diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 1652a2b..97bd836 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
+      - name: Install uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6
+
       - name: Install linter
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install ruff
+        run: uv pip install --system ruff
 
       - name: Run linter
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 075b3e2..932bdeb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -18,10 +18,11 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
 
+      - name: Install uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6
+
       - name: Install dependencies
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: uv pip install --system -r requirements.txt
 
       - name: Run tests
         env:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0bcb556..a473096 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: help init fireform build up down logs logs-app logs-ollama shell pull-model test clean super-clean migrate migration
+.PHONY: help init fireform build up down logs logs-app logs-ollama shell pull-model test clean super-clean status ready-banner sync
 
 COMPOSE     = docker compose -f docker/dev/compose.yml --env-file docker/.env.dev
 ENV_DEV     = docker/.env.dev
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ help:
 	@echo "make build        - Build Docker images"
 	@echo "make up           - Start all containers (detached)"
 	@echo "make down         - Stop all containers"
+	@echo "make sync         - Fast-install new requirements.txt deps into running app (no rebuild)"
+	@echo "make status       - Show compact container health summary"
 	@echo "make logs         - Stream all container logs"
 	@echo "make logs-app     - Stream app container logs"
 	@echo "make logs-ollama  - Stream Ollama container logs"
@@ -46,30 +48,38 @@ init:
 		*) echo "Run 'make fireform' when ready." ;; \
 	esac
 
-fireform: build up
-	@printf "Waiting for Ollama to be ready..."
-	@until $(COMPOSE) exec -T ollama ollama list > /dev/null 2>&1; do \
-		printf '.'; sleep 2; \
-	done
-	@echo " ready."
+fireform:
+	@$(COMPOSE) up -d --build
 	@if $(COMPOSE) exec -T ollama ollama list 2>/dev/null | grep -q "^$(OLLAMA_MODEL)"; then \
 		echo "  Model $(OLLAMA_MODEL) already pulled."; \
 	else \
 		echo "  Pulling $(OLLAMA_MODEL)..."; \
 		$(COMPOSE) exec -T ollama ollama pull $(OLLAMA_MODEL); \
 	fi
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "FireForm is ready!"
-	@echo "   API:      http://localhost:8000"
-	@echo "   API Docs: http://localhost:8000/docs"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "Run 'make logs' to view live logs, 'make down' to stop."
+	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory ready-banner
 
 build:
 	@$(COMPOSE) build
 
 up:
 	@$(COMPOSE) up -d
+	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory ready-banner
+
+# Fast path for "I added a package": install the delta into the running container
+# (no image rebuild, no 1.6GB layer re-export). uv installs only what's missing in
+sync:
+	@$(COMPOSE) exec -T app sh -c "UV_TORCH_BACKEND=cpu uv pip install --system -r requirements.txt"
+
+status:
+	@$(COMPOSE) ps --format 'table {{.Service}}\t{{.Status}}'
+
+ready-banner:
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "FireForm is ready!"
+	@echo "   API:      http://localhost:8000"
+	@echo "   API Docs: http://localhost:8000/docs"
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "Run 'make logs' to view live logs, 'make down' to stop."
 
 down:
 	@$(COMPOSE) down --remove-orphans
diff --git a/docker/dev/Dockerfile b/docker/dev/Dockerfile
index ad4bfd4..a5a42c1 100644
--- a/docker/dev/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/dev/Dockerfile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ FROM python:3.11-slim
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-# Use apt cache mount to speed up system package installation across builds
+# apt cache mounts keep downloaded .debs across builds
 RUN rm -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-clean; echo 'Binary::apt::APT::Keep-Downloaded-Packages "true";' > /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/keep-cache
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt,sharing=locked \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/var/lib/apt \
@@ -11,13 +11,22 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt,sharing=locked \
     curl \
     libgl1 \
     libglib2.0-0 \
-    libxcb1
+    libxcb1 \
+    libpq-dev \
+    build-essential \
+    g++
+
+COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:latest /uv /usr/local/bin/uv
 
 COPY requirements.txt .
 
