diff --git a/backend/.dockerignore b/backend/.dockerignore
index a99ab57d..6523cbb1 100644
--- a/backend/.dockerignore
+++ b/backend/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,55 @@
+# Version control
+.git
+.gitignore
+
+# IDE / Editor
 .idea
+.vscode
+.cursor
+
+# Python caches
+__pycache__
+*.py[cod]
+*.pyo
 .pytest_cache
-.git
\ No newline at end of file
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+.coverage
+coverage.xml
+htmlcov/
+
+# Virtual environments
+.venv
+venv
+env
+
+# Docker (avoid recursive copy)
+Dockerfile
+docker-compose*.yml
+.dockerignore
+
+# Logs
+*.log
+django_queries.log
+
+# Local env files
+.env
+default.env
+
+# OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Build artifacts
+staticfiles/
+tmp/
+
+# Google credentials (should be mounted, not baked in)
+google_api_credentials.json
+
+# Pre-commit
+.pre-commit-config.yaml
+
+# Database files
+*.sql
+*.sqlite3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index eb5c3c52..ba4181af 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -25,3 +25,7 @@ COPY ./pyproject.toml ./poetry.lock /tmp/
 WORKDIR /pneumatic_backend
 RUN poetry config virtualenvs.create false && \
     poetry install --without dev --no-root --no-interaction --directory /tmp
+
+# Copy application source code (for production/Railway builds)
+# In local dev, docker-compose volume mounts override this layer
+COPY . .