diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0aee860..9b73903 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,12 +52,26 @@ IRC Client(s) --> [bouncer:6667] --> Router --> [SOCKS5:1080] --> IRC Server(s)
 4. Joins configured channels
 5. Clients connect to bouncer, receive backlog replay and channel state
 
+## Podman Deployment
+
+```bash
+cp config/bouncer.example.toml config/bouncer.toml
+$EDITOR config/bouncer.toml
+
+make build
+make up
+make logs
+```
+
+See [docs/DEPLOY.md](docs/DEPLOY.md) for full container documentation.
+
 ## Documentation
 
 | Document | Description |
 |----------|-------------|
 | [docs/INSTALL.md](docs/INSTALL.md) | Prerequisites and setup |
 | [docs/USAGE.md](docs/USAGE.md) | Comprehensive guide |
+| [docs/DEPLOY.md](docs/DEPLOY.md) | Podman container deployment |
 | [docs/CHEATSHEET.md](docs/CHEATSHEET.md) | Quick reference |
 | [docs/DEBUG.md](docs/DEBUG.md) | Troubleshooting |
 
diff --git a/docs/CHEATSHEET.md b/docs/CHEATSHEET.md
index 75cb021..80d12f0 100644
--- a/docs/CHEATSHEET.md
+++ b/docs/CHEATSHEET.md
@@ -9,6 +9,21 @@ bouncer --version                      # version
 bouncer --help                         # help
 ```
 
+## Podman
+
+```bash
+make build      # build container image
+make up         # podman-compose up -d
+make down       # podman-compose down
+make logs       # podman logs -f bouncer
+```
+
+```bash
+podman logs bouncer 2>&1 | grep -E 'INFO|WARN'   # filtered logs
+podman exec -it bouncer bash                      # shell into container
+podman ps --filter name=bouncer                   # status
+```
+
 ## Develop
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/docs/DEBUG.md b/docs/DEBUG.md
index 4a9bf34..a844ae5 100644
--- a/docs/DEBUG.md
+++ b/docs/DEBUG.md
@@ -123,3 +123,41 @@ bouncer -c config/bouncer.toml -v 2>&1 | grep -v aiosqlite
 ```
 
