diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 77d1bee..889d7c4 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -100,6 +100,13 @@ DISCORD_REDIRECT_URI=
 #
 # Unset falls back to the host's /etc/timezone, which is a real zone whenever
 # the host clock is set to local time. Set this when the host runs UTC — a UTC
-# server is exactly the case that fails. Only the browser sidecar reads it;
-# the backend keeps its UTC clock.
+# server is exactly the case that fails. Only the browser sidecar reads it —
+# the backend's own zone is API_TZ below, and is cosmetic.
 # BROWSER_TZ=Asia/Jakarta
+
+# Zone the backend stamps its log lines in. Cosmetic only — it exists so the
+# API's logs read on the same clock as the browser sidecar's. Nothing else in
+# the service has a zone: bookmark timestamps are unix ms, and the two real
+# time columns are timestamptz. Defaults to Asia/Jakarta; set to UTC for the
+# conventional server default.
+# API_TZ=Asia/Jakarta
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index eb124f4..ed7f514 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ services:
       # comes from .env so it is never committed.
       DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL:-postgres://bookmarks:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?set POSTGRES_PASSWORD in .env}@postgres:5432/bookmarks?sslmode=disable}
       PORT: "8080"
+      # Log timestamps only. Go's `log` stamps lines in local time, and this
+      # service has no other use for a zone: bookmark timestamps are unix ms
+      # and the two real time columns are timestamptz, both absolute instants.
+      # Purely so these lines read on the same clock as the sidecar's. Named
+      # API_TZ rather than TZ so an operator's exported shell TZ cannot leak
+      # in; distroless already carries tzdata, so the name just resolves.
+      TZ: ${API_TZ:-Asia/Jakarta}
       # Discord OAuth for the browser UI (ADR-0002). The first four are
       # required; DISCORD_REQUIRED_ROLE is optional and empty by default.
       # Guild membership is the whole gate: any member becomes a Reader.