diff --git a/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md b/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
index b3e1cc7b5..4aad6b39c 100644
--- a/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
+++ b/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -276,6 +276,16 @@ Each app is deployed separately:
 - **Development**: Local with Docker Compose for databases
 - **Production**: Azure infrastructure with Coolify
 
+To keep Coolify redeploys from filling the VMs with stale Docker artifacts, run
+[`ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh`](../ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh) as a
+scheduled host command on both the observer and worker nodes, passing the
+retention window explicitly, for example `ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh 72h`.
+The script removes stopped containers, unused images, unused networks, and
+unused classic/buildx cache older than that window, but it never prunes Docker
+volumes. Keep this cleanup on the Coolify hosts rather than in `.github`;
+GitHub Actions only owns CI and optional production database migrations, while
+manual Coolify redeploys still need host cleanup.
+
 ## Helpful Resources
 
 ### Core Technologies
diff --git a/ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh b/ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..93311c1b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cleanup_until="${FORGE_DOCKER_CLEANUP_UNTIL:-72h}"
+build_cache_keep_storage="${FORGE_DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_KEEP_STORAGE:-1GB}"
+lock_file="${FORGE_DOCKER_CLEANUP_LOCK_FILE:-/tmp/forge-docker-cleanup.lock}"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<'EOF'
+Usage: ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh [cleanup-until]
+
+cleanup-until defaults to 72h and is passed to Docker's until filter.
+Examples:
+  ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh
+  ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh 48h
+  ops/coolify-docker-cleanup.sh 2026-07-01T00:00:00
+
+Environment overrides:
+  FORGE_DOCKER_CLEANUP_UNTIL
+  FORGE_DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_KEEP_STORAGE
+  FORGE_DOCKER_CLEANUP_LOCK_FILE
+EOF
+}
+
+log() {
+  printf '[forge-docker-cleanup] %s\n' "$*"
+}
+
+if [ "$#" -gt 1 ]; then
+  usage >&2
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+case "${1:-}" in
+  -h | --help)
+    usage
+    exit 0
+    ;;
+  "")
+    ;;
+  *)
+    cleanup_until="$1"
+    ;;
+esac
+
+if ! command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log "docker command not found; run this on a Coolify Docker host"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+lock_dir="$(dirname "$lock_file")"
+mkdir -p "$lock_dir"
+
+exec 9>"$lock_file"
+if ! flock -n 9; then
+  log "another cleanup is already running; skipping"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+log "cleanup age: ${cleanup_until}"
+log "build cache keep storage: ${build_cache_keep_storage}"
+log "docker disk usage before cleanup"
+docker system df
+
+log "pruning stopped containers older than ${cleanup_until}"
+docker container prune --force --filter "until=${cleanup_until}"
+
+log "pruning unused images older than ${cleanup_until}"
+docker image prune --all --force --filter "until=${cleanup_until}"
+
+log "pruning unused networks older than ${cleanup_until}"
+docker network prune --force --filter "until=${cleanup_until}"
+
+log "pruning unused classic builder cache older than ${cleanup_until}"
+docker builder prune \
+  --all \
+  --force \
+  --filter "until=${cleanup_until}" \
+  --keep-storage "${build_cache_keep_storage}"
+
+if docker buildx version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log "pruning unused BuildKit buildx cache older than ${cleanup_until}"
+  docker buildx prune \
+    --all \
+    --force \
+    --filter "until=${cleanup_until}" \
+    --keep-storage "${build_cache_keep_storage}"
+else
+  log "docker buildx is not available; skipping BuildKit buildx cache prune"
+fi
+
+log "docker disk usage after cleanup"
+docker system df
+
+log "cleanup complete; docker volumes were not pruned"