diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 478cef47..de93ff60 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ database/*.db
 database/*.db-shm
 database/*.db-wal
 config/config.json
+!config/config.example.json
 downloads/*
 !downloads/.gitkeep
 Transfer/*
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 10ab9421..62a4b955 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ COPY . .
 RUN mkdir -p /app/config /app/database /app/logs /app/downloads /app/Transfer && \
     chown -R soulsync:soulsync /app
 
+# Copy example config as default config.json and set proper ownership
+RUN cp /app/config/config.example.json /app/config/config.json && \
+    chown soulsync:soulsync /app/config/config.json
+
 # Create volume mount points
 VOLUME ["/app/config", "/app/database", "/app/logs", "/app/downloads", "/app/Transfer"]
 
diff --git a/config/config.example.json b/config/config.example.json
index 951c7d86..5ac9d86c 100644
--- a/config/config.example.json
+++ b/config/config.example.json
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@
     "auto_detect": true
   },
   "soulseek": {
-    "slskd_url": "http://localhost:5030",
+    "slskd_url": "http://host.docker.internal:5030",
     "api_key": "SoulseekAPIKey",
-    "download_path": "./Downloads",
-    "transfer_path": "./Transfer"
+    "download_path": "/app/downloads",
+    "transfer_path": "/app/Transfer"
   },
   "logging": {
     "path": "logs/app.log",
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 20763921..f8ffa95e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ services:
       - "8889:8889"      # Tidal OAuth callback
     volumes:
       # Persistent data volumes
-      - ./config:/app/config
+      # - ./config:/app/config  # Commented out to test baked-in config
       - ./logs:/app/logs
       - ./downloads:/app/downloads
       # Use named volume for database persistence (separate from host database)