diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14af3e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# Test data files
+*.i5.xml
+*.zip
+!share/*.jar
+
+# Build artifacts
+blib/
+local/
+Makefile
+MYMETA*
+pm_to_blib
+pod2htmd.tmp
+
+# Git and version control
+.git/
+.github/
+.gitignore
+
+# IDE files
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*~
+
+# Temporary and output files
+*.xml
+*.tar.gz
+*.tar.xz
+err
+out
+out.txt
+new
+old
+a/
+b/
+BNC/
+
+# CI/CD
+.gitlab-ci-local/
+.gitlab-ci-local-variables.yml*
+
+# Documentation (included via COPY)
+# Readme.pod will be included