diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1b900f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+.git
+.github
+site
+dist
+build
+languages/java/out
+languages/cpp/build
+languages/rust/target
+catalog/discoveries
+**/__pycache__
+**/__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*.egg-info
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+.pytest_cache
+uv.lock
+Dockerfile
+.dockerignore
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/packages.yml b/.github/workflows/packages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a3b72c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/packages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+name: Packages
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  packages: write
+
+env:
+  IMAGE: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    name: Build & publish container image
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up QEMU
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to GitHub Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Extract metadata (tags, labels)
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
+        with:
+          images: ${{ env.IMAGE }}
+          tags: |
+            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
+            type=sha
+            type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
+
+      - name: Build and push
+        uses: docker/buildx-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          context: .
+          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+
+      - name: Report image
+        run: |
+          echo "Published:"
+          echo "  docker pull ${{ env.IMAGE }}:${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          echo "  docker pull ${{ env.IMAGE }}:latest"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2733d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+FROM python:3.12-slim
+
+ARG VERSION=1.0.0
+
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/dsk-dev-ai/algorithm-discovery-engine
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.version=$VERSION
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.revision=$VERSION
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.description="Multi-language algorithms & data structures engine with a local algorithm synthesizer (Python tier)."
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.licenses=MIT
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+COPY . /app
+
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir . && \
+    python -m compileall -q src && \
+    rm -rf .git
+
+ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/app/src
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["python", "-m", "synth", "discover"]
+CMD ["--smoke"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b742c0..1865cbe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg?style=flat-square)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
 [![Last commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/dsk-dev-ai/algorithm-discovery-engine?style=flat-square&logo=git&logoColor=white)]()
 [![Docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-live-blue?style=flat-square&logo=materialformkdocs&logoColor=white)](https://dsk-dev-ai.github.io/algorithm-discovery-engine/)
+[![GHCR](https://img.shields.io/badge/container-ghcr.io-lightgrey?style=flat-square&logo=docker&logoColor=white)](https://github.com/dsk-dev-ai/algorithm-discovery-engine/pkgs/container/algorithm-discovery-engine)
 [![GUI](https://img.shields.io/badge/available-gui_tkinter-blueviolet?style=flat-square)](#desktop-gui)
 [![Sponsor](https://img.shields.io/badge/%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8F-Sponsor-red?style=flat-square&logo=githubsponsors&logoColor=white)](https://github.com/sponsors/dsk-dev-ai)
 
@@ -179,6 +180,18 @@ ade-gui                         # if installed with pip/uv
 Core logic lives in `gui/core.py` and is tested headlessly in CI (`-p gui` mypy
 + `pytest -q tests/test_gui.py`).
 
+## Container image
+
+Prebuilt on **GitHub Packages** (amd64 + arm64) — no install needed:
+
+```sh
+docker pull ghcr.io/dsk-dev-ai/algorithm-discovery-engine:v1.0.0
+docker run --rm ghcr.io/dsk-dev-ai/algorithm-discovery-engine:v1.0.0 --smoke
+```
+
+Tags: `latest`, per-version (`v1.0.0`), and per-commit (`sha-<hash>`). The image runs
+the local algorithm synthesizer by default; override with any `python -m` command.
+
 ## Documentation
 
 Full docs: **https://dsk-dev-ai.github.io/algorithm-discovery-engine/**