diff --git a/Dockerfile.standalone b/Dockerfile.standalone
index 2c314fa..cb166fe 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.standalone
+++ b/Dockerfile.standalone
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ RUN arduino-cli config init \
     && arduino-cli core update-index \
     && arduino-cli core install arduino:avr \
     && arduino-cli core install rp2040:rp2040 \
-    && arduino-cli core install esp32:esp32
+    && arduino-cli core install esp32:esp32 \
+    && cp -a /root/.arduino15 /root/.arduino15-base
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
diff --git a/deploy/entrypoint.sh b/deploy/entrypoint.sh
index 66ba3fc..25afb78 100644
--- a/deploy/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/deploy/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
+# Seed arduino-cli data into the mounted volume if it's empty
+# (first deploy or after volume prune). The base cores (avr, rp2040, esp32)
+# were installed at build time and saved to /root/.arduino15-base.
+if [ ! -f /root/.arduino15/arduino-cli.yaml ]; then
+    echo "📦 Seeding arduino-cli cores into volume..."
+    cp -a /root/.arduino15-base/* /root/.arduino15/ 2>/dev/null || \
+    cp -a /root/.arduino15-base/. /root/.arduino15/
+fi
+
 # Start FastAPI backend in the background on port 8001
 echo "🚀 Starting Velxio Backend..."
 uvicorn app.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8001 &
diff --git a/docker-compose.prod.yml b/docker-compose.prod.yml
index 5dc02db..36ea92a 100644
--- a/docker-compose.prod.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.prod.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,13 @@ services:
       - DATA_DIR=/app/data
     volumes:
       - ./data:/app/data
+      - arduino-libs:/root/.arduino15
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost/health"]
       interval: 30s
       timeout: 10s
       retries: 3
       start_period: 90s
+
+volumes:
+  arduino-libs: