diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 3224cdb..90beabd 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,4 +1,64 @@
+# .dockerignore does NOT use .gitignore semantics. Docker matches with
+# moby/patternmatcher: filepath.Match plus `**`, so `*` does not cross
+# `/` and an unprefixed pattern is anchored at the context root. Every
+# depth-independent pattern therefore needs `**/`, or `config/.env` and
+# `certs/server.key` still ship while this file reads as solved. Only
+# genuinely root-anchored entries go unprefixed. Never transplant these
+# into .gitignore, where `**/` is wrong.
+#
+# Matching is case-sensitive, so secrets use character ranges rather
+# than an ALL-CAPS twin, which would still miss `Server.Key`.
+#
+# Extend with this repo's own host-built artifacts, written anchored:
+# `/myapp`, never `**/myapp`, which also matches `cmd/myapp/` and
+# deletes the package directory from the context.
+
+# .git is sent without its config. Without a VERSION build argument the
+# stage that compiles runs `git describe --tags --always` on .git, which
+# does not need .git/config; that file can hold a credential, such as a
+# password in a remote URL or the token the CI checkout step stores there.
+.git/config
+
+# Agent scratch: one full checkout of the repo per in-flight agent.
+# Anchored because it occurs once where agents run at the repo root.
+# KNOWN GAP: a repo running agents in subdirectories still ships
+# `services/api/.claude/` and must add its own anchored entry.
+.claude
+
+# Environment files. `*.env` covers bare `.env` and the `prod.env`
+# convention. Re-include a committed template with a negation if the
+# build needs one: `!docs/example.env`.
+**/*.[eE][nN][vV]
+**/.[eE][nN][vV].*
+**/.[eE][nN][vV][rR][cC]
+
+# Private keys and the bundles carrying them. Public certificates
+# (*.crt, *.cer) are deliberately absent: they are legitimate inputs.
+**/*.[pP][eE][mM]
+**/*.[kK][eE][yY]
+**/*.[pP]12
+**/*.[pP][fF][xX]
+**/[iI][dD]_[rR][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[dD][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][cC][dD][sS][aA]
+**/[iI][dD]_[eE][dD]25519
+
+# Dependencies: restored inside the image, never copied in.
+**/node_modules
+
+# OS metadata.
+**/.DS_Store
+**/Thumbs.db
+
+# Editor state: never a build input, and it churns COPY.
+**/*.swp
+**/*.swo
+**/*~
+**/*.bak
+**/.idea
+**/.vscode
+**/*.sublime-*
+
+# This repo's own host-built archives (Makefile).
 *.tmp
 *.dockerimage
-.git
-node_modules
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 82c49a1..4a67bac 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -48,7 +48,22 @@ COPY . .
 RUN touch mfer/mf.pb.go
 
 RUN make test
-RUN cd cmd/mfer && go build -tags urfave_cli_no_docs -o /mfer .
+
+# The revision `mfer version` prints, stamped into main.Gitrev: the VERSION
+# build argument when one is given (script/docker passes one), otherwise
+# `git describe --tags --always` of the .git the build context carries: the
+# tag on a tagged commit, tag-N-gHASH on a commit after one, the short commit
+# when no tag is reachable. git ships in this base image. A context that
+# carries .git and still yields no version fails the build.
+ARG VERSION
+RUN version="${VERSION:-$(git describe --tags --always)}"; \
+    if [ -e .git ] && { [ -z "$version" ] || [ "$version" = dev ] || \
+        [ "$version" = unknown ]; }; then \
+        echo "no version could be derived although the build context carries .git" >&2; \
+        exit 1; \
+    fi; \
+    cd cmd/mfer && \
+    go build -tags urfave_cli_no_docs -ldflags "-X main.Gitrev=$version" -o /mfer .
 
 FROM scratch
 COPY --from=builder /mfer /mfer
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 35bbf76..c8cb9f2 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ only thing left of the `chore/align-repo-policies` branch is the list below.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-02: a plain `docker build .` of a clone now stamps the tag or short
+  commit into `mfer version` instead of nothing: `.dockerignore` sends `.git`
+  (not `.git/config`), and the build stage takes the `VERSION` build argument,
+  otherwise `git describe --tags --always`, failing if `.git` is present and no
+  version comes out. `script/docker` is the canonical copy, which passes
+  `VERSION`; `bin/gitrev.sh` uses `--tags` too (#112)
 - 2026-09-21: validate manifest entry paths on deserialize so untrusted `.mf`
   files cannot make `Checker` stat or read outside `basePath` (#61)
 - 2026-09-21: rewrote `script/test` to the canonical pattern (30s timeout,
diff --git a/bin/gitrev.sh b/bin/gitrev.sh
index 42a9e60..bc2d943 100644
--- a/bin/gitrev.sh
+++ b/bin/gitrev.sh
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 if [[ ! -z "$GITREV" ]]; then
     echo $GITREV
 else
-    git describe --always --dirty=-dirty
+    git describe --tags --always --dirty=-dirty
 fi
diff --git a/script/docker b/script/docker
index 2884e41..07b626c 100755
--- a/script/docker
+++ b/script/docker
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # script/docker: build the Docker image tagged with the project name.
 # Identical in all repos; the tag comes from script/projectname.
-# Generic: needs no adaptation.
+# --no-cache because the gate phases the final stage depends on are RUN
+# steps, and a cached one is a check that did not run.
 set -eu
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
@@ -9,7 +10,15 @@ ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd -P)"
 
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
-    docker build -t "$("$SCRIPT_DIR/projectname")" .
+    # Own line: a failing command substitution inside an argument does
+    # not trip `set -e`, so the inline form degrades silently to an
+    # empty constant. The VERSION build argument takes precedence over
+    # the version a build stage derives from the .git in the context.
+    version="$(git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    [ -n "$version" ] || version="unknown"
+    docker build --no-cache \
+        --build-arg VERSION="$version" \
+        -t "$("$SCRIPT_DIR/projectname")" .
 }
 
 main "$@"