diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0cdf9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# Environment files
+.env
+.env.*
+*.env
+
+# Version control
+.git
+.gitignore
+.svn
+.hg
+
+# Development files
+node_modules
+venv
+__pycache__
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+.Python
+.pytest_cache
+.coverage
+coverage
+.tox
+
+# IDE specific files
+.idea
+.vscode
+*.swp
+*.swo
+.DS_Store
+
+# Build and dist directories
+dist
+build
+*.egg-info
+
+# Log files
+*.log
+logs
+npm-debug.log*
+
+# Docker specific
+Dockerfile
+docker-compose*.yml
+.docker
+
+# Documentation
+docs
+README.md
+CHANGELOG.md
+LICENSE
+
+# Test files
+test
+tests
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fbf4ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Use the official Node.js image as the base image
+FROM node:22
+
+# Set the working directory inside the container
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy package.json and package-lock.json to the working directory
+COPY prisma ./prisma package*.json ./
+
+# Install dependencies
+RUN npm install
+
+# Copy the rest of the application code to the working directory
+COPY . .
+
+# Expose the port the app runs on
+EXPOSE 3000
+
+# Command to run the application
+CMD ["npm", "start"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e41a6fd..0c26e44 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "next dev",
     "build": "npx prisma generate && next build",
-    "start": "next start",
+    "start": "npm run build && next start",
     "lint": "next lint",
     "postinstall": "prisma generate"
   },