diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..698dd01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Bytecode files
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+
+# Virtual environment
+venv/
+.venv/
+
+# Debug and log files
+*.log
+debug*.txt
+
+# Data and media
+data/
+media/
+
+# Temporary files and directories
+tmp/
+temp/
+*.swp
+
+# IDE and OS files
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+.DS_Store
+
+# Distribution files
+dist/
+build/
+*.egg-info/
+
+# Secrets
+.env
+.env.*
+*.pem
+*.key
+*.crt
+*.p12
+*.jks
+secrets/
+
+# Git
+.git/
+.gitignore
+
+# Tests & coverage
+tests/
+test/
+.pytest_cache/
+.coverage
+htmlcov/
+
+# Docs / misc
+README*
+docs/
+
+# CI
+.github/
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b32ab81..74540cc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -138,3 +138,6 @@ tpm3.fasta
 
 # VSCode
 .vscode
+
+# UTA download
+uta_*pgd.gz
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de2f586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+services:
+  uta:
+    # Test:
+    # psql -XAt postgres://anonymous@localhost/uta -c 'select count(*) from uta_20241220.transcript'
+    # 329090
+    image: biocommons/uta:uta_20241220
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=some-password-that-you-make-up
+    volumes:
+      - uta_vol:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+      - type: bind
+        source: ./uta_20241220.pgd.gz
+        target: /tmp/uta_20241220.pgd.gz
+        read_only: true
+        bind:
+          create_host_path: false
+      - ./uta-setup.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/uta-setup.sql
+    ports:
+      - 127.0.0.1:5432:5432
+
+volumes:
+  uta_vol:
+    external: true
diff --git a/docker-desktop-container.png b/docker-desktop-container.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..500e5fb
Binary files /dev/null and b/docker-desktop-container.png differ
diff --git a/docs/source/install.rst b/docs/source/install.rst
index 07e4f8c..110535d 100644
--- a/docs/source/install.rst
+++ b/docs/source/install.rst
@@ -27,25 +27,6 @@ Install Cool-Seq-Tool from `PyPI <https://pypi.org/project/cool-seq-tool/>`_:
    * ``tests`` includes packages for running tests
    * ``docs`` includes packages for writing and building documentation
 
-Set up UTA
-----------
-
-Cool-Seq-Tool requires an available instance of the Universal Transcript Archive (UTA) database. Complete installation instructions (via Docker or a local server) are available at the `UTA GitHub repository <https://github.com/biocommons/uta>`_. For local usage, we recommend the following:
-
-.. long-term, it would be best to move this over to the UTA repo to avoid duplication
-
-.. code-block::
-
-   createuser -U postgres uta_admin
-   createuser -U postgres anonymous
-   createdb -U postgres -O uta_admin uta
-
-   export UTA_VERSION=uta_20241220.pgd.gz  # most recent as of 2025/03/10
-   curl -O https://dl.biocommons.org/uta/$UTA_VERSION
-   gzip -cdq ${UTA_VERSION} | psql -h localhost -U uta_admin --echo-errors --single-transaction -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -d uta -p 5432
-
-By default, Cool-Seq-Tool expects to connect to the UTA database via a PostgreSQL connection served local on port 5432, under the PostgreSQL username ``uta_admin`` and the schema ``uta_20241220``.
-
 Set up SeqRepo
 --------------
 
@@ -79,6 +60,49 @@ Try moving data manually with ``sudo``:
 
 See `mirroring documentation <https://github.com/biocommons/biocommons.seqrepo/blob/main/docs/mirror.rst>`_ on the SeqRepo GitHub repo for instructions and additional troubleshooting.
 
