diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..68369012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Git
+.git
+.github
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Node (rebuilt in Docker)
+node_modules
+
+# IDE
+.idea
+
+# Documentation
+README.md
+HOW_TO_CONTRIBUTE.md
+VOID_CODEBASE_GUIDE.md
+LICENSE*.txt
+ThirdPartyNotices.txt
+
+# CI/CD
+CodeQL.yml
+
+# Build output (rebuilt in Docker)
+out
+
+# OS
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Playwright browsers (not needed for server)
+.playwright
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9f66b767..4242b506 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ RUN npm i --ignore-scripts \
     && (cd remote && npm rebuild)
 
 # Build: React components first, then compile produces out/ (server + workbench), compile-web adds extension web bundles
-ENV NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=8192"
+ENV NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
 RUN npm run buildreact \
     && npm run compile \
     && npm run compile-web