diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index de5ff91..5b2701b 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-.git
+# .git is sent so that `make build` in the Dockerfile can stamp the commit into
+# upaas. List no tracked file here: git would see it as deleted in the build and
+# the version would end in -dirty.
 .env
 bin/
-.editorconfig
 .vscode/
 .idea/
 *.test
-LICENSE
-CONVENTIONS.md
-REPO_POLICIES.md
-README.md
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 1a996e8..572ef99 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ RUN go mod download
 COPY . .
 
 RUN make test
+# Takes the version from `git describe` on the .git copied in above.
 RUN make build
 
 # Runtime stage
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c7bce0f..785aab2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ This recipe serves plain HTTP, so `UPAAS_PLAINTEXT_HTTP=true` is required for
 setup and every other form to pass the CSRF origin check. Behind a
 TLS-terminating reverse proxy, drop that line.
 
+The image shows the commit it was built from (the `git describe` output) in the
+page footer, the startup log and `/health`. Build it from a git clone: without
+the `.git` directory it shows `dev`.
+
 ### Deploying with Docker Compose
 
 [`docker-compose.yml`](docker-compose.yml) builds the image from this repo and
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 15b6e9e..2dd0af0 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ regress.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-09-29: An image built from the `Dockerfile` now shows the commit it was
+  built from (the `git describe` output) in the footer and `/health` instead of
+  `dev`: `.dockerignore` no longer leaves out `.git`, nor any tracked file,
+  which git would count as deleted and mark `-dirty`. upaas now also logs its
+  version at startup; the logger's `Identify()` was never called (#236).
+
 - 2026-09-29: The app page shows the app's branch as a label in its title, next
   to the status badge, instead of after the repository under it (#240).
 
diff --git a/cmd/upaasd/main.go b/cmd/upaasd/main.go
index 1d37fd3..29a4c29 100644
--- a/cmd/upaasd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/upaasd/main.go
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ func main() {
 			handlers.New,
 			server.New,
 		),
-		fx.Invoke(func(*server.Server) {}),
+		fx.Invoke(func(log *logger.Logger, _ *server.Server) {
+			log.Identify()
+		}),
 	).Run()
 }