diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..05a54565
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+.git
+.github
+.gradle
+build/
+out/
+node_modules/
+src/main/webapp/node_modules/
+src/main/webapp/dist/
+*.iml
+.idea/
+Dockerfile
+docker-compose.yml
+docker/postgres_data/
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b9ccbd2..d7a81cbc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,14 +45,56 @@ Harmonia is built as a Java/Spring-based monolith, prioritizing stability and jo
 
 ---
 
-## 🐳 Docker Command for PostgreSQL
+## 🐳 Run Harmonia with Docker
 
-Use this command to quickly set up a local instance of the PostgreSQL database required by the server.
+### Quick Start with Startup Scripts
+
+Use the provided startup scripts for an automated setup:
+
+**macOS/Linux:**
+```bash
+./start.sh
+```
+
+**Windows (PowerShell):**
+```powershell
+.\start.ps1
+```
+
+The scripts will:
+- Check if Docker is running
+- Clean up any existing containers
+- Build and start all services (database, server, client)
+- Wait for services to be ready
+- Display access URLs and helpful commands
+
+### Full stack (database + server + client)
+
+Alternatively, you can manually build and launch everything:
+
+Alternatively, you can manually build and launch everything:
+
+1. Build and launch:
 
    ```bash
-    docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d
+   docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build
    ```
 
+2. Access the services:
+   * Client (served by nginx): http://localhost:5173
+   * Spring Boot server: http://localhost:8080
+   * PostgreSQL: localhost:5432 (user `postgres`, password `harmonia`)
+
+The Compose setup builds the Gradle boot jar inside `docker/server.Dockerfile`, bundles the React client with Vite via `docker/client.Dockerfile`, and proxies `/api` + `/actuator` calls from nginx to the server container. All images restart automatically unless stopped.
+
+### Database only
+
+If you only need the database for local development you can start just the PostgreSQL service:
+
+```bash
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d postgres
+```
+
 ## 🚀 How to Run the Server
 
 The application uses Gradle for dependency management and building. Assuming you have **Java 25** installed, use the
@@ -129,4 +171,4 @@ This will generate fully typed API clients and models in:
 
 src/main/webapp/src/app/generated/
 
-These files are overwritten each time you run the generator and should be committed to version control to keep client and server in sync.
\ No newline at end of file
+These files are overwritten each time you run the generator and should be committed to version control to keep client and server in sync.
diff --git a/docker/client.Dockerfile b/docker/client.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d2d85741
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/client.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Build the React/Vite client
+FROM node:22-bookworm-slim AS builder
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY src/main/webapp/package*.json ./
+RUN npm ci
+
+COPY src/main/webapp .
+
+ARG VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080
+ENV VITE_API_BASE_URL=${VITE_API_BASE_URL}
+ENV NODE_ENV=production
+
+RUN npm run build
+
+# Serve the production build with nginx
+FROM nginx:1.27-alpine AS runner
+
+COPY docker/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
+
+EXPOSE 80
+
+CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.yml b/docker/docker-compose.yml
index a497c23b..e26fd427 100644
--- a/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-version: '3.9'
+name: harmonia
+
 services:
   postgres:
     image: postgres:18.0
@@ -12,6 +13,41 @@ services:
       - "5432:5432"
     volumes:
       - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+
+  server:
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: docker/server.Dockerfile
+    container_name: harmonia-server
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      postgres:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    environment:
+      SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL: jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/harmonia
+      SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME: postgres
+      SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD: harmonia
+    ports:
+      - "8080:8080"
+
+  client:
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: docker/client.Dockerfile
+      args:
+        VITE_API_BASE_URL: ${VITE_API_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8080}
+    container_name: harmonia-client
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      server:
+        condition: service_started
+    ports:
+      - "5173:80"
 
