diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d93a7aea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# Dockerignore for builds whose context is the repository root (the frontend
+# image, issue #1335). The backend image uses backend/.dockerignore instead.
+# Keeping the context lean makes builds faster and avoids leaking local state.
+
+# Version control / editor / CI
+.git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+.github
+.husky
+.vscode
+.idea
+
+# Dependencies and build output — reinstalled/rebuilt inside the image
+node_modules
+**/node_modules
+frontend/.next
+frontend/out
+frontend/coverage
+backend/dist
+backend/coverage
+backend/src/generated
+
+# Tests and docs are not needed to build the app image
+**/__tests__/**
+**/*.test.*
+**/*.spec.*
+e2e
+docs
+contracts
+
+# Secrets / local state
+.env
+.env.*
+*.log
+npm-debug.log*
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c6f5ce86..57fc2190 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -181,7 +181,13 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           docker compose up -d postgres
           sleep 10
-          docker compose run --rm -e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://flowfi:flowfi_dev_password@postgres:5432/flowfi backend npx -y prisma db push --accept-data-loss
+          # The production image runs as the non-root `node` user and already
+          # ships the generated Prisma client (built in the builder stage and
+          # copied to dist/generated). `db push` otherwise triggers `prisma
+          # generate`, which needs to write into the root-owned node_modules
+          # tree and fails with "Can't write to /app/node_modules/prisma".
+          # Skip it: the client is already present, so only the schema push runs.
+          docker compose run --rm -e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://flowfi:flowfi_dev_password@postgres:5432/flowfi backend npx -y prisma db push --accept-data-loss --skip-generate
           docker compose up -d backend
           # Poll /health instead of a fixed sleep so cold-boot / Prisma-warmup
           # latency does not flake the Backend Docker Image CI.
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index f8f8a1cf..cccd7d54 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# ============================================================================
+# Stage 1 — builder
+# Full Node toolchain (devDependencies incl. tsc + prisma CLI) compiles the
+# TypeScript and generates the Prisma client. Discarded from the final image.
+# ============================================================================
 FROM node:20-alpine@sha256:fb4cd12c85ee03686f6af5362a0b0d56d50c58a04632e6c0fb8363f609372293 AS builder
 
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -11,7 +16,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY package*.json ./
 COPY prisma ./prisma
 
-RUN npm install
+RUN npm install --no-audit --no-fund
 
 COPY tsconfig.json ./
 COPY prisma.config.ts ./
@@ -19,6 +24,10 @@ COPY src ./src
 
 RUN npm run build
 
+# ============================================================================
+# Stage 2 — production runner
+# Minimal Alpine base, production-only dependencies, non-root `node` user.
+# ============================================================================
 FROM node:20-alpine@sha256:fb4cd12c85ee03686f6af5362a0b0d56d50c58a04632e6c0fb8363f609372293 AS runner
 
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -30,23 +39,47 @@ ENV NODE_ENV=production
 # the dependency install. --ignore-scripts skips the @prisma/client
 # postinstall (we already COPY the generated client from the builder
 # below), so the runner never needs the schema to install dependencies.
-# The schema is then copied AFTER install so it is on disk for the
-# `npx prisma db push` step the workflow runs against this container,
-# while keeping the install layer cached whenever prisma/ is unchanged.
+# The npm cache is purged in the same layer so it never ships in the image.
 COPY package*.json ./
-RUN npm install --omit=dev --ignore-scripts
+RUN npm install --omit=dev --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund \
+ && npm cache clean --force
+
+# `--ignore-scripts` also skips the @prisma/engines postinstall, so the
+# Prisma schema-engine binary is absent from the image. `prisma db push`
+# (run by the CI health-check step and by anyone applying migrations in the
+# container) would then try to download it at runtime into the root-owned
+# node_modules tree, which the non-root `node` user cannot write to:
+#   Error: Can't write to /app/node_modules/@prisma/engines
+# Run the engines postinstall explicitly here, as root, while the layer is
+# being built so the binary ships in the image and the runtime user only ever
+# reads it. The @prisma/client postinstall stays skipped (its generated client
+# is copied from the builder), so no schema is required at this point.
+RUN node /app/node_modules/@prisma/engines/scripts/postinstall.js
 
 # Copy the prisma schema into the runner. The boot-and-check-health step
 # in .github/workflows/ci.yml runs `npx prisma db push` against this
 # container; without prisma/schema.prisma on disk, that command errors
-# out and the 60-iteration /health poll times the job out.
+# out and the 60-iteration /health poll times the job out. That step passes
+# `--skip-generate` because the client is already baked into dist/generated
+# above — regenerating would need write access to the root-owned
+# node_modules tree, which the non-root `node` user deliberately does not have.
 COPY prisma ./prisma
 
-COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
-COPY --from=builder /app/src/generated ./dist/generated
-COPY --from=builder /app/prisma ./prisma
-COPY prisma.config.ts ./
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/dist ./dist
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/src/generated ./dist/generated
+COPY --chown=node:node prisma.config.ts ./
+
+# Drop root privileges for the running process. The `node` user (uid 1000)
+# ships with the node:20-alpine base image — no extra user needs creating.
+USER node
 
