diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77734f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+FROM python:3.5-alpine
+WORKDIR /maki
+COPY ["requirements.txt", "*.py", "./"]
+RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
+CMD ["python", "./bot.py"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cef6ad8..94ac144 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 ---
 
 ## Running Maki
-Maki uses Python 3.4 with discord.py. Install python3.4 and use pip to install asyncio and discord.py.  
-To run Maki, simply run bot.py.
+Maki relies on Python 3.4+ and the latest discord.py version.  
+A Dockerfile exists to handle these requirements automatically. Use `build.sh` to create the maki container image, and `run.sh` to start the bot.  
+Be sure to have created `secret.py` with the required tokens before running `build.sh`.
+
+If you would prefer not to use docker, ensure you have at least Python 3.4, and use `pip install -r requirements.txt` to install the required Python libraries. Then run `bot.py`.
 
 ## Required Files
 - You will require a Discord Application for Maki to use, the token for which should be stored in a file called secret.py:
@@ -14,10 +17,10 @@ token = '<Discord Application Token>'
 lfmkey = '<last.fm API key>'
 steamkey = '<Steam API key>'
 ```
-- Maki uses JSON files to store data persistently. These will be created automatically in a data directory.
+- Maki uses JSON files to store data persistently. These will be created automatically in the `persist` directory.
 
 ## License
-Copyright 2018, Zac Herd.  
+Copyright 2019, Zac Herd.  
 All Rights Reserved.  
 Licensed under the BSD 3-clause License.  
 See LICENSE.md for a full copy of the license text.  
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 1a41ca7..0000000
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# user to effectively run bot as (so we can safely run as root for pip)
-puser="admin"
-
-while :
-do
-    date
-
-    echo Updating repository...
-    runuser -m $puser -c 'git pull origin master'
-
-    # if root we can update discord.py
-    if [ "$EUID" -eq 0 ]
-    then
-        echo Updating discord.py...
-        python3 -m pip install -U https://github.com/Rapptz/discord.py/archive/master.zip#egg=discord.py[voice]
-    fi
-
-    echo Starting Maki...
-    runuser -m $puser -c 'rm -f ./reload'
-    runuser -m $puser -c 'python3 bot.py'
-
-    # okay to quit if there is no reload file
-    if [ ! -f ./reload ]
-    then
-        echo no reload file, stopping for realsies...
-        exit
-    fi
-done
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c62258e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+docker build -t maki .
diff --git a/common.py b/common.py
index 7d2b09e..b470529 100644
--- a/common.py
+++ b/common.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # ----
 # Discord bot by MrDetonia
 #
-# Copyright 2018 Zac Herd
+# Copyright 2019 Zac Herd
 # Licensed under BSD 3-clause License, see LICENSE.md for more info
 
 # IMPORTS
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a96b401
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+docker run -v maki:/maki/persist -t maki