 volumes:
   postgres_data:
diff --git a/docker/nginx.conf b/docker/nginx.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6431561
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/nginx.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+server {
+    listen 80;
+    server_name _;
+
+    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
+    index index.html;
+
+    gzip on;
+    gzip_types text/plain application/xml text/css application/javascript application/json image/svg+xml;
+
+    location / {
+        try_files $uri /index.html;
+    }
+
+    location /api/ {
+        proxy_pass http://harmonia-server:8080/api/;
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+    }
+
+    location /actuator/ {
+        proxy_pass http://harmonia-server:8080/actuator/;
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docker/server.Dockerfile b/docker/server.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..417e548e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/server.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Build the Spring Boot application
+FROM eclipse-temurin:25-jdk AS builder
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY . .
+
+RUN chmod +x gradlew
+RUN ./gradlew --no-daemon bootJar -x test \
+    && JAR_FILE=$(find build/libs -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*.jar" ! -name "*-plain.jar" | head -n 1) \
+    && cp "${JAR_FILE}" /app/application.jar
+
+# Run the packaged jar with a lightweight JRE
+FROM eclipse-temurin:25-jre
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY --from=builder /app/application.jar app.jar
+
+EXPOSE 8080
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/app/app.jar"]
diff --git a/start.ps1 b/start.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c589cb0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+# Harmonia Startup Script (Windows PowerShell)
+# This script starts all services using Docker containers
+
+$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
+
+# Colors for output
+function Write-Green { Write-Host $args -ForegroundColor Green }
+function Write-Blue { Write-Host $args -ForegroundColor Blue }
+function Write-Yellow { Write-Host $args -ForegroundColor Yellow }
+function Write-Red { Write-Host $args -ForegroundColor Red }
+
+Write-Blue "========================================"
+Write-Blue "    Starting Harmonia Application"
+Write-Blue "    (Containerized Version)"
+Write-Blue "========================================"
+Write-Host ""
+
+# Step 1: Check Docker is running
+Write-Green "[1/4] Checking Docker..."
+try {
+    docker info | Out-Null
+    Write-Green "✓ Docker is running"
+    Write-Host ""
+} catch {
+    Write-Red "✗ Docker is not running. Please start Docker Desktop."
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# Step 2: Clean up any existing containers
+Write-Green "[2/4] Cleaning up existing containers..."
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down --remove-orphans 2>$null
+Write-Green "✓ Cleanup completed"
+Write-Host ""
+
+# Step 3: Build and start all services
+Write-Green "[3/4] Building and starting all services..."
+Write-Yellow "This may take several minutes for the first run..."
+Write-Yellow "Building Docker images and starting containers..."
+Write-Host ""
+
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build -d
+
+if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
+    Write-Green "✓ All services started successfully"
+    Write-Host ""
+} else {
+    Write-Red "✗ Failed to start services"
+    Write-Yellow "Check logs with: docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# Step 4: Wait for services to be ready
+Write-Green "[4/4] Waiting for services to be ready..."
+Write-Yellow "Checking service health..."
+
+# Wait for postgres to be healthy
+Write-Yellow "• Waiting for PostgreSQL..."
+$timeout = 60
+$postgresReady = $false
+while ($timeout -gt 0) {
+    $status = docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml ps postgres 2>$null | Select-String "healthy"
+    if ($status) {
+        Write-Green "  ✓ PostgreSQL is ready"
+        $postgresReady = $true
+        break
+    }
+    Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
+    $timeout -= 2
+}
+
+if (-not $postgresReady) {
+    Write-Red "  ✗ PostgreSQL failed to start within 60 seconds"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# Wait for server to be responding
+Write-Yellow "• Waiting for Spring Boot server..."
+$timeout = 120
+$serverReady = $false
+while ($timeout -gt 0) {
+    try {
+        $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:8080/actuator/health" -UseBasicParsing -TimeoutSec 2 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+        if ($response.StatusCode -eq 200 -or $response.StatusCode -eq 401) {
+            Write-Green "  ✓ Server is ready"
+            $serverReady = $true
+            break
+        }
+    } catch {
+        # Server not ready yet
+    }
+    Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
+    $timeout -= 3
+}
+
+if (-not $serverReady) {
+    Write-Yellow "  ⚠ Server may still be starting (timeout reached)"
+}
+
+# Check if client is responding
+Write-Yellow "• Waiting for React client..."
+$timeout = 30
+$clientReady = $false
+while ($timeout -gt 0) {
+    try {
+        $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:5173" -UseBasicParsing -TimeoutSec 2 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+        if ($response.StatusCode -eq 200) {
+            Write-Green "  ✓ Client is ready"
+            $clientReady = $true
+            break
+        }
+    } catch {
+        # Client not ready yet
+    }
+    Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
+    $timeout -= 2
+}
+
+if (-not $clientReady) {
+    Write-Yellow "  ⚠ Client may still be starting (timeout reached)"
+}
+
+# Summary
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Blue "========================================"
+Write-Green "✓ Harmonia is now running!"
+Write-Blue "========================================"
+Write-Yellow "Server:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " http://localhost:8080"
+Write-Yellow "Client:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " http://localhost:5173"
+Write-Yellow "Database:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " PostgreSQL on localhost:5432"
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Yellow "Useful commands:"
+Write-Yellow "• View logs:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f"
+Write-Yellow "• Stop services:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down"
+Write-Yellow "• Restart services:" -NoNewline
+Write-Host " docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml restart"
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Yellow "Press Ctrl+C to stop all services"
+Write-Host ""
+
+# Keep script running and handle Ctrl+C
+$null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey("NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown")
+
+# Cleanup on exit
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Red "Shutting down all services..."
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..46c7fc06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Harmonia Startup Script
+# This script starts all services using Docker containers
+
+set -e  # Exit on error
+
+# Colors for output
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+BLUE='\033[0;34m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+echo -e "${BLUE}========================================${NC}"
+echo -e "${BLUE}    Starting Harmonia Application${NC}"
+echo -e "${BLUE}    (Containerized Version)${NC}"
+echo -e "${BLUE}========================================${NC}\n"
+
+# Step 1: Check Docker is running
+echo -e "${GREEN}[1/4] Checking Docker...${NC}"
+if ! docker info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ Docker is not running. Please start Docker Desktop.${NC}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Docker is running${NC}\n"
+
+# Step 2: Clean up any existing containers
+echo -e "${GREEN}[2/4] Cleaning up existing containers...${NC}"
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down --remove-orphans 2>/dev/null || true
+echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Cleanup completed${NC}\n"
+
+# Step 3: Build and start all services
+echo -e "${GREEN}[3/4] Building and starting all services...${NC}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}This may take several minutes for the first run...${NC}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Building Docker images and starting containers...${NC}\n"
+
+# Start services in background and capture output
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build -d
+
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✓ All services started successfully${NC}\n"
+else
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ Failed to start services${NC}"
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Check logs with: docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs${NC}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Step 4: Wait for services to be ready
+echo -e "${GREEN}[4/4] Waiting for services to be ready...${NC}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Checking service health...${NC}"
+
+# Wait for postgres to be healthy
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• Waiting for PostgreSQL...${NC}"
+timeout=60
+while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
+    if docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml ps postgres | grep -q "healthy"; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}  ✓ PostgreSQL is ready${NC}"
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+    ((timeout-=2))
+done
+
+if [ $timeout -le 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${RED}  ✗ PostgreSQL failed to start within 60 seconds${NC}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Wait for server to be responding
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• Waiting for Spring Boot server...${NC}"
+timeout=120
+while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
+    if curl -f -s http://localhost:8080/actuator/health >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}  ✓ Server is ready${NC}"
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 3
+    ((timeout-=3))
+done
+
+if [ $timeout -le 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}  ⚠ Server may still be starting (timeout reached)${NC}"
+fi
+
+# Check if client is responding
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• Waiting for React client...${NC}"
+timeout=30
+while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
+    if curl -f -s http://localhost:5173 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}  ✓ Client is ready${NC}"
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+    ((timeout-=2))
+done
+
+if [ $timeout -le 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}  ⚠ Client may still be starting (timeout reached)${NC}"
+fi
+
+# Summary
+echo -e "\n${BLUE}========================================${NC}"
+echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Harmonia is now running!${NC}"
+echo -e "${BLUE}========================================${NC}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Server:${NC} http://localhost:8080"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Client:${NC} http://localhost:5173"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Database:${NC} PostgreSQL on localhost:5432"
+echo -e "\n${YELLOW}Useful commands:${NC}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• View logs:${NC} docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• Stop services:${NC} docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}• Restart services:${NC} docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml restart"
+echo -e "\n${YELLOW}Press Ctrl+C to stop all services${NC}\n"
+
+# Keep script running and handle Ctrl+C
+trap "echo -e '\n${RED}Shutting down all services...${NC}'; docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down; exit" INT
+
+# Follow logs to keep script running
+docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f