# ADR-014: Containerization and Deployment Strategy

**Date**: 2025-12-12

**Status**: Proposed

## Context

The project is currently run using `pm2`, and the `README.md` contains manual setup instructions. While functional, this lacks the portability, scalability, and consistency of modern deployment practices.

## Decision

We will standardize the deployment process by containerizing the application using **Docker**. This will involve defining a `Dockerfile` for building a production-ready image and a `docker-compose.yml` file for orchestrating the application, database, and other services (like Redis) in a development environment.

## Consequences

* **Positive**: Ensures consistency between development and production environments. Simplifies the setup for new developers. Improves portability and scalability of the application.
* **Negative**: Requires learning Docker and containerization concepts. Adds `Dockerfile` and `docker-compose.yml` to the project's configuration.