diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40a203f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
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+# Git
+.git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Docker
+Dockerfile*
+docker-compose*
+.dockerignore
+
+# Documentation
+docs/
+
+# IDE and Editor files
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# OS generated files
+.DS_Store
+.DS_Store?
+._*
+.Spotlight-V100
+.Trashes
+ehthumbs.db
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Python
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+*.so
+.Python
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+MANIFEST
+
+# Virtual environments
+.env
+.venv
+env/
+venv/
+ENV/
+env.bak/
+venv.bak/
+
+# Testing
+.tox/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+.cache
+.pytest_cache/
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+*.cover
+.hypothesis/
+
+# Jupyter Notebook
+.ipynb_checkpoints
+
+# pyenv
+.python-version
+
+# Environments
+.env.local
+.env.development
+.env.test
+.env.production
+
+# Database files (will be created in container)
+*.db
+*.sqlite
+*.sqlite3
+
+# Logs
+*.log
+logs/
+
+# Temporary files
+temp/
+tmp/
+*.tmp
+
+# Cache directories
+.cache/
+*_cache/
+
+# Research reports (will be generated in container)
+research_reports/
+
+# Uploads (will be handled by volumes)
+uploads/
+
+# Node modules (if any)
+node_modules/
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
+
+# Lock files (keep uv.lock for dependency resolution)
+# uv.lock is kept for proper dependency installation
+
+# Keep Docker-related scripts
+!docker-healthcheck.sh
+!docker-entrypoint.sh