diff --git a/paperless/README.md b/paperless/README.md
index dae0f04..0f3aba5 100644
--- a/paperless/README.md
+++ b/paperless/README.md
@@ -5,9 +5,33 @@ proxy port: 8000
 
 ## First Run
 
-You will need to create a user:
+It takes a very long time for the first run to initilaze, v
+view the log to see when it's ready.
+
+The ui will now create the first user for you, but we used to have to run:
 
 ```
 docker exec -it paperless-ngx bash
 python3 manage.py createsuperuser
 ```
+
+## Configuration
+
+All settings are controlled via environment variables in your `.env` file. Key variables include:
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+|----------|---------|-------------|
+| `PAPERLESS_IMAGE` | `ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest` | Paperless Docker image |
+| `PAPERLESS_MARIADB_HOST` | `paperless-db` | MariaDB host |
+| `PAPERLESS_MARIADB_DATABASE` | `paperless` | Database name |
+| `PAPERLESS_MARIADB_USER` | `paperless` | Database user |
+| `PAPERLESS_MARIADB_PASSWORD` | `paperless` | Database password |
+| `PAPERLESS_MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD` | `paperless` | MariaDB root password |
+| `PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY` | `changeme` | Secret key for Paperless |
+| `PAPERLESS_OCR_LANGUAGE` | `eng` | OCR language for scanned documents |
+| `VOL_PATH` | `./data` | Base path for volume storage |
+| `TZ` | `America/Vancouver` | Timezone |
+
+You can adjust these values in your `.env` (drived from `sample.env`) file before starting the containers.  
+
+For the full list of available options, see the [Paperless-ngx configuration documentation](http://docs.paperless-ngx.com/configuration/).
diff --git a/paperless/docker-compose.yml b/paperless/docker-compose.yml
index d68301d..b13822a 100644
--- a/paperless/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/paperless/docker-compose.yml
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@
 services:
 
   paperless-broker:
-    image: docker.io/library/redis:7
+    image: docker.io/library/redis:8
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
       - ${VOL_PATH}/paperless/redis:/data
 
   paperless-db:
-    image: docker.io/library/mariadb:11
+    image: docker.io/library/mariadb:12
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
       - ${VOL_PATH}/paperless/db:/var/lib/mysql
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ services:
       MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${PAPERLESS_MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD:-paperless}
 
   paperless-webserver:
-    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest
+    image: ${PAPERLESS_IMAGE:-ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest}
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
       - ${VOL_PATH}/paperless/data:/usr/src/paperless/data
@@ -41,9 +41,16 @@ services:
       PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENABLED: 1
       PAPERLESS_TIKA_GOTENBERG_ENDPOINT: http://paperless-gotenberg:3000
       PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENDPOINT: http://paperless-tika:9998
+      PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY: ${PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY:-changeme}
+      PAPERLESS_OCR_LANGUAGE: ${PAPERLESS_OCR_LANGUAGE:-eng}
+      #PAPERLESS_URL: ${PAPERLESS_URL:-http://localhost}
+      PAPERLESS_CONSUMER_DELETE_DUPLICATES: ${PAPERLESS_CONSUMER_DELETE_DUPLICATES:-0}
+      PAPERLESS_CONSUMER_RECURSIVE: 1
+      #USERMAP_GID: 1000
+      #USERMAP_UID: 1000
 
   paperless-gotenberg:
-    image: docker.io/gotenberg/gotenberg:8.7
+    image: docker.io/gotenberg/gotenberg:8.22
     restart: unless-stopped
     # The gotenberg chromium route is used to convert .eml files. We do not
     # want to allow external content like tracking pixels or even javascript.
diff --git a/paperless/sample-extends.yml b/paperless/sample-extends.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index cfe9191..0000000
--- a/paperless/sample-extends.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-services:
-  paperless-broker:
-    extends:
-      file: ${COOKBOOK}/paperless/docker-compose.yml
-      service: paperless-broker
-
-  paperless-db:
-    extends:
-      file: ${COOKBOOK}/paperless/docker-compose.yml
-      service: paperless-db
-
-  paperless-webserver:
-    extends:
-      file: ${COOKBOOK}/paperless/docker-compose.yml
-      service: paperless-webserver
-
-  paperless-gotenberg:
-    extends:
-      file: ${COOKBOOK}/paperless/docker-compose.yml
-      service: paperless-gotenberg
-
-  paperless-tika:
-    extends:
-      file: ${COOKBOOK}/paperless/docker-compose.yml
-      service: paperless-tika
diff --git a/paperless/sample.env b/paperless/sample.env
index 18b8223..e5bbca2 100644
--- a/paperless/sample.env
+++ b/paperless/sample.env
@@ -4,12 +4,16 @@
 ###############################################################################
 
 ## Global
-COOKBOOK=/git/docker-compose-cookbooks #HELP: cookbooks
 VOL_PATH=./data
 TZ=America/Vancouver
 
+PAPERLESS_IMAGE=ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:latest
 PAPERLESS_MARIADB_HOST=paperless-db
 PAPERLESS_MARIADB_DATABASE=paperless
 PAPERLESS_MARIADB_USER=paperless
 PAPERLESS_MARIADB_PASSWORD=paperless
 PAPERLESS_MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=paperless
+PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY=changeme
+PAPERLESS_OCR_LANGUAGE=eng
+PAPERLESS_URL=http://localhost
+PAPERLESS_CONSUMER_DELETE_DUPLICATES=0