diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..628b32e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Ignore all files
+
+*
+
+# Whitelist necessary build files
+!requirements.txt
+
+# Allow Docker to read app directory
+!app/
+
+# Ignore everything inside app
+app/*
+
+# Only allow .py files within app and its subdirectories
+!app/**/*.py
diff --git a/.github/workflows/black-check.yml b/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
index 1d11de9..107b541 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
@@ -1,25 +1,11 @@
-name: Black Check
+name: Black Formatting Check
 
+# Run on every push and pull request
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
 jobs:
-  format-check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
-    steps:
-    - name: Checkout code
-      uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
-      with:
-        python-version: '3.12.2'
-
-    - name: Install dependencies
-      run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install black
-
-    - name: Run Black check
-      run: black --check .
-      
\ No newline at end of file
+  call-format-check:
+    uses: project-carpi/.github/.github/workflows/black-check.yml@main
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3136378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+name: Build and Push Docker Image to GHCR
+
+# Run this workflow every time code is pushed or merged to the main branch
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  call-build-and-push:
+    uses: project-carpi/.github/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml@main
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+    secrets: inherit
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61b0fae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+FROM python:3.12-slim AS base
+
+# Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y git && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Store all application files in /api
+WORKDIR /api
+
+# Copy the requirements file and install dependencies
+COPY requirements.txt .
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+
+# Copy the rest of the application code into the container
+COPY . .
+
+# Indicate that the container should listen on port 8000
+EXPOSE 8000
+
+# --- DEVELOPMENT STAGE ---
+FROM base as dev
+
+# Run Uvicorn with reload enabled for development
+CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000", "--reload"]
+
+### --- PRODUCTION STAGE ---
+FROM base as prod
+
+# Run Uvicorn for production
+CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e6d849..94543d9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,37 @@
-# CARPI-Backend-FastAPI
+# CARPI Course Planner - API
 
-FastAPI re-write of the old Spring Boot API.
+This is the API service for the CARPI Course Planner application. It is designed to work in tandem with the [frontend](https://github.com/Project-CARPI/site) and [SIS scraper](https://github.com/Project-CARPI/sis-scraper).
+
+## Running the API
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- **[Docker](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/)** (Required): Used for the streamlined development environment setup.
+- **[Python >= 3.12](https://www.python.org/)** (Optional): Useful for code editor linting or running the API locally without Docker.
+
+### Setup Instructions
+
+**1. Configure Environment Variables**
+
+Create a copy of the `example.env` file in the project root and rename it to `.env`.
+
+The default values provided in the example file will work out of the box, but they can be customized as needed.
+
+**2. Start the Development Environment**
+
+With Docker Engine running, execute the following command in your terminal:
+
+```bash
+docker compose run --rm --service-ports api && docker compose down
+```
+
+While the container is running:
+
+- **Live Reloading:** Local files are mounted to the running container, so the API service will automatically respond to live changes in your source code.
+- **API Documentation:** A list of endpoint definitions and interactive Swagger documentation can be found at http://localhost:8000/docs.
+
+### About the Database Environment
+
+- **Shared Database:** The development environment pulls a shared MySQL database service definition from an external repository, creating a local database volume.
+- **Data Persistence:** The test database volume persists between Docker start and stop cycles, ensuring test data remains available across development sessions and for other services that depend on the database.
+- **Resetting the Database:** To completely rebuild the database from scratch, you must manually remove the corresponding Docker volume prior to starting the environment.
diff --git a/app/dependencies.py b/app/dependencies.py
index 2879e86..b9c3def 100644
--- a/app/dependencies.py
+++ b/app/dependencies.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from typing import Annotated, AsyncGenerator, Generator
 
+import carpi_data_model.models as models
 from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
-from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, sessionmaker
-import carpi_data_model.models as models
 
 
 class _Settings(BaseSettings):
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ class _Settings(BaseSettings):
     db_password: str
     db_schema: str
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
-        env_file=os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".env")
+        env_file=os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)), ".env"),
+        extra="ignore",
     )
 
 
diff --git a/app/example.env b/app/example.env
deleted file mode 100644
index bbdb23a..0000000
--- a/app/example.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-# Create a file named ".env" in this directory with the following variables
-
-DB_DIALECT="mysql"
-DB_API="mysqlconnector"
-DB_HOSTNAME="hostname:port"
-DB_USERNAME="username"
-DB_PASSWORD="password"
-DB_SCHEMA="schema"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9cc47d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# Docker Compose configuration for the CARPI API environment.
+#
+# This Compose file includes a shared development environment configuration
+# from the Project-CARPI/.github repository, which contains a database service.
+#
+# To start the development environment, run:
+# docker compose run --rm --service-ports api && docker compose down
+#
+# This will start both the shared development environment and the carpi-api
+# container. After the API container is stopped, the "docker compose down" will
+# stop the shared development environment.
+#
+# A warning may appear about the test database volume already existing. This is
+# expected and can be safely ignored.
+#
+# The test database volume persists between Docker start and stop cycles so
+# that test data remains available across both development sessions and other
+# services that depend on the database. The volume must be manually removed in
+# order to build the database from scratch.
+
+name: carpi-api-dev-environment
+
+include:
+  - https://github.com/Project-CARPI/.github.git#main:shared-dev-env/docker-compose.yml
+
+services:
+  api:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      target: dev
+    image: carpi-api:latest
+    container_name: carpi-api
+    # Ensure image is built locally and is not pulled from a registry
+    pull_policy: build
+    restart: on-failure
+    ports:
+      - "8000:8000"
+    environment:
+      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
+      DB_API: ${DB_API}
+      # Hardcode the DB_HOSTNAME environment variable
+      DB_HOSTNAME: db:3306
+      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
+    # Mount local code over the code built into the container for automatic
+    # reloading during development.
+    volumes:
+      - .:/api
+    depends_on:
+      db:
+        condition: service_healthy
diff --git a/example.env b/example.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..413468f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example.env
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Create a file named ".env" in this directory with the following variables.
+# If using Docker Compose for development, these values can be used as-is.
+
+# This only needs to be set if the database is different from the one used
+# in the Docker Compose environment.
+DB_HOSTNAME="hostname:port"
+
+# This root password is only used for instantiating the MySQL container in
+# Docker Compose.
+DB_ROOT_PASSWORD="password"
+
+DB_DIALECT="mysql"
+DB_API="mysqlconnector"
+DB_USERNAME="username"
+DB_PASSWORD="password"
+DB_SCHEMA="schema"
\ No newline at end of file