diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb5659d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Use the official Node.js image as our base image
+From node:18-alpine
+
+# Set the working directory in the container
+WORKDIR /usr/src/app
+
+# copy package.json and package-lock.json to the working directory
+COPY package*.json ./
+
+# Install dependencies in the container
+RUN npm install 
+
+# Copy the rest of the application to the working directory
+COPY . .
+
+# Expose the port the app will run on
+EXPOSE 4000
+
+# Command to run the applicaiton
+CMD ["npm", "run", "server"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 00db566..699098c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1 +1,25 @@
 # server
+
+## Running with Docker
+1. **Build the Dokcker Image**: Build the Docker image locally.
+
+```bash
+docker build -t notify-med-server:latest .
+```
+
+2. **Run the Docker Container**:
+After building th image, you can run the application in a container .
+
+```bash
+docker run \
+    -p 4000:4000 \
+    -e MONGO_URI=mongodb://your-database-ip/NotifyMEd \ 
+    -d \
+    server-app:latest
+```
+
+3. Access the application on `http://localhost:4000`.
+
+## Environmental variables
+
+You can also pass other environmenetal variabbles usinf the `-e` flag with docker run. For example, to set `JWT_SECRET`, you can add `-e JWT_SECRET=your_secret_here` to the `docker run` command.