diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 1653ff2..35c18e0 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,2 +1,20 @@
-Dockerfile
-results
\ No newline at end of file
+.git
+.github
+.omx
+.venv
+venv
+__pycache__
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+.pytest_cache
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+.DS_Store
+config.toml
+results
+assets/temp
+assets/backgrounds
+video_creation/data/videos.json
+video_creation/data/cookie-threads.json
+out
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cc6bd18..8385448 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -242,7 +242,11 @@ reddit-bot-351418-5560ebc49cac.json
 /.idea
 *.pyc
 video_creation/data/videos.json
+video_creation/data/cookie-threads.json
 video_creation/data/envvars.txt
+utils/backgrounds.json
 
 config.toml
 *.exe
+
+.omx
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3f53ada..5a41218 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,27 @@
-FROM python:3.10.14-slim
+FROM python:3.10-slim-bookworm
 
-RUN apt update
-RUN apt-get install -y ffmpeg
-RUN apt install python3-pip -y
+ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
+    PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
+    PIP_NO_CACHE_DIR=1 \
+    PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/ms-playwright
 
-RUN mkdir /app
-ADD . /app
 WORKDIR /app
-RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
 
-CMD ["python3", "main.py"]
+RUN apt-get update \
+    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+        ffmpeg \
+        curl \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY requirements.txt ./
+RUN pip install --upgrade pip \
+    && pip install -r requirements.txt \
+    && python -m spacy download en_core_web_sm
+
+RUN python -m playwright install --with-deps chromium
+
+COPY . .
+
+RUN chmod +x /app/docker-entrypoint.sh
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/sh", "/app/docker-entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/GUI.py b/GUI.py
index 4588083..771b9e5 100644
--- a/GUI.py
+++ b/GUI.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-import webbrowser
-from pathlib import Path
+import os
+import webbrowser
+from pathlib import Path
 
 # Used "tomlkit" instead of "toml" because it doesn't change formatting on "dump"
-import tomlkit
+import tomlkit
 from flask import (
     Flask,
     redirect,
@@ -12,12 +13,16 @@ from flask import (
     url_for,
 )
 
-import utils.gui_utils as gui
-
-# Set the hostname
-HOST = "localhost"
-# Set the port number
-PORT = 4000
+import utils.gui_utils as gui
+from utils.docker_bootstrap import ensure_runtime_state
+
+ensure_runtime_state()
+
+# Set the hostname and port
+HOST = os.environ.get("GUI_HOST", "0.0.0.0")
+PORT = int(os.environ.get("GUI_PORT", "4000"))
+OPEN_BROWSER = os.environ.get("GUI_OPEN_BROWSER", "1").lower() in {"1", "true", "yes", "on"}
+BROWSER_URL = os.environ.get("GUI_BROWSER_URL", f"http://localhost:{PORT}")
 
 # Configure application
 app = Flask(__name__, template_folder="GUI")
@@ -110,7 +115,8 @@ def voices(name):
 
 
 # Run browser and start the app
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    webbrowser.open(f"http://{HOST}:{PORT}", new=2)
-    print("Website opened in new tab. Refresh if it didn't load.")
-    app.run(port=PORT)
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    if OPEN_BROWSER:
+        webbrowser.open(BROWSER_URL, new=2)
+        print("Website opened in new tab. Refresh if it didn't load.")
+    app.run(host=HOST, port=PORT)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8042755..57b99e0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ The only original thing being done is the editing and gathering of all materials
 
 - Python 3.10
 - Playwright (this should install automatically in installation)
+- Docker and Docker Compose for the container workflow
 
 ## Installation 👩‍💻
 
@@ -66,6 +67,44 @@ The only original thing being done is the editing and gathering of all materials
     python -m playwright install-deps
     ```
 
+## Docker
+
+The repository now includes a shared image plus Compose services for the GUI and CLI.
+
+Build the image:
+
+```sh
+docker compose build
+```
+
+Start the GUI:
+
+```sh
+docker compose up gui
+```
+
+Open `http://localhost:4000` in your browser.
+
+Run the CLI pipeline:
+
+```sh
+docker compose run --rm cli
+```
+
+Run the CLI for a specific post:
+
+```sh
+docker compose run --rm cli python main.py <post_id>
+```
+
+Stop the GUI and remove the Compose stack:
+
+```sh
+docker compose down
+```
+
+The repo root is bind-mounted into the container so `config.toml`, `results/`, `assets/temp/`, and the runtime JSON files persist across rebuilds and repeated runs.
+
 ---
 
