) => (
-			// eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element
-			<img
-				className="max-w-full h-auto my-4 rounded"
-				alt={alt || "markdown image"}
-				src={typeof src === "string" ? src : ""}
-				loading="lazy"
-				{...props}
-			/>
-		),
+		img: ({ src, alt, width: _w, height: _h, ...props }) => {
+    	const isDataOrUnknownUrl = typeof src === "string" && (src.startsWith("data:") || !src.startsWith("http"));
+
+    return isDataOrUnknownUrl ? (
+        // eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element
+        <img
+            className="max-w-full h-auto my-4 rounded"
+            alt={alt || "markdown image"}
+            src={src}
+            loading="lazy"
+            {...props}
+        />
+    ) : (
+        <Image
+            className="max-w-full h-auto my-4 rounded"
+            alt={alt || "markdown image"}
+            src={typeof src === "string" ? src : ""}
+            width={_w || 800}
+            height={_h || 600}
+            sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, (max-width: 1200px) 75vw, 60vw"
+            unoptimized={isDataOrUnknownUrl}
+            {...props}
+        />
+    );
+},
 		table: ({ ...props }) => (
 			<div className="overflow-x-auto my-4 rounded-lg border border-border w-full">
 				<table className="w-full divide-y divide-border" {...props} />
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation-list.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation-list.tsx
index 3151917b6..75b02bf3d 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation-list.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation-list.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import { openSafeNavigationHref, resolveSafeNavigationHref } from "../shared/med
 import { cn, Popover, PopoverContent, PopoverTrigger } from "./_adapter";
 import { Citation } from "./citation";
 import type { CitationType, CitationVariant, SerializableCitation } from "./schema";
+import NextImage from 'next/image';
+
 
 const TYPE_ICONS: Record<CitationType, LucideIcon> = {
 	webpage: Globe,
@@ -253,18 +255,18 @@ function OverflowItem({ citation, onClick }: OverflowItemProps) {
 			className="group hover:bg-muted focus-visible:bg-muted flex w-full cursor-pointer items-center gap-2.5 rounded-md px-2 py-2 text-left transition-colors focus-visible:outline-none"
 		>
 			{citation.favicon ? (
-				// biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: external favicon from arbitrary domain — next/image requires remotePatterns config
-				<img
+				<NextImage
 					src={citation.favicon}
 					alt=""
 					aria-hidden="true"
-					width={16}
-					height={16}
-					className="bg-muted size-4 shrink-0 rounded object-cover"
+					width={18}
+					height={18}
+					className="size-4.5 rounded-full object-cover"
+					unoptimized={true}
 				/>
-			) : (
-				<TypeIcon className="text-muted-foreground size-4 shrink-0" aria-hidden="true" />
-			)}
+				) : (
+				<TypeIcon className="text-muted-foreground size-3" aria-hidden="true" />
+				)}
 			<div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
 				<p className="group-hover:decoration-foreground/30 truncate text-sm font-medium group-hover:underline group-hover:underline-offset-2">
 					{citation.title}
@@ -339,18 +341,18 @@ function StackedCitations({ id, citations, className, onNavigate }: StackedCitat
 										style={{ zIndex: maxIcons - index }}
 									>
 										{citation.favicon ? (
-											// biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: external favicon from arbitrary domain — next/image requires remotePatterns config
-											<img
-												src={citation.favicon}
-												alt=""
-												aria-hidden="true"
-												width={18}
-												height={18}
-												className="size-4.5 rounded-full object-cover"
-											/>
-										) : (
-											<TypeIcon className="text-muted-foreground size-3" aria-hidden="true" />
-										)}
+										<NextImage
+											src={citation.favicon}
+											alt=""
+											aria-hidden="true"
+											width={18}
+											height={18}
+											className="size-4.5 rounded-full object-cover"
+											unoptimized={true}
+										/>
+									) : (
+										<TypeIcon className="text-muted-foreground size-3" aria-hidden="true" />
+									)}	
 									</div>
 								);
 							})}
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation.tsx
index 523169f49..fa5d4d165 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/tool-ui/citation/citation.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import * as React from "react";
 import { openSafeNavigationHref, sanitizeHref } from "../shared/media";
 import { cn, Popover, PopoverContent, PopoverTrigger } from "./_adapter";
 import type { CitationType, CitationVariant, SerializableCitation } from "./schema";
+import NextImage from 'next/image';
 
 const FALLBACK_LOCALE = "en-US";
 
@@ -114,18 +115,18 @@ export function Citation(props: CitationProps) {
 	};
 
 	const iconElement = favicon ? (
-		// biome-ignore lint/performance/noImgElement: external favicon from arbitrary domain — next/image requires remotePatterns config
-		<img
-			src={favicon}
-			alt=""
-			aria-hidden="true"
-			width={14}
-			height={14}
-			className="bg-muted size-3.5 shrink-0 rounded object-cover"
-		/>
-	) : (
-		<TypeIcon className="size-3.5 shrink-0 opacity-60" aria-hidden="true" />
-	);
+    <NextImage
+        src={favicon}
+        alt=""
+        aria-hidden="true"
+        width={16}
+        height={16}
+        className="bg-muted size-3.5 shrink-0 rounded object-cover"
+        unoptimized={true}
+    />
+) : (
+    <TypeIcon className="size-3.5 shrink-0 opacity-60" aria-hidden="true" />
+);
 
 	const { open, handleMouseEnter, handleMouseLeave } = useHoverPopover();