diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a644016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+node_modules/
+dist/
+data/
+.git/
+.env
+.env.*
+!.env.example
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2aa88e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Build stage
+FROM node:18-alpine AS builder
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy package files
+COPY package*.json ./
+
+# Install all dependencies (including dev dependencies for building)
+RUN npm ci
+
+# Copy source code
+COPY . .
+
+# Build the Vite SPA
+RUN npm run build
+
+# Production stage
+FROM node:18-alpine
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy package files
+COPY package*.json ./
+
+# Install only production dependencies
+RUN npm ci --omit=dev
+
+# Copy server files
+COPY server.mjs ./
+COPY server/ ./server/
+
+# Copy built frontend
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
+
+# Create data directory for runtime storage
+RUN mkdir -p data && chown -R node:node data
+
+# Switch to non-root user
+USER node
+
+# Expose the API port
+EXPOSE 3000
+
+# Start the server
+CMD ["node", "server.mjs"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6edf7c7..23e3e2e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -82,10 +82,9 @@ Then put a reverse proxy (Caddy, nginx, …) in front of `localhost:3000`.
 
 ### Deployment
 
-This repo contains **only the app** — the Dockerfile, docker-compose,
-Caddy fragment, and `.env` generation script for the Jannik-Cloud
-service live alongside the rest of the Jannik-Cloud services. To
-deploy, copy them into a new `services/melodymuse/` directory there.
+This app follows a Docker-First workflow. The Docker image is built directly from this repository and pushed to the Gitea Container Registry (`git.orfel.de/jannik/melodymuse`). 
+
+The production server (Jannik-Cloud) simply pulls the pre-built image and runs it.
 
 ---