diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34a8e31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+version: "2"
+
+run:
+  timeout: 5m
+  modules-download-mode: readonly
+
+linters:
+  default: all
+  disable:
+    # Genuinely incompatible with project patterns
+    - exhaustruct      # Requires all struct fields
+    - depguard         # Dependency allow/block lists
+    - godot            # Requires comments to end with periods
+    - wsl              # Deprecated, replaced by wsl_v5
+    - wrapcheck        # Too verbose for internal packages
+    - varnamelen       # Short names like db, id are idiomatic Go
+
+linters-settings:
+  lll:
+    line-length: 88
+  funlen:
+    lines: 80
+    statements: 50
+  cyclop:
+    max-complexity: 15
+  dupl:
+    threshold: 100
+
+issues:
+  exclude-use-default: false
+  max-issues-per-linter: 0
+  max-same-issues: 0
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 20db7c4..898fc40 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,48 +1,43 @@
-FN := chat
+.PHONY: all build lint fmt test check clean run debug
 
-VERSION := $(shell git describe --always --dirty=-dirty)
-ARCH := $(shell uname -m)
-UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
-GOLDFLAGS += -X main.Version=$(VERSION)
-GOFLAGS := -ldflags "$(GOLDFLAGS)"
+BINARY := chatd
+VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo "dev")
+BUILDARCH := $(shell go env GOARCH)
+LDFLAGS := -X main.Version=$(VERSION) -X main.Buildarch=$(BUILDARCH)
 
-default: clean debug
+all: check build
 
-commit: fmt lint
-	git commit -a
-
-fmt:
-	gofumpt -l -w .
-	golangci-lint run --fix
+build:
+	go build -ldflags "$(LDFLAGS)" -o bin/$(BINARY) ./cmd/chatd
 
 lint:
-	golangci-lint run
-	sh -c 'test -z "$$(gofmt -l .)"'
+	golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
+
+fmt:
+	gofmt -s -w .
+	goimports -w .
 
 test:
-	go test ./...
+	go test -v -race -cover ./...
 
-check: lint test
+# Check runs all validation without making changes
+# Used by CI and Docker build — fails if anything is wrong
+check:
+	@echo "==> Checking formatting..."
+	@test -z "$$(gofmt -l .)" || (echo "Files not formatted:" && gofmt -l . && exit 1)
+	@echo "==> Running linter..."
+	golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
+	@echo "==> Running tests..."
+	go test -v -race ./...
+	@echo "==> Building..."
+	go build -ldflags "$(LDFLAGS)" -o /dev/null ./cmd/chatd
+	@echo "==> All checks passed!"
 
-debug: ./$(FN)d
-	DEBUG=1 GOTRACEBACK=all ./$(FN)d
+run: build
+	./bin/$(BINARY)
 
-debugger:
-	cd cmd/$(FN)d && dlv debug main.go
-
-run: ./$(FN)d
-	./$(FN)d
+debug: build
+	DEBUG=1 GOTRACEBACK=all ./bin/$(BINARY)
 
 clean:
-	-rm -f ./$(FN)d debug.log
-
-docker:
-	docker build --progress plain .
-
-./$(FN)d: cmd/$(FN)d/main.go internal/*/*.go
-	cd ./cmd/$(FN)d && \
-		go build -o ../../$(FN)d $(GOFLAGS) .
-
-tools:
-	go get -v github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@v1.31.0
-	go get -v mvdan.cc/gofumpt/gofumports
+	rm -rf bin/ chatd data.db