diff --git a/apps/api/.dockerignore b/apps/api/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca67891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+node_modules
+.tmp
+data
+drizzle/meta
diff --git a/apps/api/.env.example b/apps/api/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53a2b25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+DATABASE_URL=file:./data/app.db
+BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=change-me-to-a-long-random-string
+BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
+PORT=3000
diff --git a/apps/api/Dockerfile b/apps/api/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7629549
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+FROM node:22-alpine AS base
+RUN corepack enable
+WORKDIR /repo
+
+# Copy workspace manifests for cached install
+COPY package.json yarn.lock .yarnrc.yml ./
+COPY .yarn/ ./.yarn/
+COPY packages/shared/package.json ./packages/shared/package.json
+COPY apps/api/package.json ./apps/api/package.json
+# Copy the other workspace manifests too, so the workspace graph matches the
+# lockfile (otherwise Yarn errors on a mismatch). `focus` still installs ONLY
+# the @solelog/api subtree, so mobile/web deps are not pulled.
+COPY apps/mobile/package.json ./apps/mobile/package.json
+COPY apps/web/package.json ./apps/web/package.json
+
+RUN yarn workspaces focus @solelog/api
+
+# Copy sources
+COPY packages/shared/ ./packages/shared/
+COPY apps/api/ ./apps/api/
+
+WORKDIR /repo/apps/api
+ENV NODE_ENV=production
+EXPOSE 3000
+
+# Apply migrations, then start the server
+CMD ["sh", "-c", "yarn db:migrate && yarn start"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61375b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+services:
+  api:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: apps/api/Dockerfile
+    ports:
+      - '3000:3000'
+    environment:
+      DATABASE_URL: file:/data/app.db
+      BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: ${BETTER_AUTH_SECRET:-change-me-to-a-long-random-string}
+      BETTER_AUTH_URL: http://localhost:3000
+      PORT: '3000'
+    volumes:
+      - solelog_db:/data
+
+volumes:
+  solelog_db:
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70b4602
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# SoleLog docs
+
+- [Roadmap & project overview](./roadmap.md)
+- [Plans](./plans/)
+
+## Running the backend (Phase 0)
+
+Local (dev):
+```bash
+yarn install
+cp apps/api/.env.example apps/api/.env   # edit BETTER_AUTH_SECRET
+yarn workspace @solelog/api db:migrate
+yarn workspace @solelog/api dev
+```
+
+Docker (whole stack):
+```bash
+docker compose up --build
+# health: curl http://localhost:3000/health
+```