[Idea] Optimize Docker build for low-resource environments

[QuentinHsu]

Describe the feature or potential improvement

Proposal to optimize Docker image build process, especially for developers and self-hosters running on low-resource machines.

Problem

Building Langfuse Docker images on machines with limited CPU/memory is currently painful:

• Long build times: The web package takes 5+ minutes to compile even on decent hardware
• High memory usage: Webpack compilation is memory-intensive, often causing OOM on small VPS/CI runners
• Poor cache utilization: Dependencies are re-downloaded on every build due to missing cache mounts
• Large build context: Unnecessary files (docs, tests, IDE configs) are sent to Docker daemon

For self-hosters using small VPS instances (1-2 CPU, 2-4GB RAM) or developers on older machines, this makes the build process frustrating and time-consuming.

Proposed Solution

1. pnpm Cache Mount

Speed up dependency installation by caching pnpm store:

RUN --mount=type=cache,id=pnpm,target=/pnpm/store pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

2. Enhanced .dockerignore

Reduce build context by excluding:

• Build artifacts (.turbo, dist, .next, node_modules)
• Documentation (README.md, docs/, fern/)
• Test files (coverage/, playwright-report/)
• Development files (.github, .devcontainer, scripts/)

3. Worker Image Optimization

• Prune dev dependencies with pnpm prune --prod
• Copy only production-necessary files instead of entire /app

4. Reduce Docker Layers

Combine multiple RUN commands to minimize layer count.

Benchmark Results

Package	Before	After	Improvement
web	5m 34s	3m 60s	~28% faster
worker	8.45s	8.04s	~5% faster

The webpack compilation phase specifically improved from 2.9 minutes to 82 seconds (~53% faster).

Expected Impact

• Faster builds on low-resource machines
• Smaller build context
• Smaller production images
• Better CI/CD performance

Happy to submit a PR if this direction makes sense.

Additional information

No response

[jannikmaierhoefer]

Thans for adding this @QuentinHsu!

[QuentinHsu]

Thans for adding this @QuentinHsu!

Thanks for the quick response! I've opened a PR with the changes: #11843
Let me know if you have any feedback.