diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 058bb7939..395c40244 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
+/.git
 /delphi-epidata
-/.mypy_cache
+/build
 /.github
-/docs
-__pycache__
-/node_modules
\ No newline at end of file
+**/__pycache__
+**/.pytest_cache
+**/.mypy_cache
+**/node_modules
+/.env
+/.env.example
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/devops/Dockerfile b/devops/Dockerfile
index 7b56ec7be..9a475eee4 100644
--- a/devops/Dockerfile
+++ b/devops/Dockerfile
@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@ WORKDIR /src
 COPY . /src
 RUN npm ci && npm run build
 
+FROM jekyll/jekyll:stable as docs_builder
+# see also https://github.com/envygeeks/jekyll-docker/issues/280
+RUN mkdir /src; \
+    chown -R jekyll:jekyll /src
+WORKDIR /src
+COPY ./docs /src
+RUN chown -R jekyll:jekyll /src; \
+    sed -i 's#baseurl: "/delphi-epidata"#baseurl: "/docs"#g' /src/_config.yml
+RUN jekyll build
+
 FROM tiangolo/meinheld-gunicorn:python3.7
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/cmu-delphi/delphi-epidata
 # use delphi's timezome
@@ -17,7 +27,8 @@ ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED 1
 COPY ./devops/gunicorn_conf.py /app
 COPY ./devops/start_wrapper.sh /
 COPY ./src/server/ /app/app/
-COPY --from=builder ./src/build/lib/ /app/app/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /src/build/lib/ /app/app/lib/
+COPY --from=docs_builder /src/_site /app/app/docs/
 RUN rm -rf /app/app/__pycache__ /app/app/*.php \
       && chmod -R o+r /app/app \
       && chmod 755 /start_wrapper.sh
diff --git a/src/server/_common.py b/src/server/_common.py
index f4fbbd916..fd00cf14e 100644
--- a/src/server/_common.py
+++ b/src/server/_common.py
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ def _get_db() -> Connection:
 
 @app.before_request
 def connect_db():
-    if request.path.startswith('/lib'):
+    if request.path.startswith("/lib") or request.path.startswith("/docs"):
         return
     # try to get the db
     try:
         _get_db()
     except:
-        app.logger.error('database connection error', exc_info=True)
+        app.logger.error("database connection error", exc_info=True)
         raise DatabaseErrorException()
 
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def is_compatibility_mode() -> bool:
     """
     checks whether this request is in compatibility mode
     """
-    return 'compatibility' in g and g.compatibility
+    return "compatibility" in g and g.compatibility
 
 
 def set_compatibility_mode():
diff --git a/src/server/main.py b/src/server/main.py
index 5434b744b..ad0fb76e4 100644
--- a/src/server/main.py
+++ b/src/server/main.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import pathlib
 import logging
-from typing import Dict, Callable
+from typing import Dict, Callable, Optional
 
-from flask import request, send_file, Response, send_from_directory, jsonify
+from flask import request, send_file, Response, send_from_directory, jsonify, safe_join
 
 from ._config import URL_PREFIX, VERSION
 from ._common import app, set_compatibility_mode
@@ -49,6 +49,17 @@ def send_lib_file(path: str):
     return send_from_directory(pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / "lib", path)
 
 
+@app.route(f"{URL_PREFIX}/docs", defaults=dict(path="/"))
+@app.route(f"{URL_PREFIX}/docs/<path:path>")
+def send_docs_file(path: Optional[str]):
+    base_dir = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / "docs"
+    fixed_path = path or "index.html"
+    target_file = pathlib.Path(safe_join(base_dir, fixed_path))
+    if target_file.exists() and target_file.is_dir():
+        fixed_path = fixed_path + "/index.html"
+    return send_from_directory(base_dir, fixed_path)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=5000)
 else: