diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 6a6d251c1..b4c010395 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-.env
-.env.local
 node_modules
 test-results
 e2e
 helm
 .next
+.env
+.env.local
+.git
+docs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f0e185b02..b723946cd 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ COPY --from=run_dependencies /app/startup.sh ./startup.sh
 
 ENV NODE_ENV production
 ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED 1
+ENV NODE_OPTIONS="${NODE_OPTIONS} --max-http-header-size=32768"
+ENV KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT=61000
 
 RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
 RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs
@@ -39,4 +41,4 @@ USER nextjs
 EXPOSE 3000 9464
 
 # Start the application
-CMD ["/app/startup.sh"]
+CMD ["npm", "start", "--", "--keepAliveTimeout", "$KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT"]
diff --git a/apps/chat/README.md b/apps/chat/README.md
index 8fc1b70ba..86af9faf2 100644
--- a/apps/chat/README.md
+++ b/apps/chat/README.md
@@ -34,29 +34,29 @@ Once you have Node.js and npm installed, follow these steps to set up your devel
 
 1. Clone the AI DIAL Chat repository:
 
-```
-git clone https://github.com/epam/ai-dial-chat.git
-```
+    ```bash
+    git clone https://github.com/epam/ai-dial-chat.git
+    ```
 
-2. Install project dependencies:
+1. Install project dependencies:
 
-```bash
-npm install
-```
+    ```bash
+    npm install
+    ```
 
-3. Create `.env.local` file in the `\apps\chat` project directory and add the required variables with appropriate values. These three are the only required environment variables. Refer to [Environment Variables](#environment-variables) to learn more.
+1. Create `.env.local` file in the `\apps\chat` project directory and add the required variables with appropriate values. These three are the only required environment variables. Refer to [Environment Variables](#environment-variables) to learn more.
 
-```
-DIAL_API_HOST="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
-DIAL_API_KEY="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
-NEXTAUTH_SECRET="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
-```
+    ```bash
+    DIAL_API_HOST="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
+    DIAL_API_KEY="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
+    NEXTAUTH_SECRET="ADD_VALUE_HERE"
+    ```
 
-4. To start the development server, run:
+1. To start the development server, run:
 
-```bash
-npm run nx serve chat
-```
+    ```bash
+    npm run nx serve chat
+    ```
 
 Once the server is up and running, open `http://localhost:3000` in your browser to view the AI DIAL Chat application.
 
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@ AI DIAL Chat uses environment variables for configuration. All environment varia
 | `SHOW_TOKEN_SUB`                          |    No    | Show token sub in refresh login error logs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | `true`, `false`                                                                                  | `false`                                                                                                                            |
 | `STORAGE_TYPE`                            |    No    | Type of storage used for getting and saving information generated by a user.<br />**Note**: currently, `api` is the only supported value.                                                                                                                                                                                     | `browserStorage`, `api`                                                                          | `api`                                                                                                                              |
 | `KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT`                      |    No    | Determines the maximum time in milliseconds for an idle connection before it is closed by the server.<br />This is needed because infrastructures usually have a default keep alive timeout 60 seconds and the Next server should have a larger value.<br />**Note**: this variable is used only when running a `dockerfile`. | Any number string                                                                                | `61000`                                                                                                                            |
-| `MAX_HTTP_HEADERS_SIZE`                   |    No    | Defines the maximum size of headers for Next.js server. <br />**Note**: this variable is used only when running a `dockerfile`.                                                                                                                                                                                               | `32768`                                                                                          |
 | `MAX_PROMPT_TOKENS_DEFAULT_PERCENT`       |    No    | A share in percent of `MAX_PROMPT_TOKENS_DEFAULT_VALUE`.<br />If not set, the value of `MAX_PROMPT_TOKENS_DEFAULT_VALUE` applies.                                                                                                                                                                                             | Any string                                                                                       | `75`                                                                                                                               |
 | `MAX_PROMPT_TOKENS_DEFAULT_VALUE`         |    No    | The default maximum limit of tokens permissible for any model.<br />Applies if a limit is not defined in the [AI DIAL Core](https://github.com/epam/ai-dial-core?tab=readme-ov-file#dynamic-settings) configuration.                                                                                                          | Any string                                                                                       | `2000`                                                                                                                             |
 | `CUSTOM_VISUALIZERS`                      |    No    | A list of configurations of custom visualizers.<br />Refer to [Chat Visualizer](../../libs/chat-visualizer-connector/README.md) to learn more.                                                                                                                                                                                | [{ title, description, icon, contentType, url }]                                                 |                                                                                                                                    |
diff --git a/startup.sh b/startup.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 6d42b92a6..000000000
--- a/startup.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT="${KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT:-61000}"
-MAX_HTTP_HEADERS_SIZE="${MAX_HTTP_HEADERS_SIZE:-32768}"
-
-export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-http-header-size=$MAX_HTTP_HEADERS_SIZE ${NODE_OPTIONS}"
-
-exec npm start -- --keepAliveTimeout $KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT
\ No newline at end of file