diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 8ff39a2..0821ea4 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# Conversion engine: "local" (in-process Docling) or "remote" (Docling Serve)
+# CONVERSION_ENGINE=local
+
+# Docling Serve settings (remote mode only)
+# DOCLING_SERVE_URL=http://localhost:5001
+# DOCLING_SERVE_API_KEY=
+
+# Max seconds per conversion (default: 600)
+# CONVERSION_TIMEOUT=600
+
 # CORS (comma-separated origins, only needed for custom deployments)
 # CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000,https://your-domain.com
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9066a50..a50c6ed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Release Docker Image
+name: Release Docker Images
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -11,12 +11,16 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   release:
-    name: Build & push Docker image
+    name: Build & push — ${{ matrix.target }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
 
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        target: [remote, local]
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -28,15 +32,15 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Extract version from tag
+      - name: Docker metadata
         id: meta
         uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
         with:
           images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
           tags: |
-            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
-            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
-            type=raw,value=latest
+            type=semver,pattern={{version}},suffix=-${{ matrix.target }}
+            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}},suffix=-${{ matrix.target }}
+            type=raw,value=latest-${{ matrix.target }}
 
       - name: Extract version from tag
         id: version
@@ -45,6 +49,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
         with:
           context: .
+          target: ${{ matrix.target }}
           push: true
           platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
           build-args: APP_VERSION=${{ steps.version.outputs.value }}
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index bea8895..50b4605 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@ Thank you for your interest in contributing to Docling Studio! This guide will h
 ```bash
 cd document-parser
 python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
+
+# Remote mode (lightweight — delegates to Docling Serve)
 pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+# Local mode (full — runs Docling in-process)
+pip install -r requirements-local.txt
+
 pip install ruff pytest pytest-asyncio httpx  # dev tools
 uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000
 ```
@@ -129,11 +135,16 @@ We use [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/): `MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`.
 
 ### Docker Image Tags
 
+Each release produces two image variants:
+
 | Tag | Description |
 |-----|-------------|
-| `X.Y.Z` | Exact version |
-| `X.Y` | Latest patch of this minor |
-| `latest` | Latest stable release |
+| `X.Y.Z-remote` | Exact version — lightweight (Docling Serve) |
+| `X.Y.Z-local` | Exact version — full (in-process Docling) |
+| `X.Y-remote` | Latest patch of this minor — lightweight |
+| `X.Y-local` | Latest patch of this minor — full |
+| `latest-remote` | Latest stable — lightweight |
+| `latest-local` | Latest stable — full |
 
 ### Hotfix
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index bbfbe36..ff3e37b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
 # =============================================================================
-# Docling Studio — single-image build (frontend + backend)
+# Docling Studio — single-image build (frontend + backend, multi-target)
 #
 # Usage:
-#   docker build -t docling-studio .
-#   docker run -p 3000:3000 docling-studio
+#   docker build --target remote -t docling-studio:remote .
+#   docker build --target local  -t docling-studio:local  .
 # =============================================================================
 
 # --- Stage 1: Build frontend assets ---
@@ -18,21 +18,19 @@ RUN npm ci
 COPY frontend/ .
 RUN VITE_APP_VERSION=${APP_VERSION} npm run build
 
-# --- Stage 2: Runtime (Python + Nginx) ---
-FROM python:3.12-slim
+# --- Stage 2: Base runtime (Python + Nginx) ---
+FROM python:3.12-slim AS base
 
 ARG APP_VERSION=dev
 ENV APP_VERSION=${APP_VERSION}
 
-# System deps: poppler (pdf2image), nginx, and OpenCV runtime libs
+# System deps: poppler (pdf2image), nginx
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     poppler-utils \
-    libgl1 \
-    libglib2.0-0 \
     nginx \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Python deps
+# Python deps (common)
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY document-parser/requirements.txt .
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
@@ -57,5 +55,24 @@ ENV DB_PATH=/app/data/docling_studio.db
 
