diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 85b02738f..f3708765f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -225,8 +225,8 @@ jobs:
             echo "Version check failed: missing mode=server"
             exit 1
           fi
-          if ! echo "$response" | grep -q '"version"'; then
-            echo "Version check failed: missing version field"
+          if ! echo "$response" | grep -q '"git_describe"'; then
+            echo "Version check failed: missing git_describe field"
             exit 1
           fi
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8bff9dcbb..d96b627ff 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # mux server Docker image
-# Multi-stage build for minimal runtime image size
+# Multi-stage build with esbuild bundling for minimal runtime image
 #
 # Build:   docker build -t mux-server .
 # Run:     docker run -p 3000:3000 -v ~/.mux:/root/.mux mux-server
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ WORKDIR /app
 # Install bun (used for package management and build tooling)
 RUN npm install -g bun@1.2
 
-# Install git (needed for version generation)
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+# Install git (needed for version generation) and build tools for native modules
+# bzip2 is required for lzma-native to extract its bundled xz source tarball
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git python3 make g++ bzip2 && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Copy package files first for better layer caching
 COPY package.json bun.lock bunfig.toml ./
@@ -25,12 +26,7 @@ COPY package.json bun.lock bunfig.toml ./
 # Copy postinstall script (needed by bun install)
 COPY scripts/postinstall.sh scripts/
 
-# Install build tools needed for native modules
-# bzip2 is required for lzma-native to extract its bundled xz source tarball
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3 make g++ bzip2 && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-# Install dependencies (postinstall detects server mode and skips Electron rebuild)
-# Note: node-pty is in optionalDependencies and will be built for Node.js
+# Install dependencies
 RUN bun install --frozen-lockfile
 
 # Copy source files needed for build
@@ -62,6 +58,21 @@ RUN NODE_ENV=production bun run node_modules/@typescript/native-preview/bin/tsgo
 # Build renderer (frontend)
 RUN bun x vite build
 
+# Bundle server with esbuild (reduces ~2GB node_modules to ~10MB bundle)
+# External: native modules that can't be bundled
+# Alias: use ESM version of jsonc-parser to avoid UMD bundling issues
+RUN bun x esbuild dist/cli/server.js \
+    --bundle \
+    --platform=node \
+    --target=node22 \
+    --format=cjs \
+    --outfile=dist/server-bundle.js \
+    --external:@lydell/node-pty \
+    --external:node-pty \
+    --external:electron \
+    --alias:jsonc-parser=jsonc-parser/lib/esm/main.js \
+    --minify
+
 # Copy static assets
 RUN mkdir -p dist/static && cp -r static/* dist/static/ 2>/dev/null || true
 
@@ -79,10 +90,16 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y git openssh-client && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Copy built artifacts from builder
-COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
-COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
-COPY --from=builder /app/package.json ./
+# Copy bundled server and frontend assets
+# Vite outputs JS/CSS/HTML directly to dist/ (assetsDir: ".")
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/server-bundle.js ./dist/
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/*.html ./dist/
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/*.js ./dist/
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/*.css ./dist/
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/static ./dist/static
+
+# Copy only native modules needed at runtime (node-pty for terminal support)
+COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules/@lydell ./node_modules/@lydell
 
 # Create mux data directory
 RUN mkdir -p /root/.mux
@@ -98,8 +115,8 @@ EXPOSE 3000
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
     CMD node -e "fetch('http://localhost:3000/health').then(r => r.ok ? process.exit(0) : process.exit(1)).catch(() => process.exit(1))"
 
-# Run mux server
+# Run bundled mux server
 # --host 0.0.0.0: bind to all interfaces (required for Docker networking)
 # --port 3000: default port (can be remapped via docker run -p)
-ENTRYPOINT ["node", "dist/cli/index.js", "server"]
+ENTRYPOINT ["node", "dist/server-bundle.js"]
 CMD ["--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "3000"]