diff --git a/input/AGENTS.md b/input/AGENTS.md
index 40771a1..af09785 100644
--- a/input/AGENTS.md
+++ b/input/AGENTS.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Automate the upstream resume customization workflow. Monitor the job-description
 - `ForCustomizing/outbox/YYYY/MM/DD/HHMM/` – timestamped folders containing Codex output Markdown (`<company>-<jobtitle>.md`) along with the exact prompt and the cleaned job description that fed Codex.
 - `ForCustomizing/processed/YYYY/MM/DD/HHMM/` – archives of job descriptions that Codex processed successfully.
 - `ForCustomizing/failed/` – captures job descriptions when Codex errors or a recoverable issue occurs. Fatal configuration errors still exit the container.
-- `templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example` – default instructions that scrub recruiter chatter while preserving all job description content and extract metadata; copy to `JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md` to override.
+- `Docker/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md` – baked normalizer instructions (modify the container build to customize).
 - `templates/ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md.example` – default resume-customization instructions; copy to `ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md` to override.
 
 ## Running the Input Processor
diff --git a/input/templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example b/input/Docker/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md
similarity index 94%
rename from input/templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example
rename to input/Docker/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md
index 5066636..a9db66c 100644
--- a/input/templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example
+++ b/input/Docker/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Default instructions that clean messy job descriptions before resume customization.
-# Copy to `JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md` (same directory) to override locally.
+# Customize only by modifying the container build.
 
 You are an expert technical recruiter.
 
diff --git a/input/Docker/watch_and_customize.py b/input/Docker/watch_and_customize.py
index 41eac67..ebdffcd 100644
--- a/input/Docker/watch_and_customize.py
+++ b/input/Docker/watch_and_customize.py
@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ TEMPLATES_DIR = Path("/templates")
 TEMPLATE_CACHE = Path("/tmp/templates")
 PROMPT_TEMPLATE = TEMPLATES_DIR / "ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md"
 PROMPT_TEMPLATE_EXAMPLE = TEMPLATES_DIR / "ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md.example"
-NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE = TEMPLATES_DIR / "JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md"
-NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE_EXAMPLE = TEMPLATES_DIR / "JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example"
+NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE = Path('/app/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md')
 
 POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS = int(os.environ.get("POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS", "5"))
 CODEX_COMMAND_TEMPLATE = os.environ.get(
@@ -89,12 +88,11 @@ def ensure_environment() -> None:
         TEMPLATE_CACHE,
         "Resume customization prompt",
     )
-    RESOLVED_NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE = resolve_template(
-        NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE,
-        NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE_EXAMPLE,
-        TEMPLATE_CACHE,
-        "Job description normalizer prompt",
-    )
+    RESOLVED_NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE = NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE
+    if not RESOLVED_NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE.exists():
+        raise FatalConfigurationError(
+            f"Job description normalizer prompt missing at {RESOLVED_NORMALIZER_TEMPLATE}"
+        )
 
 
 def resolve_template(
diff --git a/input/README.md b/input/README.md
index 929ce6a..71a0348 100644
--- a/input/README.md
+++ b/input/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ The input side of ResumeCustomizer prepares job-specific Markdown resumes by sti
 1. Ensure `input/resume/` contains exactly one Markdown resume.
 2. Drop a single job-description file (plain text or Markdown) into `input/ForCustomizing/inbox/`.
 3. Start the watcher stack (`input/Docker/run-input-processor.sh up -d`).
-4. The watcher normalizes the messy job description via Codex (using `templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example` by default), stripping recruiter chatter while preserving every job-related detail, then combines the cleaned Markdown, the base resume, and the resolved customization prompt into a second Codex run that writes the generated resume to `ForCustomizing/outbox/YYYY/MM/DD/HHMM/<company>-<jobtitle>.md`.
+4. The watcher normalizes the messy job description via Codex (using the baked-in normalizer prompt), stripping recruiter chatter while preserving every job-related detail, then combines the cleaned Markdown, the base resume, and the resolved customization prompt into a second Codex run that writes the generated resume to `ForCustomizing/outbox/YYYY/MM/DD/HHMM/<company>-<jobtitle>.md`.
 5. Successful runs archive the job description under `ForCustomizing/processed/`, copy both the prompt and the cleaned job description into the same outbox folder, and leave the Codex output for human review. Failures move the job description into `ForCustomizing/failed/`.
 
 The human operator reviews the Codex output Markdown, makes any edits, and then manually hands it off to the output pipeline for document rendering.
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ The watcher lives in `input/Docker/`:
 - `docker-compose.yml` – defines the container, volumes, environment variables, and restart policy (`no` so fatal errors halt the stack).
 
 ### Templates
-- `templates/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example` ships with default instructions that clean recruiter chatter and extract company/role details. Copy it to `JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md` to override.
+- baked normalizer prompt (`input/Docker/JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md`) ships with the container; customize by editing the image.
 - `templates/ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md.example` ships with default resume-customization instructions. Copy it to `ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md` to override.
 - The `.gitignore` in `templates/` keeps local overrides out of version control.
 
diff --git a/input/templates/.gitignore b/input/templates/.gitignore
index 064cd9a..7b5c605 100644
--- a/input/templates/.gitignore
+++ b/input/templates/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
 ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md
-JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md
 !ResumeCustomizerPrompt.md.example
-!JobDescriptionNormalizerPrompt.md.example