diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index baa01c9..b00d8eb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 # Binaries
+authelia-api
+src/authelia-api
 src/server
 
 # Dependency directories
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index e3f9858..a4ae1c0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 # Authelia + Authelia-API combined container
 # ===========================================
 # Runs both Authelia (auth portal, port 9091) and Authelia-API
-# (user management API, port 8080) in a single container.
+# (user management + policy management API, port 8080) in a single container.
+#
+# Build:
+#   docker build -t git24hcom/authelia-api:latest .
 #
 # Volumes:
 #   /config  — Authelia config + user DB + notification templates
@@ -16,7 +19,6 @@ FROM alpine:3.21 AS authelia-dl
 
 ARG AUTHELIA_VERSION=4.39.20
 ARG TARGETARCH=amd64
-ARG TARGETPLATFORM=linux/amd64
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 ADD https://github.com/authelia/authelia/releases/download/v${AUTHELIA_VERSION}/authelia-v${AUTHELIA_VERSION}-linux-${TARGETARCH}.tar.gz /tmp/authelia.tar.gz
@@ -24,7 +26,15 @@ RUN tar -xzf /tmp/authelia.tar.gz && \
     mv authelia /usr/local/bin/authelia && \
     chmod +x /usr/local/bin/authelia
 
-# --- Stage 2: runtime image (glibc-based for Authelia binary) ---
+# --- Stage 2: build Authelia-API from source ---
+FROM golang:1.22-bookworm AS go-build
+
+WORKDIR /build
+COPY src/ .
+RUN go mod download && \
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o authelia-api ./cmd/server
+
+# --- Stage 3: runtime image ---
 FROM debian:bookworm-slim
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
@@ -34,9 +44,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     netcat-openbsd \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Copy binaries
+# Copy binaries from build stages
 COPY --from=authelia-dl /usr/local/bin/authelia /usr/local/bin/authelia
-COPY authelia-api /usr/local/bin/authelia-api
+COPY --from=go-build /build/authelia-api /usr/local/bin/authelia-api
 
 # Create directories
 RUN mkdir -p /config /data /certs && \
diff --git a/authelia-api b/authelia-api
deleted file mode 100644
index c23bfd7..0000000
Binary files a/authelia-api and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 3187b17..d8180b1 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@
 # =============================================================================
 
 services:
-  authelia:
-    image: git24hcom/authelia:latest
-    container_name: authelia
+  authelia-api:
+    image: git24hcom/authelia-api:latest
+    container_name: authelia-api
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
     restart: unless-stopped
     ports:
       - "9091:9091"   # Authelia web portal