 EXPOSE 3000
 
-# nginx needs to run as root for port binding, then drops to appuser for uvicorn
 CMD ["sh", "-c", "nginx && exec su appuser -c 'uvicorn main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000'"]
+
+# --- Remote: lightweight, delegates to Docling Serve ---
+FROM base AS remote
+ENV CONVERSION_ENGINE=remote
+
+# --- Local: full Docling in-process ---
+FROM base AS local
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    libgl1 \
+    libglib2.0-0 \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY document-parser/requirements-local.txt .
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu \
+    && pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements-local.txt
+
+RUN chown -R appuser:appuser /app \
+    && chown -R appuser:appuser /usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/rapidocr/models
+ENV CONVERSION_ENGINE=local
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5ac1323..fda0a1a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -85,22 +85,42 @@ frontend/src/
 
 ## Quick Start
 
-### Docker (fastest)
+Docling Studio ships two Docker image variants:
+
+| Variant | Image tag | Size | Description |
+|---------|-----------|------|-------------|
+| **remote** | `latest-remote` | ~270 MB | Lightweight — delegates to an external [Docling Serve](https://github.com/DS4SD/docling-serve) instance |
+| **local** | `latest-local` | ~1.9 GB | Full — runs Docling in-process, CPU-only (downloads ML models on first run) |
+
+### Docker — remote mode (fastest)
 
 ```bash
-docker run -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/scub-france/docling-studio:latest
+docker run -p 3000:3000 \
+  -e DOCLING_SERVE_URL=http://your-docling-serve:5001 \
+  ghcr.io/scub-france/docling-studio:latest-remote
 ```
 
-Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000)
+### Docker — local mode (self-contained)
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/scub-france/docling-studio:latest-local
+```
 
 > **Note:** The first analysis takes longer as Docling downloads its ML models (~400 MB). Subsequent runs are fast.
 
+Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000)
+
 ### Docker Compose (for development)
 
 ```bash
 git clone https://github.com/scub-france/Docling-Studio.git
 cd Docling-Studio
+
+# Local mode (default)
 docker compose up --build
+
+# Remote mode
+CONVERSION_MODE=remote DOCLING_SERVE_URL=http://your-docling-serve:5001 docker compose up --build
 ```
 
 ### Local Development
@@ -109,7 +129,13 @@ docker compose up --build
 ```bash
 cd document-parser
 python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
+
+# Remote mode (lightweight)
 pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+# Local mode (with Docling)
+pip install -r requirements-local.txt
+
 uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000
 ```
 
@@ -156,6 +182,9 @@ All configuration is done via environment variables. See [`.env.example`](.env.e
 
 | Variable | Default | Description |
 |----------|---------|-------------|
+| `CONVERSION_ENGINE` | `local` | `local` (in-process Docling) or `remote` (Docling Serve) |
+| `DOCLING_SERVE_URL` | `http://localhost:5001` | Docling Serve endpoint (remote mode only) |
+| `DOCLING_SERVE_API_KEY` | — | API key for Docling Serve (optional) |
 | `CORS_ORIGINS` | `http://localhost:3000,...` | CORS allowed origins (comma-separated) |
 | `UPLOAD_DIR` | `./uploads` | File storage directory |
 | `DB_PATH` | `./data/docling_studio.db` | SQLite database path |
@@ -168,7 +197,7 @@ GitHub Actions pipelines (see [`.github/workflows/`](.github/workflows/)):
 | Workflow | Trigger | What it does |
 |----------|---------|--------------|
 | **CI** | push to `main`, pull requests | Lint + type check + Backend tests + Frontend tests + build |
-| **Release** | push tag `v*` | Build & push multi-arch Docker image to `ghcr.io` |
+| **Release** | push tag `v*` | Build & push **two** multi-arch Docker images (`remote` + `local`) to `ghcr.io` |
 | **Docs** | push to `main` (docs changes) | Build & deploy MkDocs to GitHub Pages |
 
 We follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/) with a simplified Git Flow. See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the full release process.
@@ -183,12 +212,11 @@ We follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/) with a simplified Git Flow.
 
 ### Docker Desktop settings
 
-The document parser needs **at least 4 GB of RAM**:
-
-| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
-|----------|---------|-------------|
-| Memory   | 6 GB    | 8 GB+       |
-| CPUs     | 4       | 8+          |
+| | Remote image | Local image |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Image size** | ~270 MB | ~1.9 GB |
+| **Memory** | 2 GB | 6 GB (recommended 8 GB+) |
+| **CPUs** | 2 | 4 (recommended 8+) |
 
 ### Platform support
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 6e75d5e..f1f80aa 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ services:
   document-parser:
     build:
       context: ./document-parser
+      target: ${CONVERSION_MODE:-local}
     expose:
       - "8000"
     volumes:
@@ -9,6 +10,8 @@ services:
       - db_data:/app/data
     environment:
       CORS_ORIGINS: ${CORS_ORIGINS:-http://localhost:3000,http://localhost:5173}
+      DOCLING_SERVE_URL: ${DOCLING_SERVE_URL:-}
+      DOCLING_SERVE_API_KEY: ${DOCLING_SERVE_API_KEY:-}
     deploy:
       resources:
         limits:
diff --git a/docs/contributing.md b/docs/contributing.md
index 17c6e7d..44412e3 100644
--- a/docs/contributing.md
+++ b/docs/contributing.md
@@ -20,7 +20,13 @@
     ```bash
     cd document-parser
     python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
+
+    # Remote mode (lightweight — delegates to Docling Serve)
     pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+    # Local mode (full — runs Docling in-process)
+    pip install -r requirements-local.txt
+
     pip install ruff pytest pytest-asyncio httpx
     uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000
     ```
diff --git a/docs/getting-started.md b/docs/getting-started.md
index cd38397..539dd4f 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started.md
@@ -1,33 +1,67 @@
 # Getting Started
 
-## Docker Compose (recommended)
+Docling Studio ships two Docker image variants:
+
+| Variant | Image tag | Size | Description |
+|---------|-----------|------|-------------|
+| **remote** | `latest-remote` | ~270 MB | Lightweight — delegates to an external [Docling Serve](https://github.com/DS4SD/docling-serve) instance |
+| **local** | `latest-local` | ~1.9 GB | Full — runs Docling in-process, CPU-only (downloads ML models on first run) |
+
+## Docker — remote mode (fastest)
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 3000:3000 \
+  -e DOCLING_SERVE_URL=http://your-docling-serve:5001 \
+  ghcr.io/scub-france/docling-studio:latest-remote
+```
+
+## Docker — local mode (self-contained)
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/scub-france/docling-studio:latest-local
+```
+
+> **Note:** The first analysis takes longer as Docling downloads its ML models (~400 MB). Subsequent runs are fast.
+
+Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000).
+
+## Docker Compose (recommended for development)
 
 ```bash
 git clone https://github.com/scub-france/Docling-Studio.git
 cd Docling-Studio
-docker compose up --build
-```
 
-Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000).
+# Local mode (default)
+docker compose up --build
+
+# Remote mode
+CONVERSION_MODE=remote DOCLING_SERVE_URL=http://your-docling-serve:5001 docker compose up --build
+```
 
 ## Local Development
 
-### Backend (Python 3.12+)
+=== "Backend (Python 3.12+)"
 
-```bash
-cd document-parser
-python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
-pip install -r requirements.txt
-uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000
-```
+    ```bash
+    cd document-parser
+    python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
 
-### Frontend (Node 20+)
+    # Remote mode (lightweight)
+    pip install -r requirements.txt
 
