diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 1cc0bcc55..74b25fbef 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ FLOWER_PORT=5555
 
 # Frontend Configuration
 FRONTEND_PORT=3000
-NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://backend:8000
+NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8000 (Default: http://localhost:8000)
+NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE=LOCAL or GOOGLE (Default: LOCAL)
+NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE=UNSTRUCTURED or LLAMACLOUD or DOCLING (Default: DOCLING)
 
 # Backend Configuration
 BACKEND_PORT=8000
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 48de1f4e5..a48187733 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "${BACKEND_PORT:-8000}:8000"
     volumes:
-      - ./surfsense_backend:/app
+      - ./surfsense_backend/app:/app/app
+      - ./surfsense_backend/scripts:/app/scripts:ro
       - shared_temp:/tmp
     env_file:
       - ./surfsense_backend/.env
@@ -111,17 +112,17 @@ services:
   #     - celery_worker
 
   frontend:
-    # build: ./surfsense_web
-    image: ghcr.io/modsetter/surfsense_ui:latest
+    build:
+      context: ./surfsense_web
+      # image: ghcr.io/modsetter/surfsense_ui:latest
+      args:
+        NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL: ${NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL:-http://localhost:8000}
+        NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE: ${NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE:-LOCAL}
+        NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE: ${NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE:-DOCLING}
     ports:
       - "${FRONTEND_PORT:-3000}:3000"
-    volumes:
-      - ./surfsense_web:/app
-      - /app/node_modules
     env_file:
       - ./surfsense_web/.env
-    environment:
-      - NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL:-http://backend:8000}
     depends_on:
       - backend
 
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/scripts/docker/entrypoint.sh b/surfsense_backend/scripts/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 85376c49b..32754d3e9 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/scripts/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/surfsense_backend/scripts/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -11,17 +11,23 @@ cleanup() {
 
 trap cleanup SIGTERM SIGINT
 
-echo "Starting Celery Beat..."
-celery -A app.celery_app beat --loglevel=info &
-celery_beat_pid=$!
+echo "Starting FastAPI Backend..."
+python main.py &
+backend_pid=$!
+
+# Wait a bit for backend to initialize
+sleep 5
 
 echo "Starting Celery Worker..."
 celery -A app.celery_app worker --loglevel=info --concurrency=1 --pool=solo &
 celery_worker_pid=$!
 
-echo "Starting FastAPI Backend..."
-python main.py --reload &
-backend_pid=$!
+# Wait a bit for worker to initialize
+sleep 3
+
+echo "Starting Celery Beat..."
+celery -A app.celery_app beat --loglevel=info &
+celery_beat_pid=$!
 
 echo "All services started. PIDs: Backend=$backend_pid, Worker=$celery_worker_pid, Beat=$celery_beat_pid"
 
diff --git a/surfsense_web/.dockerignore b/surfsense_web/.dockerignore
index 73361d68a..7d48982c9 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/.dockerignore
+++ b/surfsense_web/.dockerignore
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ npm-debug.log*
 yarn-debug.log*
 yarn-error.log*
 pnpm-debug.log*
-.env
-.env.local
-.env.development.local
-.env.test.local
-.env.production.local 
\ No newline at end of file
+Dockerfile
+.dockerignore
+node_modules
+README.md
diff --git a/surfsense_web/Dockerfile b/surfsense_web/Dockerfile
index 4b3c97af8..e0ecb1225 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/Dockerfile
+++ b/surfsense_web/Dockerfile
@@ -1,32 +1,79 @@
-FROM node:20-alpine
+# syntax=docker.io/docker/dockerfile:1
 
+FROM node:20-alpine AS base
+
+# Install dependencies only when needed
+FROM base AS deps
+# Check https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/tree/b4117f9333da4138b03a546ec926ef50a31506c3#nodealpine to understand why libc6-compat might be needed.
+RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # Install pnpm
-RUN npm install -g pnpm
+RUN corepack enable pnpm
 
 # Copy package files
-COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
+COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml* .npmrc* ./
 
-# First copy the config file to avoid fumadocs-mdx postinstall error
+# First copy the config file and content to avoid fumadocs-mdx postinstall error
 COPY source.config.ts ./
 COPY content ./content
 
-# Install dependencies with --ignore-scripts to skip postinstall
-RUN pnpm install --ignore-scripts
+# Install dependencies with frozen lockfile
+RUN pnpm i --frozen-lockfile
 
-# Now run the postinstall script manually
-RUN pnpm fumadocs-mdx
 
-# Copy source code
+# Rebuild the source code only when needed
+FROM base AS builder
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Enable pnpm
+RUN corepack enable pnpm
+
+# Accept build arguments for Next.js public env vars
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE
+
+# Set them as environment variables for the build
+ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL
+ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE=$NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE
+ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE=$NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE
+
+COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
 COPY . .
 
