diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 4ef50a7..25f5410 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 .git
 *.duckdb
 .env
-__pycache__
\ No newline at end of file
+__pycache__
+
+
+src/data/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index afd79ff..e6c7b73 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock /app/
 RUN uv sync --frozen --no-install-project --no-dev
 COPY src /app
+# Ensure data directory exists but don't copy from host
 RUN uv sync --frozen --no-dev
 
 FROM base
 COPY --from=builder /app /app
 ENV PATH="/app/.venv/bin:$PATH"
 WORKDIR /app
-RUN mkdir -p /app/data
+# Create data directory
+RUN mkdir -p /app/data && chmod 755 /app/data
 CMD ["uvicorn", "app:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]