diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5c57897f572e..5dcf9ab00fae 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,28 +1,39 @@
-FROM debian:13.4
+FROM ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:0.11.6-python3.13-trixie@sha256:b3c543b6c4f23a5f2df22866bd7857e5d304b67a564f4feab6ac22044dde719b AS uv_source
+FROM tianon/gosu:1.19-trixie@sha256:3b176695959c71e123eb390d427efc665eeb561b1540e82679c15e992006b8b9 AS gosu_source
+FROM debian:13.4-slim
 
 # Disable Python stdout buffering to ensure logs are printed immediately
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
 
-# Install system dependencies in one layer, clear APT cache
+# Install system dependencies in one layer, including chromium dependencies, clear APT cache
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-        build-essential nodejs npm python3 python3-pip ripgrep ffmpeg gcc python3-dev libffi-dev procps && \
+        build-essential nodejs npm python3 ripgrep ffmpeg gcc python3-dev libffi-dev git \
+	libasound2t64 libatk-bridge2.0-0t64 libatk1.0-0t64 libatspi2.0-0t64 libcairo2 libcups2t64 libdbus-1-3 libdrm2 libgbm1 libglib2.0-0t64 libnspr4 libnss3 libpango-1.0-0 libx11-6 libxcb1 libxcomposite1 libxdamage1 libxext6 libxfixes3 libxkbcommon0 libxrandr2 xvfb fonts-noto-color-emoji fonts-unifont libfontconfig1 libfreetype6 xfonts-scalable fonts-liberation fonts-ipafont-gothic fonts-wqy-zenhei fonts-tlwg-loma-otf fonts-freefont-ttf && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+ 
+# user IDs over 10000 are recommended for security; this can be overridden at runtime for easier permissions handling (running under the same UID as the computer user, for instance)
+RUN useradd -u 10000 -m -d /opt/data hermes
 
-COPY . /opt/hermes
+COPY --chmod=0755 --from=gosu_source /gosu /usr/local/bin/
+COPY --chmod=0755 --from=uv_source /usr/local/bin/uv /usr/local/bin/uvx /usr/local/bin/
+COPY --chown=hermes:hermes . /opt/hermes
 WORKDIR /opt/hermes
 
+USER hermes
+
 # Install Python and Node dependencies in one layer, no cache
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir uv --break-system-packages && \
-    uv pip install --system --break-system-packages --no-cache -e ".[all]" && \
+RUN uv venv && \
+    uv pip install --no-cache-dir -e ".[all]" && \
+    uv pip install --no-cache-dir -e ".[matrix]" && \
     npm install --prefer-offline --no-audit && \
-    npx playwright install --with-deps chromium --only-shell && \
     cd /opt/hermes/scripts/whatsapp-bridge && \
     npm install --prefer-offline --no-audit && \
     npm cache clean --force
-
-WORKDIR /opt/hermes
+ 
 RUN chmod +x /opt/hermes/docker/entrypoint.sh
+ 
+USER root
 
 ENV HERMES_HOME=/opt/data
 VOLUME [ "/opt/data" ]
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 68e3b79c1d16..260c2950637b 100644
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,30 @@ set -e
 HERMES_HOME="/opt/data"
 INSTALL_DIR="/opt/hermes"
 
+if [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ]; then
+    if [ -n "$HERMES_UID" -a "$HERMES_UID" != "$(id -u hermes)" ]; then
+        echo "Changing hermes UID to $HERMES_UID"
+        usermod -u "$HERMES_UID" hermes
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "$HERMES_GID" -a "$HERMES_GID" != "$(id -g hermes)" ]; then
+        echo "Changing hermes GID to $HERMES_GID"
+        groupmod -g "$HERMES_GID" hermes
+    fi
+
+    actual_hermes_uid=$(id -u hermes)
+    if [ "$(stat -c %u $HERMES_HOME)" != "$actual_hermes_uid" ]; then
+        echo "$HERMES_HOME is not owned by $actual_hermes_uid, fixing"
+        chown -R hermes:hermes $HERMES_HOME
+    fi
+    echo "Dropping root privileges"
+    exec gosu hermes $0 "$@"
+fi
+
+source ${INSTALL_DIR}/.venv/bin/activate
+
+npx playwright install chromium --only-shell
+
 # Create essential directory structure.  Cache and platform directories
 # (cache/images, cache/audio, platforms/whatsapp, etc.) are created on
 # demand by the application — don't pre-create them here so new installs