+Set up using Docker
+-------------------
+
+Cool-Seq-Tool's dependencies can be installed using a Docker container. We only provide guidance on setting up external dependencies using Docker.
+
+.. important::
+
+   This section assumes you have a local
+   `SeqRepo <https://github.com/biocommons/biocommons.seqrepo>`_
+   installed at ``/usr/local/share/seqrepo/2024-12-20``.
+   See the `SeqRepo setup section <#set-up-seqrepo>`_ for additional information.
+
+   You must download `uta_20241220.pgd.gz` from
+   <https://dl.biocommons.org/uta/> using a web browser and
+   move it to the root of the repository.
+
+   If you're using Docker Desktop, you must go to
+   **Settings → Resources → File sharing** and add
+   ``/usr/local/share/seqrepo`` under the *Virtual file shares*
+   section. Otherwise, you will get the following error::
+
+      OSError: Unable to open SeqRepo directory /usr/local/share/seqrepo/2024-12-20
+
+To build, (re)create, and start containers:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+   docker volume create uta_vol
+   docker compose up
+
+.. tip::
+
+   If you want a clean slate, run ``docker compose down -v`` to remove
+   containers and volumes, then run
+   ``docker compose up --build`` to rebuild and start fresh containers.
+
+In Docker Desktop, you should see the following for a successful setup:
+
+.. figure:: ../../docker-desktop-container.png
+   :alt: Docker Desktop Container
+   :align: center
+
+
 Check data availability
 -----------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/source/usage.rst b/docs/source/usage.rst
index d335c14..8aff261 100644
--- a/docs/source/usage.rst
+++ b/docs/source/usage.rst
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ Individual classes will accept arguments upon initialization to set parameters r
    * - ``SEQREPO_ROOT_DIR``
      - Path to SeqRepo directory (i.e. contains ``aliases.sqlite3`` database file, and ``sequences`` directory). Used by :py:class:`SeqRepoAccess <cool_seq_tool.handlers.seqrepo_access.SeqRepoAccess>`. If not defined, defaults to ``/usr/local/share/seqrepo/latest``.
    * - ``UTA_DB_URL``
-     - A `libpq connection string <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING>`_, i.e. of the form ``postgresql://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database>/<schema>``, used by the :py:class:`UtaDatabase <cool_seq_tool.sources.uta_database.UtaDatabase>` class. By default, it is set to ``postgresql://uta_admin:uta@localhost:5432/uta/uta_20241220``.
+     - A `libpq connection string <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING>`_, i.e. of the form ``postgresql://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database>/<schema>``, used by the :py:class:`UtaDatabase <cool_seq_tool.sources.uta_database.UtaDatabase>` class. By default, it is set to ``postgresql://anonymous@localhost:5432/uta/uta_20241220``.
    * - ``LIFTOVER_CHAIN_37_TO_38``
      - A path to a `chainfile <https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/chain.html>`_ for lifting from GRCh37 to GRCh38. Used by the :py:class:`LiftOver <cool_seq_tool.mappers.liftover.LiftOver>` class as input to `agct <https://pypi.org/project/agct/>`_. If not provided, agct will fetch it automatically from UCSC.
    * - ``LIFTOVER_CHAIN_38_TO_37``
diff --git a/src/cool_seq_tool/sources/uta_database.py b/src/cool_seq_tool/sources/uta_database.py
index 45aba11..e993ef6 100644
--- a/src/cool_seq_tool/sources/uta_database.py
+++ b/src/cool_seq_tool/sources/uta_database.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 UTADatabaseType = TypeVar("UTADatabaseType", bound="UtaDatabase")
 
 UTA_DB_URL = environ.get(
-    "UTA_DB_URL", "postgresql://uta_admin:uta@localhost:5432/uta/uta_20241220"
+    "UTA_DB_URL", "postgresql://anonymous@localhost:5432/uta/uta_20241220"
 )
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/uta-setup.sql b/uta-setup.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a902f7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/uta-setup.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+\c uta;
+CREATE TABLE uta_20241220.genomic AS
+SELECT t.hgnc, aes.alt_ac, aes.alt_aln_method,
+    aes.alt_strand, ae.start_i AS alt_start_i,
+    ae.end_i AS alt_end_i
+FROM (((((uta_20241220.transcript t
+    JOIN uta_20241220.exon_set tes ON (((t.ac = tes.tx_ac)
+        AND (tes.alt_aln_method = 'transcript'::text))))
+    JOIN uta_20241220.exon_set aes ON (((t.ac = aes.tx_ac)
+        AND (aes.alt_aln_method <> 'transcript'::text))))
+    JOIN uta_20241220.exon te ON
+        ((tes.exon_set_id = te.exon_set_id)))
+    JOIN uta_20241220.exon ae ON
+        (((aes.exon_set_id = ae.exon_set_id)
+        AND (te.ord = ae.ord))))
+    LEFT JOIN uta_20241220.exon_aln ea ON
+        (((te.exon_id = ea.tx_exon_id) AND
+        (ae.exon_id = ea.alt_exon_id))));
+
+CREATE INDEX alt_pos_index ON uta_20241220.genomic (alt_ac, alt_start_i, alt_end_i);
+CREATE INDEX gene_alt_index ON uta_20241220.genomic (hgnc, alt_ac);
+CREATE INDEX alt_ac_index ON uta_20241220.genomic (alt_ac);
+
+GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE uta TO anonymous;
+GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA uta_20241220 TO anonymous;
+ALTER DATABASE uta OWNER TO anonymous;
+ALTER SCHEMA uta_20241220 OWNER to anonymous;