diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2e861ba..c6ff34b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,15 @@ RUN apk --no-cache add ca-certificates tzdata && \
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY --from=builder /app/nats-ui .
-COPY index.html config.yaml ./
+COPY index.html ./
+
+# config.yaml is in .gitignore; create default in image (override via volume at runtime)
+RUN printf '%s\n' \
+    'nats_url: "nats://localhost:4222"' \
+    'subjects: ">"' \
+    'port: "8080"' \
+    'max_messages: 1000' \
+    > config.yaml
 
 RUN chmod +x nats-ui && chown -R appuser:appuser /app