diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index e62d337..e139133 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -19,3 +19,7 @@ CONTRIBUTING.md
 coverage.xml
 LICENSE
 /tests/
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a30bf47..d6e6c52 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/nanotaboada/python-sam
 
 # Copy metadata docs for container registries (e.g.: GitHub Container Registry)
 COPY README.md          ./
-COPY assets             ./assets
+COPY assets/            ./assets/
 
 # Copy pre-built wheels from builder
-COPY --from=builder     /app/wheelhouse     /app/wheelhouse
+COPY --from=builder     /app/wheelhouse/            /app/wheelhouse/
 
 # Install dependencies
 COPY requirements.txt   .
@@ -47,29 +47,29 @@ RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --no-index --find-links /app/wheelhouse -r requir
 
 # Copy application source code
 COPY main.py            ./
-COPY databases          ./databases
-COPY models             ./models
-COPY routes             ./routes
-COPY schemas            ./schemas
-COPY services           ./services
+COPY databases/         ./databases/
+COPY models/            ./models/
+COPY routes/            ./routes/
+COPY schemas/           ./schemas/
+COPY services/          ./services/
 
 # https://rules.sonarsource.com/docker/RSPEC-6504/
 
 # Copy entrypoint and healthcheck scripts
 COPY --chmod=755        scripts/entrypoint.sh       ./entrypoint.sh
 COPY --chmod=755        scripts/healthcheck.sh      ./healthcheck.sh
-# Copy pre-seeded SQLite database as init bundle
-COPY --chmod=755        storage                     ./docker-compose
+# The 'hold' is our storage compartment within the image. Here, we copy a
+# pre-seeded SQLite database file, which Compose will mount as a persistent
+# 'storage' volume when the container starts up.
+COPY --chmod=755        storage/                    ./hold/
 
 # Add non-root user and make volume mount point writable
-RUN groupadd --system fastapi && \
-    adduser --system --ingroup fastapi --disabled-password --gecos '' fastapi && \
+RUN adduser --system --disabled-password --group fastapi && \
     mkdir -p /storage && \
     chown fastapi:fastapi /storage
 
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
 
-# Drop privileges
 USER fastapi
 
 EXPOSE 9000
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/compose.yaml
similarity index 88%
rename from docker-compose.yml
rename to compose.yaml
index b772932..19dde9b 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ services:
 
 volumes:
   storage:
+    name: python-samples-fastapi-restful_storage
diff --git a/scripts/entrypoint.sh b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
index 3ab4944..442afa0 100644
--- a/scripts/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-IMAGE_STORAGE_PATH="/app/docker-compose/players-sqlite3.db"
+IMAGE_STORAGE_PATH="/app/hold/players-sqlite3.db"
 VOLUME_STORAGE_PATH="/storage/players-sqlite3.db"
 
 echo "✔ Starting container..."
diff --git a/scripts/healthcheck.sh b/scripts/healthcheck.sh
index 9f5a04b..e3a9877 100644
--- a/scripts/healthcheck.sh
+++ b/scripts/healthcheck.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
 
-# Simple health check using curl
-curl --fail http://localhost:9000/health
+# Minimal curl-based health check with timeout and error reporting
+curl --fail --silent --show-error --connect-timeout 1 --max-time 2 http://localhost:9000/health