diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 4679adb..8377f22 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 FROM golang:alpine AS builder
 
+# go-sqlite3 is a cgo package, so it needs a C toolchain
+RUN apk add --no-cache gcc musl-dev
+
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
-COPY *.go ./
+RUN go mod download
 
+COPY *.go ./
+COPY seed.sql ./
+
+ENV CGO_ENABLED=1
 RUN go build -o server .
 
 FROM alpine:latest
diff --git a/connections.go b/connections.go
index fed51b2..2be8246 100644
--- a/connections.go
+++ b/connections.go
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"database/sql"
-	"log"
+	_ "embed"
 	"time"
 
 	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 )
 
+//go:embed seed.sql
+var seedSQL string
+
 // logs level=('debug', 'info', 'warning', 'error')
 type logs struct {
 	level     string
@@ -20,22 +23,25 @@ type dbStruct struct {
 	db *sql.DB
 }
 
+// Seed runs the schema in seed.sql. Idempotent via CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS,
+// so it's safe to call on every startup.
+func (app *dbStruct) Seed() error {
+	_, err := app.db.Exec(seedSQL)
+	return err
+}
+
 // InsertLog() : database method, only inserts level + traceback
-func (app *dbStruct) InsertLog(lg logs) {
+func (app *dbStruct) InsertLog(lg logs) error {
 	query := `INSERT INTO logs (level, traceback) VALUES (?, ?)`
 
 	_, err := app.db.Exec(query, lg.level, lg.traceback)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	return err
 }
 
-// InsertLog() : database method, logs level + Ip
-func (app *dbStruct) LogIp(lg logs) {
+// LogIp() : database method, logs level + Ip
+func (app *dbStruct) LogIp(lg logs) error {
 	query := `INSERT INTO logs (level, ip) VALUES (?, ?)`
 
 	_, err := app.db.Exec(query, lg.level, lg.ip)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	return err
 }
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 52849c2..bc6e69e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 services:
   website:
     env_file: .env
+    environment:
+      DB_PATH: /app/data/zum.db
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: Dockerfile
@@ -8,4 +10,6 @@ services:
     container_name: acidarchon.com
     ports:
       - 8088:8080
+    volumes:
+      - /dockers/acidarchon:/app/data
     restart: unless-stopped
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5793835..91836ae 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -52,7 +52,12 @@ func main() {
 	godotenv.Load()
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 
-	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", "zum.db")
+	dbPath := os.Getenv("DB_PATH")
+	if dbPath == "" {
+		dbPath = "zum.db"
+	}
+
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("err opening db")
 		return
@@ -61,6 +66,11 @@ func main() {
 
 	database := &dbStruct{db: db}
 
+	if err := database.Seed(); err != nil {
+		slog.Error("seeding db", "err", err)
+		return
+	}
+
 	// routes
 	mux.HandleFunc("/", database.handleRoot)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/robots.txt", serveRobots)
@@ -79,7 +89,9 @@ func (app *dbStruct) handleRoot(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	templ, err := template.ParseFiles("templates/home.html")
 	if err != nil {
 		http.Error(w, "template not found", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		app.InsertLog(logs{level: "error", traceback: "template not found"})
+		if logErr := app.InsertLog(logs{level: "error", traceback: "template not found"}); logErr != nil {
+			slog.Error("failed to write log", "err", logErr)
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -97,7 +109,9 @@ func (app *dbStruct) handleRoot(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	dox := callApi(host)
 	dox2 := secondApi(host)
 
-	app.LogIp(logs{level: "info", ip: dox.IP})
+	if logErr := app.LogIp(logs{level: "info", ip: dox.IP}); logErr != nil {
+		slog.Error("failed to write log", "err", logErr)
+	}
 
 	templ.Execute(w, TemolateData{Ip: dox, IP2: *dox2})
 }
diff --git a/seed.sql b/seed.sql
index 0ce9ac0..c574724 100644
--- a/seed.sql
+++ b/seed.sql
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS logs (
     level     TEXT NOT NULL CHECK(level IN ('debug', 'info', 'warning', 'error')),
     ip        TEXT,
     traceback TEXT,
-    date DATETIME DEFAULT (datetime('now', 'localtime')),
+    date DATETIME DEFAULT (datetime('now', 'localtime'))
 );