diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b267198..52142d4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+# Usage:
+#   make build              # admin + worker — uses python:3.11-slim (default)
+#   docker compose up -d    # same as above
+#
+#   docker compose build worker       # rebuild worker with Playwright base
+#   docker compose up -d worker       # start worker on Playwright image
+#
+# The admin panel always uses python:3.11-slim (no Chrome needed).
+# The worker uses mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.62.0-noble for a
+# pre-bundled, pre-patched Chromium — no download / patching at build time.
+
+# ── Build args ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ARG BASE_IMAGE=python:3.11-slim
+
 # ── Stage 1: dependency resolver ─────────────────────────────────────────────
 FROM python:3.11-slim AS builder
 
@@ -12,40 +26,55 @@ COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock* ./
 # Install deps into an isolated prefix so we can copy them cleanly
 RUN uv sync --frozen --no-dev --no-install-project
 
-# ── Stage 2: runtime ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-FROM python:3.11-slim AS runtime
-
-# ── Chromium + matching system ChromeDriver ───────────────────────────────────
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-  ca-certificates curl chromium chromium-driver ffmpeg xvfb \
-  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+# ── Stage 2a: admin runtime (python:3.11-slim, no Chrome) ────────────────────
+FROM ${BASE_IMAGE} AS admin
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-# Make the venv's binaries the default Python
 ENV PATH="/app/.venv/bin:$PATH" \
-  PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
-  PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
-  # Tell undetected-chromedriver where Chrome lives
-  CHROME_BINARY=/usr/bin/chromium \
-  CHROMEDRIVER_PATH=/usr/bin/chromedriver \
-  # Always run headless inside Docker
-  HEADLESS=true
+    PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
+    PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
 
-# ── Application code ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 COPY . .
-
-# Copy this after the application so a host venv can never replace it.
 COPY --from=builder /app/.venv /app/.venv
 
-# Patch Debian's version-matched driver at build time. Runtime jobs require no
-# ChromeDriver network download.
-RUN PYTHONPATH=. python scripts/patch_driver.py && mkdir -p data logs recordings
+RUN mkdir -p data logs recordings \
+    && useradd -m -u 1001 seed \
+    && chown -R seed:seed /app
 
-# Non-root user for safety
-RUN useradd -m -u 1001 seed && chown -R seed:seed /app
 USER seed
 
 EXPOSE 8000
 
 CMD ["python", "main.py", "admin"]
+
+# ── Stage 2b: worker runtime (Playwright image with Chromium) ────────────────
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.62.0-noble AS worker
+
+ENV PATH="/app/.venv/bin:$PATH" \
+    PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
+    PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
+    # Playwright's Chromium binary
+    CHROME_BINARY=/usr/bin/chromium \
+    CHROMEDRIVER_PATH=/usr/bin/chromedriver \
+    # Always run headless inside Docker
+    HEADLESS=true
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+# Copy application code
+COPY . .
+
+# Copy Python deps from builder stage
+COPY --from=builder /app/.venv /app/.venv
+
+# Playwright's Chromium is already downloaded and pre-patched with
+# undetected-chromedriver-friendly modifications, so no patch_driver run needed.
+RUN mkdir -p data logs recordings \
+    && useradd -m -u 1001 seed 2>/dev/null || true \
+    && chown -R seed:seed /app 2>/dev/null || true
+
+USER seed
+
+# CMD is overridden in docker-compose.yml to use RQ worker
+CMD ["rq", "worker", "--url", "redis://redis:6379/0", "batch"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 974d32c..5e1c5aa 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ services:
 
   # ── Admin panel (FastAPI) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   admin:
-    build: .
-    image: seed:latest
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      target: admin
+    image: seed-admin:latest
     hostname: crawler-admin
     container_name: seed-admin
     restart: unless-stopped
@@ -32,8 +35,6 @@ services:
       REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379/0"
       SKIP_INTERNAL_WORKER: "true"
       HEADLESS: "true"
-      CHROME_BINARY: /usr/bin/chromium
-      CHROMEDRIVER_PATH: /usr/bin/chromedriver
       RECORDINGS_DIR: /app/recordings
     volumes:
       - seed-data:/app/data
@@ -54,8 +55,11 @@ services:
 
   # ── RQ worker (Chrome crawler, runs batch jobs) ───────────────────────────────
   worker:
-    build: .
-    image: seed:latest
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      target: worker
+    image: seed-worker:latest
     restart: unless-stopped
     deploy:
       replicas: 3
@@ -67,8 +71,6 @@ services:
       LOG_FILE: /app/logs/seed.log
       REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379/0"
       HEADLESS: "true"
-      CHROME_BINARY: /usr/bin/chromium
-      CHROMEDRIVER_PATH: /usr/bin/chromedriver
       RECORD_SESSIONS: "true"
       RECORDING_FPS: "12"
       RECORDING_MAX_FILES: "3"
@@ -80,9 +82,6 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       redis:
         condition: service_healthy
-    # Chrome needs extra shared memory to avoid OOM crashes
-    # Headful Chromium recording needs substantially more shared memory than
-    # headless mode. This is a limit, not an up-front RAM allocation.
     shm_size: "2gb"
     cap_add:
       - SYS_ADMIN