-# Build app for production
-# For development, we'll mount the source code as a volume
-# so the build step will be skipped in development mode
+# Next.js collects completely anonymous telemetry data about general usage.
+# Learn more here: https://nextjs.org/telemetry
+# Uncomment the following line in case you want to disable telemetry during the build.
+# ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
+
+RUN pnpm run build
+
+# Production image, copy all the files and run next
+FROM base AS runner
+WORKDIR /app
+
+ENV NODE_ENV=production
+# Uncomment the following line in case you want to disable telemetry during runtime.
+# ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
+
+RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
+RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs
+
+COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
+
+# Automatically leverage output traces to reduce image size
+# https://nextjs.org/docs/advanced-features/output-file-tracing
+COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
+COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
+
+USER nextjs
 
 EXPOSE 3000
 
-# Start Next.js in development mode by default
-# This will be faster for development since we're mounting the code as a volume
-CMD ["pnpm", "dev"] 
\ No newline at end of file
+ENV PORT=3000
+
+# server.js is created by next build from the standalone output
+# https://nextjs.org/docs/pages/api-reference/config/next-config-js/output
+ENV HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0"
+CMD ["node", "server.js"] 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/surfsense_web/content/docs/docker-installation.mdx b/surfsense_web/content/docs/docker-installation.mdx
index 0394bd2c6..535325b50 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/content/docs/docker-installation.mdx
+++ b/surfsense_web/content/docs/docker-installation.mdx
@@ -71,7 +71,11 @@ Before you begin, ensure you have:
 | POSTGRES_DB                | PostgreSQL database name                                                    | surfsense           |
 | PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL      | Email for pgAdmin login                                                     | admin@surfsense.com |
 | PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD   | Password for pgAdmin login                                                  | surfsense           |
-| NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL        | URL of the backend API (used by frontend)                                   | http://backend:8000 |
+| NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL | URL of the backend API (used by frontend during build and runtime)     | http://localhost:8000 |
+| NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE | Authentication method for frontend: `LOCAL` or `GOOGLE`           | LOCAL               |
+| NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE    | Document parsing service for frontend UI: `UNSTRUCTURED`, `LLAMACLOUD`, or `DOCLING` | DOCLING |
+
+**Note:** Frontend environment variables with the `NEXT_PUBLIC_` prefix are embedded into the Next.js production build at build time. Since the frontend now runs as a production build in Docker, these variables must be set in the root `.env` file (Docker-specific configuration) and will be passed as build arguments during the Docker build process.
 
 **Backend Environment Variables:**
 
@@ -148,11 +152,13 @@ For more details, see the [Uvicorn documentation](https://www.uvicorn.org/#comma
 
 ### Frontend Environment Variables
 
-| ENV VARIABLE                    | DESCRIPTION                                                |
-| ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
-| NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL | URL of the backend service (e.g., `http://localhost:8000`) |
-| NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE | Same value as set in backend AUTH_TYPE i.e `GOOGLE` for OAuth with Google, `LOCAL` for email/password authentication  |
-| NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE         | Document parsing service (should match backend ETL_SERVICE): `UNSTRUCTURED`, `LLAMACLOUD`, or `DOCLING` - affects supported file formats in upload interface |
+**Important:** Frontend environment variables are now configured in the **Docker-Specific Environment Variables** section above since the Next.js application runs as a production build in Docker. The following `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` variables should be set in your root `.env` file:
+
+- `NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL` - URL of the backend service
+- `NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE` - Authentication method (`LOCAL` or `GOOGLE`)
+- `NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE` - Document parsing service (should match backend `ETL_SERVICE`)
+
+These variables are embedded into the application during the Docker build process and affect the frontend's behavior and available features.
 
 2. **Build and Start Containers**
 
diff --git a/surfsense_web/next.config.ts b/surfsense_web/next.config.ts
index 460ef5d2a..b7d37d469 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/next.config.ts
+++ b/surfsense_web/next.config.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { createMDX } from "fumadocs-mdx/next";
 import type { NextConfig } from "next";
 
 const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
+	output: "standalone",
 	typescript: {
 		ignoreBuildErrors: true,
 	},