diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2112ab0..b9bdff0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ COPY . .
 RUN python3 -c "from kjvstudy_org.utils.search_index import init_search_index; init_search_index()"
 
 # Copy nginx config and startup script
-COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
+COPY nginx-prod.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
 COPY start.sh /app/start.sh
 RUN chmod +x /app/start.sh
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index e4d7b3f..73e77e9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
 services:
-  web:
-    build: .
+  nginx:
+    image: nginx:alpine
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
+    volumes:
+      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
+      - ./kjvstudy_org/static:/app/kjvstudy_org/static:ro
+    depends_on:
+      - web
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
+  web:
+    build: .
+    expose:
+      - "8001"
     volumes:
       - .:/app
       - /app/.venv
@@ -11,4 +22,4 @@ services:
       - PRELOAD_INTERLINEAR=true
       - DISABLE_ANALYTICS=true
     restart: unless-stopped
-    command: uv run uvicorn kjvstudy_org.server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --reload --reload-include '*.json'
+    command: uv run uvicorn kjvstudy_org.server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8001 --reload --reload-include '*.json'
diff --git a/nginx-prod.conf b/nginx-prod.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4150c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nginx-prod.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+worker_processes auto;
+error_log /dev/stderr warn;
+pid /tmp/nginx.pid;
+
+events {
+    worker_connections 1024;
+    use epoll;
+    multi_accept on;
+}
+
+http {
+    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
+    default_type application/octet-stream;
+
+    # Logging
+    access_log /dev/stdout combined;
+
+    # Request buffering - absorb slow clients
+    client_body_buffer_size 128k;
+    client_max_body_size 10m;
+    client_body_timeout 60s;
+    client_header_timeout 60s;
+
+    # Response buffering
+    proxy_buffering on;
+    proxy_buffer_size 4k;
+    proxy_buffers 8 32k;
+    proxy_busy_buffers_size 64k;
+
+    # Keepalive
+    keepalive_timeout 65;
+    keepalive_requests 1000;
+
+    # Compression
+    gzip on;
+    gzip_vary on;
+    gzip_proxied any;
+    gzip_comp_level 6;
+    gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml application/json application/javascript application/xml+rss application/atom+xml image/svg+xml;
+
+    # Upstream - uvicorn (production single container)
+    upstream app {
+        server 127.0.0.1:8001;
+        keepalive 32;
+    }
+
+    server {
+        listen 8000;
+        server_name _;
+
+        # Static files - serve directly with caching
+        location /static/ {
+            alias /app/kjvstudy_org/static/;
+            expires 1y;
+            add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
+            access_log off;
+        }
+
+        # Service worker - special cache headers
+        location = /sw.js {
+            proxy_pass http://app;
+            proxy_http_version 1.1;
+            proxy_set_header Host $host;
+            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+            add_header Cache-Control "no-cache";
+        }
+
+        # All other requests - proxy to uvicorn
+        location / {
+            proxy_pass http://app;
+            proxy_http_version 1.1;
+            proxy_set_header Host $host;
+            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+            proxy_set_header Connection "";
+
+            # Request buffering
+            proxy_request_buffering on;
+
+            # Timeouts
+            proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
+            proxy_send_timeout 60s;
+            proxy_read_timeout 60s;
+        }
+
+        # Health check endpoint - bypass buffering for speed
+        location = /api/health {
+            proxy_pass http://app;
+            proxy_http_version 1.1;
+            proxy_set_header Host $host;
+            proxy_buffering off;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nginx.conf b/nginx.conf
index c452cce..b746196 100644
--- a/nginx.conf
+++ b/nginx.conf
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ http {
     gzip_comp_level 6;
     gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml application/json application/javascript application/xml+rss application/atom+xml image/svg+xml;
 
-    # Upstream - uvicorn
+    # Upstream - uvicorn (use 'web' for docker-compose, '127.0.0.1' for single container)
     upstream app {
-        server 127.0.0.1:8001;
+        server web:8001;
         keepalive 32;
     }