diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 8f18bec..cce005b 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,2 +1,10 @@
 # Keep the standalone observability stack (and its data) out of the app image
 observability/
+
+# Host-installed dependencies: the image installs its own Linux/musl build via
+# `npm ci` (native modules like better-sqlite3 are OS-specific)
+node_modules/
+npm-debug.log
+
+# Live database and backups: provided at runtime via the ./data volume mount
+data/