diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a1a641cf92f..69af0ac7b72 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# A three-stage docker build, based on
+# https://calvinf.com/blog/2023/11/10/node-js-20-yarn-4-and-next-js-on-docker/
+
+############################
+# Stage 1: Base Node Alpine image for both the builder and runner stages
 FROM node:20-alpine AS base
 
 ARG COMMIT_ID
@@ -7,39 +12,62 @@ ENV SENTRY_RELEASE=$COMMIT_ID
 ARG GITHUB_REF_NAME
 ENV GITHUB_REF_NAME=$GITHUB_REF_NAME
 
+# Panoptes API: staging | production (default)
 ARG PANOPTES_ENV=production
 ENV PANOPTES_ENV=$PANOPTES_ENV
 
+# Webpack build mode: development | production (default)
+# https://webpack.js.org/configuration/mode/
 ARG NODE_ENV=production
 ENV NODE_ENV=$NODE_ENV
 
+# container deployment environment: development | branch | staging | production (default)
 ARG APP_ENV=production
 ENV APP_ENV=$APP_ENV
 
+# disable Next.js telemetry
 ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
 
+# Install everything into /usr/src.
+# Change the user and group from root to node.
 RUN mkdir -p /usr/src
 
 WORKDIR /usr/src/
 
 RUN chown -R node:node .
 
+# Copy the package file, lock file, Yarn config, and lerna config
+# into any image built from this image.
 ONBUILD COPY --chown=node:node package.json yarn.lock lerna.json .yarnrc /usr/src/
 
+# Copy the .yarn directory into any image built from this image.
 ONBUILD COPY --chown=node:node .yarn /usr/src/.yarn
 
+# Run all commands as the node user, in any image built from this image.
 ONBUILD USER node
 
+#########################
+# Stage 2: Builder stage
 FROM base AS builder
 
+# Add build secrets.
+# NB. GitHub warns that ARG should not be used for sensitive data.
 ARG CONTENTFUL_ACCESS_TOKEN
 
 ARG CONTENTFUL_SPACE_ID
 
 ARG SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN
 
+# Copy the source packages into the image.
 COPY --chown=node:node ./packages /usr/src/packages
 
+# Install dependencies and bootstrap the Next.js apps.
+# The monorepo packages depend on each other,
+# so must be built in a specific order.
+# Set YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn.
+# Cache the Yarn cache as fem-builder-yarn across builds.
+# (Why is this repeated for every layer?)
+# https://classic.yarnpkg.com/lang/en/docs/cli/cache/#toc-change-the-cache-path-for-yarn
 RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-builder-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn yarn install --production=false --frozen-lockfile --ignore-scripts
 RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-builder-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn yarn workspace @zooniverse/react-components build:es6
 RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-builder-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn yarn workspace @zooniverse/subject-viewers build:es6
@@ -51,12 +79,21 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-builder-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.
 RUN echo $COMMIT_ID > /usr/src/packages/app-root/public/commit_id.txt
 RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-builder-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn yarn workspace @zooniverse/fe-root build
 
+#########################
+# Stage 3: Runner stage
+# This image is deployed to Kubernetes.
 FROM base AS runner
 
+# Copy the built packages into the image.
 COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /usr/src/packages ./packages
 
+# Install only production dependencies.
+# Cache the Yarn cache as fem-runner-yarn across builds.
 RUN --mount=type=cache,id=fem-runner-yarn,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/home/node/.yarn YARN_CACHE_FOLDER=/home/node/.yarn yarn install --production --frozen-lockfile --ignore-scripts --prefer-offline
 
+# Remove all the source code.
+# Any other files that aren't needed to run the Next.js apps
+# should be removed here too.
 RUN rm -rf /usr/src/packages/lib-react-components/src
 RUN rm -rf /usr/src/packages/lib-content/src
 RUN rm -rf /usr/src/packages/lib-classifier/src