diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dca74ac..eed1472 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,34 +6,43 @@ Released under [CNPLv7+](https://thufie.lain.haus/NPL.html).
 Please read the [full terms](./LICENSE.md) for proper wording.
 
 # installing & first time setup
-1. first, install OpenResty. instructions for linux can be found [here](https://openresty.org/en/linux-packages.html).
-2. then, install LuaJIT and Lua 5.1 (usually called `lua5.1` in package managers)
-3. then, install [LuaRocks](https://luarocks.org) (prefer your package manager instead of a local install recommended by the guide)
-4. add luarocks search dirs to path:
+## docker
+```bash
+$ docker compose up
+```
+
+- opens port 8080
+- exposes `data/db` and `data/avatars` as volumes for data backup and persistence
+- exposes `secrets/` as a volume so that the script won't try to perform first time setup again
+
+## manual
+1. install:
+   - OpenResty. instructions for linux can be found [here](https://openresty.org/en/linux-packages.html)
+   - LuaJIT and Lua 5.1 (usually called `lua5.1` in package managers)
+   - openssl (-dev)
+   - sqlite (-dev)
+   - libsodium (-dev)
+   - imagemagick (-dev)
+   - [LuaRocks](https://luarocks.org) (either through the guide's instructions or your package manager, whichever is newer)
+2. add luarocks search dirs to path:
 
 ```bash
   # in .bashrc (or other shell equivalent)
   eval "$(luarocks --lua-version 5.1 path)"
 ```
-5. clone repo
-6. install the dependencies:
+3. clone repo
+4. install the lua dependencies:
 
 ```bash
 $ luarocks --local --lua-version 5.1 build --only-deps
 ```
-7. create a file named `secrets.lua` in the project directory.  
-use the `secrets.lua.example` file as reference, and generate a cryptographically secure random key, for example, with:
+5. run:
 
 ```bash
-$ openssl rand -hex 32
-```
-8. run:
-
-```bash
-$ start.sh production
+$ start.sh production # or 'development' or empty string
 ```
 the script will perform some necessary first time setup (and create a hidden file in the folder to ensure it won't do so again). it will create an administrator account and print the credentials to the console; **this will only happen once**. make sure you save them somewhere. the administrator account is the only one that can promote other users to moderator.  
-(note the `production` argument. if called with no arguments, `start.sh` will run in a development environment, which uses a separate database.)
+(note the `production` argument. if called with no arguments, `start.sh` will run in a development environment, which uses a separate database and shows more debug information.)
 
 this app is made with the assumption that it is being reverse-proxied. as such, you may want to change the port to something other than the default `8080`. you can do that in [`config.lua`]([./config.lua]).