 The `grep -v aiosqlite` filters out noisy SQLite debug lines.
+
+## Container Debugging
+
+### Logs
+
+```bash
+podman logs -f bouncer                          # follow
+podman logs --tail 50 bouncer                   # last 50 lines
+podman logs bouncer 2>&1 | grep -E 'INFO|WARN'  # important only
+podman logs bouncer 2>&1 | grep -v aiosqlite    # filter sqlite noise
+```
+
+### No log output from container
+
+Two things must be set:
+
+1. `PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1` in the Containerfile
+2. `logging: driver: k8s-file` in compose.yaml
+
+Verify log driver:
+
+```bash
+podman inspect bouncer --format '{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}'
+```
+
+### Container exits immediately
+
+```bash
+podman logs bouncer
+```
+
+Likely causes: missing config file, SOCKS5 proxy not running, TOML syntax error.
+
+### Shell into running container
+
+```bash
+podman exec -it bouncer bash
+```
diff --git a/docs/DEPLOY.md b/docs/DEPLOY.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d3fa18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/DEPLOY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+# Podman Deployment
+
+## Overview
+
+The bouncer runs in a rootless podman container with host networking. Source code
+and configuration are mounted as volumes -- the container image only contains
+Python and pip dependencies.
+
+```
+Container (bouncer)
+  |- python:3.12-slim + deps
+  |- /app/src  <- ./src (read-only volume)
+  |- /data     <- ./config (read-write volume)
+```
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- `podman` and `podman-compose`
+- SOCKS5 proxy reachable at `127.0.0.1:1080` (host network)
+
+Verify:
+
+```bash
+podman --version
+podman-compose --version
+ss -tlnp | grep 1080
+```
+
+## Quick Start
+
+```bash
+cd ~/git/bouncer
+
+# create config from template
+cp config/bouncer.example.toml config/bouncer.toml
+$EDITOR config/bouncer.toml
+
+# build and start
+make build
+make up
+
+# check logs
+make logs
+```
+
+## Container Image
+
+The image installs only runtime dependencies. Source code is not baked in.
+
+```bash
+# build
+podman build -t bouncer -f Containerfile .
+
+# rebuild after dependency changes
+podman build --no-cache -t bouncer -f Containerfile .
+```
+
+### Containerfile
+
+```dockerfile
+FROM python:3.12-slim
+WORKDIR /app
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir \
+    "python-socks[asyncio]>=2.4" \
+    "aiosqlite>=0.19"
+ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/app/src
+VOLUME /app/src
+VOLUME /data
+ENTRYPOINT ["python", "-m", "bouncer"]
+CMD ["-c", "/data/bouncer.toml"]
+```
+
+## Compose
+
+```yaml
+services:
+  bouncer:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Containerfile
+    container_name: bouncer
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    network_mode: host
+    logging:
+      driver: k8s-file
+    volumes:
+      - ./src:/app/src:Z,ro
+      - ./config:/data:Z
+    command: ["-c", "/data/bouncer.toml", "-v"]
+```
+
+### Volume Mounts
+
+| Host Path | Container Path | Mode | Purpose |
+|-----------|---------------|------|---------|
+| `./src` | `/app/src` | read-only | Python source code |
+| `./config` | `/data` | read-write | Config + SQLite backlog |
+
+The `:Z` suffix applies the correct SELinux context for rootless podman.
+
+### Host Networking
+
+`network_mode: host` is required because the bouncer needs access to:
+
+- `127.0.0.1:1080` -- SOCKS5 proxy (outbound IRC connections)
+- `127.0.0.1:6667` -- client listen port (inbound IRC clients)
+
+### Log Driver
+
+`k8s-file` is used instead of the default `journald` driver to ensure
+`podman logs` works reliably in rootless mode.
+
+## Operations
+
+### Start / Stop / Restart
+
+```bash
+podman-compose up -d          # start (detached)
+podman-compose down           # stop and remove
+podman-compose restart        # restart
+```
+
+Or with make targets:
+
+```bash
+make up                       # podman-compose up -d
+make down                     # podman-compose down
+```
+
+### Logs
+
+```bash
+podman logs -f bouncer                          # follow all logs
+podman logs --tail 50 bouncer                   # last 50 lines
+podman logs bouncer 2>&1 | grep -v aiosqlite    # filter sqlite noise
+podman logs bouncer 2>&1 | grep -E 'INFO|WARN'  # important events only
+```
+
+Or:
+
+```bash
+make logs                     # podman logs -f bouncer
+```
+
+### Status
+
+```bash
+podman ps --filter name=bouncer
+podman inspect bouncer --format '{{.State.Status}}'
+```
+
+### Shell Access
+
+```bash
+podman exec -it bouncer bash
+podman exec bouncer python -c "import bouncer; print(bouncer.__version__)"
+```
+
+### Inspect Backlog
+
+The SQLite database is stored in the config volume:
+
+```bash
+sqlite3 config/bouncer.db "SELECT network, COUNT(*) FROM messages GROUP BY network;"
+```
+
+## Updating
+
+After pulling new code:
+
+```bash
+git pull
+podman-compose down
+podman-compose up -d
+```
+
+The image only needs rebuilding if dependencies change:
+
+```bash
+podman-compose down
+make build
+podman-compose up -d
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Container exits immediately
+
+Check logs for config or proxy errors:
+
+```bash
+podman logs bouncer
+```
+
+Common causes:
+
+- Missing `config/bouncer.toml` (not mounted)
+- SOCKS5 proxy not running on host
+- Invalid TOML syntax
+
+### No log output
+
+Verify `PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1` is set in the Containerfile and the log driver
+is `k8s-file`:
+
+```bash
+podman inspect bouncer --format '{{.HostConfig.LogConfig.Type}}'
+```
+
+### Container can't reach SOCKS5 proxy
+
+`network_mode: host` must be set. Verify the proxy is listening:
+
+```bash
+ss -tlnp | grep 1080
+```
+
+### Permission denied on volumes
+
+The `:Z` suffix handles SELinux relabeling. If issues persist:
+
+```bash
+podman unshare ls -la config/
+```
+
+### Rebuild from scratch
+
+```bash
+podman-compose down
+podman rmi bouncer
+podman build --no-cache -t bouncer -f Containerfile .
+podman-compose up -d
+```
diff --git a/docs/INSTALL.md b/docs/INSTALL.md
index c377aab..69b1cfa 100644
--- a/docs/INSTALL.md
+++ b/docs/INSTALL.md
@@ -5,7 +5,17 @@
 - Python 3.10+
 - SOCKS5 proxy running on `127.0.0.1:1080`
 
-## Setup
+## Container Deployment (Recommended)
+
+See [DEPLOY.md](DEPLOY.md) for full podman/container instructions.
+
+```bash
+cp config/bouncer.example.toml config/bouncer.toml
+$EDITOR config/bouncer.toml
+make build && make up
+```
+
+## Local Setup
 
 ```bash
 cd ~/git/bouncer