diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 8ce610d6a..256852965 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ services:
     image: ${CLAWDBOT_IMAGE:-moltbot:local}
     environment:
       HOME: /home/node
+      MOLTBOT_STATE_DIR: /home/node/.clawdbot
       TERM: xterm-256color
       CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN: ${CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN}
       CLAUDE_AI_SESSION_KEY: ${CLAUDE_AI_SESSION_KEY}
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ services:
     image: ${CLAWDBOT_IMAGE:-moltbot:local}
     environment:
       HOME: /home/node
+      MOLTBOT_STATE_DIR: /home/node/.clawdbot
       TERM: xterm-256color
       BROWSER: echo
       CLAUDE_AI_SESSION_KEY: ${CLAUDE_AI_SESSION_KEY}
diff --git a/docker-setup.sh b/docker-setup.sh
index 0f7571e96..d56b24177 100755
--- a/docker-setup.sh
+++ b/docker-setup.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ mkdir -p "${CLAWDBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR:-$HOME/clawd}"
 
 export CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_DIR="${CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_DIR:-$HOME/.clawdbot}"
 export CLAWDBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR="${CLAWDBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR:-$HOME/clawd}"
+
+# Set ownership to container user (uid 1000) so the container can write to mounted volumes
+chown -R 1000:1000 "$CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
+chown -R 1000:1000 "$CLAWDBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
 export CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_PORT="${CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_PORT:-18789}"
 export CLAWDBOT_BRIDGE_PORT="${CLAWDBOT_BRIDGE_PORT:-18790}"
 export CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_BIND="${CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_BIND:-lan}"