diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d81f775
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Ignore Git and GitHub files
+.git
+.github
+
+# Ignore all markdown files (README.md, etc.)
+*.md
+
+# Ignore all log files
+*.log
+
+# Ignore Python cache files
+__pycache__
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+.Python
+
+# Ignore Python virtual environment files
+venv
+env/
+
+# Ignore common database files
+*.sql
+*.sqlite
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5cfcbcf..d4cef3d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
-# Dockerfile
-FROM python:3.12-slim
+# Stage 1: Use python:3.12 to install dependencies
+FROM python:3.12 as builder
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY requirements.txt requirements.txt
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
+# Stage 2: Use python:3.12-alpine and copy installed dependencies from builder stage
+FROM python:3.12-alpine
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY --from=builder /usr/local /usr/local
 COPY . .