diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5775471..9a7f1c0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,20 +1,27 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
 # Build/version info. APP_VERSION comes from the committed VERSION file (always correct,
 # even for a plain `docker compose build`); GIT_SHA/BUILD_DATE are best-effort build-args
 # the deploy scripts pass. An explicit APP_VERSION build-arg still overrides the file.
+#
+# GIT_SHA/BUILD_DATE differ on EVERY build: declare them as late as possible in each stage —
+# anything below them can never cache.
 ARG APP_VERSION=
 ARG GIT_SHA=unknown
 ARG BUILD_DATE=
 
 # Stage 1: build the frontend SPA
 FROM node:20-alpine AS frontend
+WORKDIR /fe
+# Deps first, keyed on the lockfile, so editing app source never re-resolves node_modules.
+COPY frontend/package.json frontend/package-lock.json ./
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.npm npm ci
+COPY frontend/ ./
+COPY VERSION ./.version
+# Version args land here — immediately before the only step that reads them — so they cannot
+# invalidate the dependency layers above.
 ARG APP_VERSION
 ARG GIT_SHA
 ARG BUILD_DATE
-WORKDIR /fe
-COPY frontend/package.json ./
-RUN npm install
-COPY frontend/ ./
-COPY VERSION ./.version
 # Vite inlines VITE_*-prefixed env at build time; version falls back to the VERSION file.
 RUN VITE_APP_VERSION="${APP_VERSION:-$(cat ./.version)}" \
     VITE_GIT_SHA="$GIT_SHA" \
@@ -23,17 +30,21 @@ RUN VITE_APP_VERSION="${APP_VERSION:-$(cat ./.version)}" \
 
 # Stage 2: backend runtime, serving the built SPA
 FROM python:3.12-slim
-ARG GIT_SHA
-ARG BUILD_DATE
 ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
     PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
-    PIP_NO_CACHE_DIR=1 \
-    PIP_DISABLE_PIP_VERSION_CHECK=1 \
-    GIT_SHA=$GIT_SHA \
-    BUILD_DATE=$BUILD_DATE
+    PIP_DISABLE_PIP_VERSION_CHECK=1
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
+# Create the app user BEFORE the copies so files land already-owned via COPY --chown (a trailing
+# `chown -R /app` would rewrite every file into a duplicate layer). /downloads must be appuser-owned
+# so a fresh named volume mounted there inherits that ownership (Docker copies the image dir's
+# ownership into a new empty volume) — the worker/API can then write without a manual chown. A bind
+# mount to a host path instead needs that path writable by this uid (see docs/self-hosting.md).
+RUN adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" appuser \
+    && mkdir -p /downloads \
+    && chown appuser /app /downloads
+
 # ffmpeg: merge separate video+audio streams + postprocessing. Deno: the JavaScript runtime
 # yt-dlp uses to solve YouTube's "n" signature challenge for the web player clients (required
 # alongside the PO token, else only storyboards are offered). yt-dlp auto-detects deno on PATH.
@@ -47,21 +58,20 @@ RUN apt-get update \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 COPY backend/requirements.txt .
-RUN pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -r requirements.txt
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/pip \
+    pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -r requirements.txt
 
-COPY backend/ .
+COPY --chown=appuser backend/ .
 # Read at runtime by config.py as the app_version (a committed single source of truth).
-COPY VERSION ./VERSION
-COPY --from=frontend /fe/dist ./app/static_spa
+COPY --chown=appuser VERSION ./VERSION
+COPY --chown=appuser --from=frontend /fe/dist ./app/static_spa
+
+# Version stamps LAST — keep them below everything expensive (see the header note).
+ARG GIT_SHA
+ARG BUILD_DATE
+ENV GIT_SHA=$GIT_SHA \
+    BUILD_DATE=$BUILD_DATE
 
-# Create the download-center mount point owned by the app user, so a fresh named volume mounted
-# at /downloads inherits appuser ownership (Docker copies the image dir's ownership into a new
-# empty volume) — the worker/API can then write there without a manual chown. A bind mount to a
-# host path instead needs that path writable by this uid (see docs/self-hosting.md).
-RUN adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" appuser \
-    && mkdir -p /downloads \
-    && chown -R appuser /app /downloads
 USER appuser
-
 EXPOSE 8000
 CMD ["sh", "entrypoint.sh"]