 EXPOSE 3001
 
-CMD ["npm", "start"]
\ No newline at end of file
+# Native healthcheck so Docker Compose / Kubernetes can gate traffic on
+# readiness instead of only checking that the process is running.
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=10s --timeout=5s --start-period=15s --retries=5 \
+  CMD wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://127.0.0.1:3001/health || exit 1
+
+# Exec node directly instead of `npm start` so the server runs as PID 1 and
+# receives SIGTERM/SIGINT for the graceful-shutdown handler in src/index.ts.
+CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c547d022..c6cb9c78 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -149,5 +149,31 @@ services:
       start_period: 30s
     restart: unless-stopped
 
+  frontend:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: frontend/Dockerfile
+      args:
+        # NEXT_PUBLIC_* are inlined into the client bundle at build time. The
+        # browser talks to the backend over the published host port, so use
+        # localhost here rather than the in-network service name.
+        NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL: http://localhost:3001/v1
+    container_name: flowfi-frontend
+    environment:
+      NODE_ENV: production
+      PORT: 3000
+    ports:
+      - "3000:3000"
+    depends_on:
+      backend:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--no-verbose", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://127.0.0.1:3000/health"]
+      interval: 15s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+      start_period: 20s
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
 volumes:
   postgres_data:
diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile b/frontend/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6ca2739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# ============================================================================
+# Stage 1 — builder
+# Installs the npm workspace from the repo root, then runs `next build`, which
+# emits a self-contained server bundle (`output: "standalone"` in
+# frontend/next.config.ts) instead of the full `.next` tree + node_modules.
+# ============================================================================
+FROM node:20-alpine@sha256:fb4cd12c85ee03686f6af5362a0b0d56d50c58a04632e6c0fb8363f609372293 AS builder
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# NEXT_PUBLIC_* values are inlined into the client bundle at build time, so
+# they must be passed as build args (runtime env has no effect on them).
+# Defaults target the local Docker Compose stack; override with `--build-arg`
+# for a real deployment.
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:3001/v1
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_STELLAR_NETWORK=TESTNET
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_SOROBAN_RPC_URL=https://soroban-testnet.stellar.org
+ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE="Test SDF Network ; September 2015"
+ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL \
+    NEXT_PUBLIC_STELLAR_NETWORK=$NEXT_PUBLIC_STELLAR_NETWORK \
+    NEXT_PUBLIC_SOROBAN_RPC_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_SOROBAN_RPC_URL \
+    NEXT_PUBLIC_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE=$NEXT_PUBLIC_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE
+
+# Copy the workspace manifests first so the (slow) dependency layer stays
+# cached until a package.json or the root lockfile actually changes.
+COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
+COPY frontend/package.json ./frontend/
+COPY backend/package.json ./backend/
+
+# `npm ci` is the reproducible path; fall back to `npm install` when the
+# committed lockfile and package.json are out of sync so the image still
+# builds (dependency drift is tracked separately from this issue).
+RUN npm ci --no-audit --no-fund || npm install --no-audit --no-fund
+
+COPY frontend ./frontend
+
+RUN npm run build --workspace frontend
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Stage 2 — production runner
+# Copies only the traced standalone output (never the workspace node_modules)
+# and runs as the non-root `node` user that ships with the Alpine base image.
+# ============================================================================
+FROM node:20-alpine@sha256:fb4cd12c85ee03686f6af5362a0b0d56d50c58a04632e6c0fb8363f609372293 AS runner
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+ENV NODE_ENV=production \
+    NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 \
+    PORT=3000 \
+    HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0
+
+# The standalone bundle mirrors the monorepo layout, so the entrypoint is
+# `frontend/server.js` and that prefix must be preserved. `.next/static` and
+# `public/` are not part of the standalone output and are copied explicitly.
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/frontend/.next/standalone ./
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/frontend/.next/static ./frontend/.next/static
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/frontend/public ./frontend/public
+
+USER node
+
+EXPOSE 3000
+
+# Native healthcheck against the app's own /health route handler so Compose /
+# Kubernetes can gate traffic on readiness, not just process liveness.
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=15s --timeout=5s --start-period=20s --retries=5 \
+  CMD wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://127.0.0.1:3000/health || exit 1
+
+CMD ["node", "frontend/server.js"]
diff --git a/frontend/next.config.ts b/frontend/next.config.ts
index c90d14b9..c4c76af9 100644
--- a/frontend/next.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/next.config.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import type { NextConfig } from "next";
 
 const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
+  // Emit a self-contained server bundle (`.next/standalone`) carrying only the
+  // traced production dependencies. The production Docker image copies this
+  // instead of the full `.next` tree + node_modules, keeping the runtime image
+  // small (issue #1335).
+  output: "standalone",
   // The workspace root lives one level above this directory. Pinning it here
   // prevents Turbopack from inferring a wrong root when stray package-lock
   // files exist outside the repo (e.g. ~/package-lock.json).
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/health/route.ts b/frontend/src/app/health/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6c908177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/app/health/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+/**
+ * Lightweight liveness endpoint used by the container HEALTHCHECK
+ * (issue #1335). Intentionally dependency-free so it stays fast and always
+ * available, even while other routes are still warming up.
+ */
+export function GET() {
+  return Response.json({ status: "ok" });
+}