 **EXPERIMENTAL!!!!**
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 45ebd33..3f33f83 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-docker build -t rvmt .
+set -eu
+docker compose build
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46743eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+services:
+  gui:
+    build:
+      context: .
+    image: videomakerbot:latest
+    command: ["python", "GUI.py"]
+    ports:
+      - "4000:4000"
+    environment:
+      GUI_HOST: "0.0.0.0"
+      GUI_PORT: "4000"
+      GUI_OPEN_BROWSER: "0"
+      GUI_BROWSER_URL: "http://localhost:4000"
+    volumes:
+      - ./:/app
+    shm_size: "1gb"
+
+  cli:
+    build:
+      context: .
+    image: videomakerbot:latest
+    command: ["python", "main.py"]
+    environment:
+      PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
+    volumes:
+      - ./:/app
+    shm_size: "1gb"
diff --git a/docker-entrypoint.sh b/docker-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b2a81a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+python -m utils.docker_bootstrap
+
+exec "$@"
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 1769e21..4fd95b6 100755
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-docker run -v $(pwd)/out/:/app/assets -v $(pwd)/.env:/app/.env -it rvmt
+set -eu
+docker compose run --rm cli "$@"
diff --git a/utils/cleanup.py b/utils/cleanup.py
index 8c73b15..449eca3 100644
--- a/utils/cleanup.py
+++ b/utils/cleanup.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def cleanup(reddit_id) -> int:
     Returns:
         int: How many files were deleted
     """
-    directory = f"../assets/temp/{reddit_id}/"
+    directory = f"assets/temp/{reddit_id}/"
     if exists(directory):
         shutil.rmtree(directory)
 
diff --git a/utils/docker_bootstrap.py b/utils/docker_bootstrap.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c3f326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/docker_bootstrap.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+"""Container bootstrap helpers for first-run runtime state."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
+import tomlkit
+
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+
+
+def _default_from_template(node: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    defaults: Dict[str, Any] = {}
+    for key, value in node.items():
+        if isinstance(value, dict) and "optional" in value:
+            if "default" in value:
+                defaults[key] = value["default"]
+            else:
+                value_type = value.get("type")
+                if value_type == "bool":
+                    defaults[key] = False
+                elif value_type in {"int", "float"}:
+                    defaults[key] = 0
+                else:
+                    defaults[key] = ""
+        elif isinstance(value, dict):
+            defaults[key] = _default_from_template(value)
+    return defaults
+
+
+def _ensure_json(path: Path, content: str) -> None:
+    path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    if not path.exists():
+        path.write_text(content, encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def _ensure_config(path: Path) -> None:
+    if path.exists():
+        return
+
+    template_path = ROOT / "utils/.config.template.toml"
+    template = tomlkit.loads(template_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    defaults = _default_from_template(template)
+    path.write_text(tomlkit.dumps(defaults), encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def ensure_runtime_state() -> None:
+    """Create runtime files and directories expected by the app."""
+    for relative in (
+        "assets/temp",
+        "assets/backgrounds/audio",
+        "assets/backgrounds/video",
+        "results",
+        "video_creation/data",
+    ):
+        (ROOT / relative).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    _ensure_config(ROOT / "config.toml")
+    _ensure_json(ROOT / "video_creation/data/videos.json", "[]\n")
+    _ensure_json(ROOT / "utils/backgrounds.json", "{}\n")
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    ensure_runtime_state()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/utils/videos.py b/utils/videos.py
index 481c4c8..b352968 100755
--- a/utils/videos.py
+++ b/utils/videos.py
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 
 
 def check_done(
-    redditobj: Submission,
-) -> Submission:
+    redditobj: "Submission",
+) -> "Submission":
     # don't set this to be run anyplace that isn't subreddit.py bc of inspect stack
     """Checks if the chosen post has already been generated