diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb291ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Ignore text files
+*.txt
+*.md
+LICENSE
+
+# UV/Python virtual env files
+.venv/
+.python-version
+
+# Git
+.git/
+.gitignore
+.gitea/
+.pre-commit-config.yaml
+
+# Docker build files
+Dockerfile
+.dockerignore
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2417c9b..c310c2b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,31 +1,32 @@
-FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM python:3.13-alpine
-COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:latest /uv /uvx /bin/
+### Build stage ###
+FROM python:3.13-alpine AS build
+COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:0.8.21 /uv /uvx /bin/
+ENV UV_PROJECT_ENVIRONMENT=/app/.venv
 
-# Install curl for healthcheck
-RUN apk add --no-cache curl
-
-# Set working directory
 WORKDIR /app
-
-# Install dependencies
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
     --mount=type=bind,source=uv.lock,target=uv.lock \
     --mount=type=bind,source=pyproject.toml,target=pyproject.toml \
-    uv sync --locked --no-install-project
+    uv sync --frozen --no-dev --no-install-workspace
 
-# Copy the project into the image
-ADD . /app
+### Runtime stage ###
+FROM python:3.13-alpine AS runtime
+ENV PATH="/app/.venv/bin:$PATH"
 
-# Sync the project
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
-    uv sync --locked
+# Install curl for healthchecks
+RUN apk add --no-cache curl
+WORKDIR /app
 
-# Add mount point for data volume
-ENV BASE_DIR=/data
-VOLUME /data
+# Copy the virtual environment from build stage
+COPY --from=build /app/.venv /app/.venv
+
+# Copy all top-level Python files
+COPY . /app
+
+# Optional mount for data
+#ENV BASE_DIR=/data
+#VOLUME /data
 
 EXPOSE 5000
 
-
-ENTRYPOINT ["uv", "run"]
-CMD ["main.py"]
\ No newline at end of file
+ENTRYPOINT ["python3", "main.py"]