diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f427324..d819e31 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,32 @@ make docker-build
 TWITCH_CLIENT_ID=your_id TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET=your_secret docker run -p 8080:8080 imgfloat:latest
 ```
 
+### Data storage configuration
+- `IMGFLOAT_DB_PATH` – filesystem location for the SQLite database (default: `imgfloat.db`).
+- `IMGFLOAT_ASSETS_PATH` – root directory where uploaded assets are persisted (default: `assets`).
+- `IMGFLOAT_PREVIEWS_PATH` – root directory for generated preview images (default: `previews`).
+
+### Docker Compose example with persistent storage
+```yaml
+services:
+  imgfloat:
+    image: imgfloat:latest
+    environment:
+      TWITCH_CLIENT_ID: your_id
+      TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET: your_secret
+      TWITCH_REDIRECT_URI: https://yourdomain/login/oauth2/code/twitch
+      IMGFLOAT_DB_PATH: /var/lib/imgfloat/imgfloat.db
+      IMGFLOAT_ASSETS_PATH: /var/lib/imgfloat/assets
+      IMGFLOAT_PREVIEWS_PATH: /var/lib/imgfloat/previews
+    ports:
+      - "8080:8080"
+    volumes:
+      - ./data/db:/var/lib/imgfloat
+      - ./data/assets:/var/lib/imgfloat/assets
+      - ./data/previews:/var/lib/imgfloat/previews
+```
+The `volumes` map local folders into the container so database and uploaded files survive container restarts.
+
 ### OAuth configuration
 Spring Boot reads Twitch credentials from `TWITCH_CLIENT_ID` and `TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET`. The redirect URI comes from `TWITCH_REDIRECT_URI` (defaulting to `{baseUrl}/login/oauth2/code/twitch`).
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/imgfloat/app/service/ChannelDirectoryService.java b/src/main/java/com/imgfloat/app/service/ChannelDirectoryService.java
index ba925cc..c106f50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/imgfloat/app/service/ChannelDirectoryService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/imgfloat/app/service/ChannelDirectoryService.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import org.jcodec.common.model.Picture;
 import org.jcodec.scale.AWTUtil;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
 import org.springframework.messaging.simp.SimpMessagingTemplate;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;
@@ -57,19 +58,23 @@ import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
 public class ChannelDirectoryService {
     private static final int MIN_GIF_DELAY_MS = 20;
     private static final String PREVIEW_MEDIA_TYPE = "image/png";
-    private static final Path ASSET_ROOT = Paths.get("assets");
-    private static final Path PREVIEW_ROOT = Paths.get("previews");
     private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ChannelDirectoryService.class);
     private final ChannelRepository channelRepository;
     private final AssetRepository assetRepository;
     private final SimpMessagingTemplate messagingTemplate;
+    private final Path assetRoot;
+    private final Path previewRoot;
 
     public ChannelDirectoryService(ChannelRepository channelRepository,
                                    AssetRepository assetRepository,
-                                   SimpMessagingTemplate messagingTemplate) {
+                                   SimpMessagingTemplate messagingTemplate,
+                                   @Value("${IMGFLOAT_ASSETS_PATH:assets}") String assetRoot,
+                                   @Value("${IMGFLOAT_PREVIEWS_PATH:previews}") String previewRoot) {
         this.channelRepository = channelRepository;
         this.assetRepository = assetRepository;
         this.messagingTemplate = messagingTemplate;
+        this.assetRoot = Paths.get(assetRoot);
+        this.previewRoot = Paths.get(previewRoot);
     }
 
     public Channel getOrCreateChannel(String broadcaster) {
@@ -408,7 +413,7 @@ public class ChannelDirectoryService {
         if (assetBytes == null || assetBytes.length == 0) {
             throw new IOException("Asset content is empty");
         }
-        Path directory = ASSET_ROOT.resolve(normalize(broadcaster));
+        Path directory = assetRoot.resolve(normalize(broadcaster));
         Files.createDirectories(directory);
         String extension = extensionForMediaType(mediaType);
         Path assetFile = directory.resolve(assetId + extension);
@@ -460,7 +465,7 @@ public class ChannelDirectoryService {
         if (previewBytes == null || previewBytes.length == 0) {
             return null;
         }
-        Path directory = PREVIEW_ROOT.resolve(normalize(broadcaster));
+        Path directory = previewRoot.resolve(normalize(broadcaster));
         Files.createDirectories(directory);
         Path previewFile = directory.resolve(assetId + ".png");
         Files.write(previewFile, previewBytes, StandardOpenOption.CREATE, StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING, StandardOpenOption.WRITE);
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.yml b/src/main/resources/application.yml
index b0313d7..41e7bc1 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spring:
   thymeleaf:
     cache: false
   datasource:
-    url: jdbc:sqlite:imgfloat.db?busy_timeout=5000&journal_mode=WAL
+    url: jdbc:sqlite:${IMGFLOAT_DB_PATH:imgfloat.db}?busy_timeout=5000&journal_mode=WAL
     driver-class-name: org.sqlite.JDBC
     hikari:
       connection-init-sql: "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL; PRAGMA busy_timeout=5000;"
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/imgfloat/app/ChannelDirectoryServiceTest.java b/src/test/java/com/imgfloat/app/ChannelDirectoryServiceTest.java
index 3d83755..1857b73 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/imgfloat/app/ChannelDirectoryServiceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/imgfloat/app/ChannelDirectoryServiceTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import org.springframework.mock.web.MockMultipartFile;
 import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -40,12 +42,15 @@ class ChannelDirectoryServiceTest {
     private AssetRepository assetRepository;
 
     @BeforeEach
-    void setup() {
+    void setup() throws Exception {
         messagingTemplate = mock(SimpMessagingTemplate.class);
         channelRepository = mock(ChannelRepository.class);
         assetRepository = mock(AssetRepository.class);
         setupInMemoryPersistence();
-        service = new ChannelDirectoryService(channelRepository, assetRepository, messagingTemplate);
+        Path assetRoot = Files.createTempDirectory("imgfloat-assets-test");
+        Path previewRoot = Files.createTempDirectory("imgfloat-previews-test");
+        service = new ChannelDirectoryService(channelRepository, assetRepository, messagingTemplate,
+                assetRoot.toString(), previewRoot.toString());
     }
 
     @Test