-```bash
-cd frontend
-npm install
-npm run dev
-```
+    # Local mode (with Docling)
+    pip install -r requirements-local.txt
+
+    uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000
+    ```
+
+=== "Frontend (Node 20+)"
+
+    ```bash
+    cd frontend
+    npm install
+    npm run dev
+    ```
 
 The frontend runs on `http://localhost:3000` and proxies API calls to `http://localhost:8000`.
 
@@ -71,6 +105,9 @@ All configuration is done via environment variables:
 
 | Variable | Default | Description |
 |----------|---------|-------------|
+| `CONVERSION_ENGINE` | `local` | `local` (in-process Docling) or `remote` (Docling Serve) |
+| `DOCLING_SERVE_URL` | `http://localhost:5001` | Docling Serve endpoint (remote mode only) |
+| `DOCLING_SERVE_API_KEY` | — | API key for Docling Serve (optional) |
 | `CORS_ORIGINS` | `http://localhost:3000,...` | CORS allowed origins |
 | `UPLOAD_DIR` | `./uploads` | File storage directory |
 | `DB_PATH` | `./data/docling_studio.db` | SQLite database path |
@@ -78,9 +115,10 @@ All configuration is done via environment variables:
 
 ## System Requirements
 
-| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
-|----------|---------|-------------|
-| Memory   | 6 GB    | 8 GB+       |
-| CPUs     | 4       | 8+          |
+| | Remote image | Local image |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Image size** | ~270 MB | ~1.9 GB |
+| **Memory** | 2 GB | 6 GB (recommended 8 GB+) |
+| **CPUs** | 2 | 4 (recommended 8+) |
 
 All Docker images are multi-arch (`linux/amd64` + `linux/arm64`). No GPU required.
diff --git a/document-parser/Dockerfile b/document-parser/Dockerfile
index 76cc697..3c21f9a 100644
--- a/document-parser/Dockerfile
+++ b/document-parser/Dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
-FROM python:3.12-slim
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
+# =============================================================================
+# Docling Studio — backend image (multi-target: remote / local)
+#
+# Usage:
+#   docker build --target remote -t docling-studio-backend:remote .
+#   docker build --target local  -t docling-studio-backend:local  .
+# =============================================================================
+
+# --- Base: common deps for both targets ---
+FROM python:3.12-slim AS base
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     poppler-utils \
-    libgl1 \
-    libglib2.0-0 \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -24,3 +32,25 @@ ENV DB_PATH=/app/data/docling_studio.db
 
 USER appuser
 CMD ["uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]
+
+# --- Remote: lightweight, delegates to Docling Serve ---
+FROM base AS remote
+ENV CONVERSION_ENGINE=remote
+
+# --- Local: full Docling in-process ---
+FROM base AS local
+
+USER root
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    libgl1 \
+    libglib2.0-0 \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY requirements-local.txt .
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu \
+    && pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements-local.txt
+
+RUN chown -R appuser:appuser /app \
+    && chown -R appuser:appuser /usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/rapidocr/models
+USER appuser
+ENV CONVERSION_ENGINE=local
diff --git a/document-parser/main.py b/document-parser/main.py
index aaf0275..5927c46 100644
--- a/document-parser/main.py
+++ b/document-parser/main.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ app.include_router(documents_router)
 app.include_router(analyses_router)
 
 
-@app.get("/health")
+@app.get("/api/health")
 def health():
     """Health check endpoint."""
     return {
diff --git a/document-parser/requirements-local.txt b/document-parser/requirements-local.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82cf543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/document-parser/requirements-local.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+-r requirements.txt
+docling>=2.80.0,<3.0.0
+docling-core>=2.0.0,<3.0.0
diff --git a/document-parser/requirements.txt b/document-parser/requirements.txt
index 4b8cc74..24aeedb 100644
--- a/document-parser/requirements.txt
+++ b/document-parser/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-docling>=2.80.0,<3.0.0
-docling-core>=2.0.0,<3.0.0
 fastapi>=0.115.0,<1.0.0
 uvicorn[standard]>=0.32.0,<1.0.0
 python-multipart>=0.0.12
diff --git a/document-parser/tests/test_api_endpoints.py b/document-parser/tests/test_api_endpoints.py
index 2f34518..9826e5c 100644
--- a/document-parser/tests/test_api_endpoints.py
+++ b/document-parser/tests/test_api_endpoints.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def mock_analysis_service(client):
 
 class TestHealthEndpoint:
     def test_health(self, client):
-        resp = client.get("/health")
+        resp = client.get("/api/health")
         assert resp.status_code == 200
         data = resp.json()
         assert data["status"] == "ok"
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/feature-flags/store.ts b/frontend/src/features/feature-flags/store.ts
index 568609d..b3b3721 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/feature-flags/store.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/features/feature-flags/store.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export const useFeatureFlagStore = defineStore('feature-flags', () => {
 
   async function load(): Promise<void> {
     try {
-      const data = await apiFetch<HealthResponse>('/health')
+      const data = await apiFetch<HealthResponse>('/api/health')
       engine.value = data.engine
       loaded.value = true
       error.value = null