diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4161f3a76..a63131ca9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ flask_session/
 .DS_Store
 .venv
 *.pyc
+.webassets-cache
+files/static/gen/
+
+# nodejs
+node_modules
 
 # rdrama Media Runtime Artifacts
 image.*
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2a3ac6a33..5a96442a7 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ###################################################################
 # Base container
-FROM python:3.10 AS base
+FROM nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.10-nodejs20 AS base
 
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ RUN apt update && apt -y upgrade
 WORKDIR /service
 COPY pyproject.toml .
 COPY poetry.lock .
+COPY package.json .
 RUN pip install 'poetry==1.2.2'
 RUN poetry config virtualenvs.create false
 
@@ -27,14 +28,11 @@ CMD [ "bootstrap/init.sh" ]
 FROM base AS build
 
 # Chat compilation framework
-ENV NODE_VERSION=16.13.0
-RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
-ENV NVM_DIRECTORY=/root/.nvm
-RUN . "$NVM_DIRECTORY/nvm.sh" && nvm install ${NODE_VERSION}
-RUN . "$NVM_DIRECTORY/nvm.sh" && nvm use v${NODE_VERSION}
-RUN . "$NVM_DIRECTORY/nvm.sh" && nvm alias default v${NODE_VERSION}
-ENV PATH="/root/.nvm/versions/node/v${NODE_VERSION}/bin/:${PATH}"
-RUN npm i -g yarn
+# We're using an image that comes with node and yarn installed
+
+# needed for ES2015 transpilation
+RUN npm install --global @babel/cli
+RUN yarn install
 
 
 ###################################################################
diff --git a/files/__main__.py b/files/__main__.py
index 475551700..5c9f04323 100644
--- a/files/__main__.py
+++ b/files/__main__.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import gevent
 import redis
 from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine, create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.orm import scoped_session, sessionmaker
+from flask_assets import Environment, Bundle
 
 from files.helpers.config.const import Service
 from files.helpers.strings import bool_from_string
@@ -39,6 +40,11 @@ app = flask.app.Flask(__name__, template_folder='templates')
 app.url_map.strict_slashes = False
 app.jinja_env.cache = {}
 app.jinja_env.auto_reload = True
+
+# set up assets
+assets = Environment(app)
+assets.from_yaml('files/bundles.yaml')
+
 faulthandler.enable()
 
 # ...then check that debug mode was not accidentally enabled...
diff --git a/files/assets/js/es/test.js b/files/assets/js/es/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d7fd3bbb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/assets/js/es/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+globalThis.TRANSPILED_PACKAGES_WORK = true;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/files/assets/js/es/test2.js b/files/assets/js/es/test2.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..329f6c19f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/assets/js/es/test2.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+globalThis.MULTIPLE_FILES_WORK = true;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/files/bundles.yaml b/files/bundles.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9371453e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/bundles.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+es5-bundle:
+    # paths are relative to "files/static"
+    output: gen/es5.js
+    config:
+        BABEL_PRESETS: "@babel/preset-env"
+    filters: babel
+    contents: "../assets/js/es/*.js"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/files/templates/default.html b/files/templates/default.html
index f2797dd34..dea457e36 100644
--- a/files/templates/default.html
+++ b/files/templates/default.html
@@ -303,5 +303,9 @@
 <script>
 MicroModal.init();
 </script>
+
+{% assets "es5-bundle" %}
+    <script type="text/javascript" src="{{ ASSET_URL }}"></script>
+{% endassets %}
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48c2caa8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "name": "rdrama",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "description": "[![Build status](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/TheMotte/rDrama/test.yml?branch=frost)](https://github.com/TheMotte/rDrama/actions?query=workflow%3AE2ETests+branch%3Afrost)",
+  "main": "index.js",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+  },
+  "author": "",
+  "license": "ISC",
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@babel/cli": "^7.23.0",
+    "@babel/core": "^7.23.2",
+    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.23.2"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b3b894274..3071fb0ae 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ webptools = "*"
 supervisor = "*"
 superlance = "*"
 alive-progress = "*"
+flask-assets = "^2.1.0"
+pyyaml = "^6.0.1"
 
 [tool.poetry.group.dev]
 optional = true