-# Use pip cache mount so it remembers downloaded wheels
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/pip \
-    pip install -r requirements.txt
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
+    UV_TORCH_BACKEND=cpu \
+    uv pip install --system -r requirements.txt
+
+# Bake a hash of the deps the image was built with. The entrypoint compares this
+# against the live (bind-mounted) requirements.txt to decide whether to reinstall.
+RUN sha256sum requirements.txt | cut -d' ' -f1 > /opt/req_hash
 
 ENV PYTHONPATH=/app
 
diff --git a/docker/dev/compose.yml b/docker/dev/compose.yml
index 22f8a5d..820711d 100644
--- a/docker/dev/compose.yml
+++ b/docker/dev/compose.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ services:
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
+      start_period: 30s
+      start_interval: 1s
 
   ollama:
     image: ollama/ollama:latest
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ services:
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
       start_period: 30s
+      start_interval: 2s
 
   whisper:
     image: onerahmet/openai-whisper-asr-webservice:latest
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ services:
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
       start_period: 60s
+      start_interval: 3s
 
   redis:
     image: redis:7-alpine
@@ -68,6 +72,8 @@ services:
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
+      start_period: 30s
+      start_interval: 1s
 
   app:
     build:
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 8694d9f..a4832be 100755
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,25 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
 
-# Ensure data directories exist (volumes may be empty on first run)
 mkdir -p /data/uploads
 
-# Run DB migrations / init before starting the server
+# Reinstall deps only when the live requirements.txt differs from what the image
+# was built with. The image bakes the hash at /opt/req_hash; in dev the live file
+# comes from the bind mount. Matching hash => deps already baked in => skip (instant).
+BAKED_HASH=$(cat /opt/req_hash 2>/dev/null || echo "none")
+LIVE_HASH=$(sha256sum requirements.txt 2>/dev/null | cut -d' ' -f1 || echo "unknown")
+
+if [ "$BAKED_HASH" = "$LIVE_HASH" ]; then
+    echo "[entrypoint] dependencies up to date — skipping install"
+else
+    echo "[entrypoint] requirements.txt changed since image build — syncing deps..."
+    if command -v uv > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        UV_TORCH_BACKEND=cpu uv pip install --system -r requirements.txt
+    else
+        pip install -r requirements.txt
+    fi
+fi
+
 python3 -m app.db.init_db
 
 exec "$@"
diff --git a/docker/prod/Dockerfile b/docker/prod/Dockerfile
index f97d6dd..ed65a28 100644
--- a/docker/prod/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/prod/Dockerfile
@@ -1,32 +1,44 @@
+# ---- builder ----
 FROM python:3.11-slim AS builder
 
-WORKDIR /build
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    build-essential g++ libpq-dev && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:latest /uv /usr/local/bin/uv
 
+WORKDIR /build
 COPY requirements.txt .
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --prefix=/install -r requirements.txt
 
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
+    UV_TORCH_BACKEND=cpu \
+    uv pip install --system -r requirements.txt
 
+# ---- runtime ----
 FROM python:3.11-slim
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     curl \
     libgl1 \
     libglib2.0-0 \
     libxcb1 \
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+    libpq5 && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-COPY --from=builder /install /usr/local
+COPY --from=builder /usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages /usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages
+COPY --from=builder /usr/local/bin /usr/local/bin
 
-# Copy only app code, not data/ temp/ tests/ docs/ etc.
 COPY app/ ./app/
 COPY requirements.txt .
 COPY docker/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
+# Bake deps hash so the entrypoint can skip the redundant install when unchanged.
+RUN sha256sum requirements.txt | cut -d' ' -f1 > /opt/req_hash
+
 ENV PYTHONPATH=/app
 
-# Data dirs created here; actual storage comes from mounted volumes at runtime.
 RUN mkdir -p /data/db /data/uploads && chmod +x /entrypoint.sh
 
 EXPOSE 8000
diff --git a/scripts/setup-dockers-env.sh b/scripts/setup-dockers-env.sh
index 90adb5c..17418ad 100644
--- a/scripts/setup-dockers-env.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-dockers-env.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 source venv/bin/activate
-pip install -r requirements.txt
+if command -v uv > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    uv pip install -r requirements.txt
+else
+    pip install -r requirements.txt
+fi