diff --git a/.claude/settings.local.json b/.claude/settings.local.json
index 0e41e08..9780c4e 100644
--- a/.claude/settings.local.json
+++ b/.claude/settings.local.json
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
       "Bash(python -m pytest tests/test_predictor.py -v)",
       "Bash(python -m pytest)",
       "Bash(python -m pytest tests/test_settings.py -v)",
-      "Bash(python -m pytest tests/ -v --tb=short)"
+      "Bash(python -m pytest tests/ -v --tb=short)",
+      "Bash(python -m pytest tests/ -q --tb=short)",
+      "Bash(python -m PyInstaller lottosight.spec --clean)"
     ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 36b13f1..00118ba 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@ share/python-wheels/
 MANIFEST
 
 # PyInstaller
-#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
-#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
 *.manifest
-*.spec
+# *.spec intentionally NOT ignored — lottosight.spec is committed
+
+# LottoSight runtime artifacts
+data/*.db
+exports/
 
 # Installer logs
 pip-log.txt
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 6c1759b..d92ce39 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -325,11 +325,16 @@ All actions are logged to console and optionally to a log file:
 
 ---
 
-### 🔲 Phase 8 — Packaging
-- [ ] Write PyInstaller `.spec` file
-- [ ] Test build on target OS (Windows / Mac / Linux)
-- [ ] Bundle SQLite DB, assets, exports folder
-- [ ] Test packaged app fresh install (no Python required)
+### ✅ Phase 8 — Packaging
+- [x] Write `core/paths.py` — `user_data_dir()` + `bundled_asset()` helpers (frozen-aware)
+- [x] Update `db/database.py` + `core/exporter.py` to use `user_data_dir()` so DB + exports land next to the .exe when frozen
+- [x] Update `main.py` to use `bundled_asset()` for icon lookup
+- [x] Write `lottosight.spec` — directory build, no console, bundles `assets/`, matplotlib data, openpyxl templates, APScheduler hidden imports
+- [x] Build verified: `pyinstaller lottosight.spec --clean` succeeds → `dist/LottoSight/` (~115 MB)
+- [x] `assets/icon.png` confirmed present in `dist/LottoSight/_internal/assets/`
+- [x] Fix `.gitignore` — un-ignore `*.spec`, add `data/*.db` + `exports/`
+- [x] 165/165 tests still passing after paths refactor
+- [ ] Test packaged app on a clean machine (no Python installed)
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/assets/icon.png b/assets/icon.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ef09f7
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/icon.png differ
diff --git a/core/exporter.py b/core/exporter.py
index c4085e8..446e44c 100644
--- a/core/exporter.py
+++ b/core/exporter.py
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ import openpyxl
 from openpyxl.styles import Alignment, Font, PatternFill
 
 from db.models import get_draws_with_game, get_game_by_id, get_predictions
+from core.paths import user_data_dir
 
-BASE_DIR    = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
-EXPORTS_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "exports")
+EXPORTS_DIR = os.path.join(user_data_dir(), "exports")
 
 
 def ensure_exports_dir():
diff --git a/core/paths.py b/core/paths.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13296dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/paths.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""
+core/paths.py
+-------------
+Runtime path resolution that works both in development and when
+frozen by PyInstaller (--onefile or directory build).
+
+  user_data_dir()    — mutable data root (DB, exports) — next to the .exe
+  bundled_asset(rel) — read-only asset path (icon etc.) — extracted bundle
+"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+
+def user_data_dir() -> str:
+    """Root for mutable user data. Next to the .exe when frozen."""
+    if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+        return os.path.dirname(sys.executable)
+    # development: two levels up from core/paths.py  →  project root
+    return os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+
+
+def bundled_asset(relative_path: str) -> str:
+    """Absolute path to a read-only bundled asset (icon, etc.).
+
+    In a onefile build sys._MEIPASS is the temp extraction dir;
+    in a directory build it equals the exe directory.
+    """
+    if getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+        base = sys._MEIPASS  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+    else:
+        base = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+    return os.path.join(base, relative_path)
diff --git a/data/lottosight.db b/data/lottosight.db
index f3f3ea1..1c30682 100644
Binary files a/data/lottosight.db and b/data/lottosight.db differ
diff --git a/db/database.py b/db/database.py
index d1c228d..a35d30b 100644
--- a/db/database.py
+++ b/db/database.py
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ import sqlite3
 import logging
 import os
 
+from core.paths import user_data_dir
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# DB file lives in lottosight/data/lottosight.db
-BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
-DB_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "data", "lottosight.db")
+DB_PATH = os.path.join(user_data_dir(), "data", "lottosight.db")
 
 
 def get_connection():
diff --git a/lottosight.spec b/lottosight.spec
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84f3493
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lottosight.spec
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+# lottosight.spec
+# ----------------
+# PyInstaller spec for LottoSight (Windows directory build).
+# Build: pyinstaller lottosight.spec
+# Output: dist/LottoSight/LottoSight.exe  (+ supporting files)
+#
+# User-writable data (DB, exports) is stored next to the .exe at runtime.
+# Read-only assets (icon) are bundled inside the package via datas.
+
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files, collect_submodules
+
+# ── Data files ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+datas = [
+    # Bundle the assets folder (icon.png) into the package root
+    ('assets', 'assets'),
+]
+# Matplotlib ships its own data directory (fonts, colormaps, style sheets)
+datas += collect_data_files('matplotlib')
+# openpyxl ships its own templates
+datas += collect_data_files('openpyxl')
+
+# ── Hidden imports ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+hiddenimports = [
+    # Matplotlib TkAgg backend — not detected by static analysis
+    'matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg',
+    # APScheduler components loaded via entry-point discovery at runtime
+    'apscheduler.schedulers.background',
+    'apscheduler.executors.pool',
+    'apscheduler.jobstores.memory',
+    'apscheduler.triggers.interval',
+    'apscheduler.triggers.date',
+    # bs4 HTML parser back-end
+    'bs4.builder._htmlparser',
+    # Tkinter sub-modules
+    'tkinter',
+    'tkinter.ttk',
+    'tkinter.filedialog',
+    'tkinter.messagebox',
+]
+
+# ── Analysis ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+a = Analysis(
+    ['main.py'],
+    pathex=[],
+    binaries=[],
+    datas=datas,
+    hiddenimports=hiddenimports,
+    hookspath=[],
+    hooksconfig={},
+    runtime_hooks=[],
+    # Strip test / notebook dependencies to keep the bundle smaller
+    excludes=['pytest', 'IPython', 'ipykernel', 'jupyter'],
+    noarchive=False,
+    optimize=0,
+)
+
+pyz = PYZ(a.pure)
+
+# ── Executable ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+exe = EXE(
+    pyz,
+    a.scripts,
+    [],
+    exclude_binaries=True,   # binaries go into COLLECT, not baked into exe
+    name='LottoSight',
+    debug=False,
+    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
+    strip=False,
+    upx=True,
+    console=False,           # no console window (pure GUI app)
+    argv_emulation=False,
+    target_arch=None,
+    codesign_identity=None,
+    entitlements_file=None,
+)
+
+# ── Directory bundle ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+coll = COLLECT(
+    exe,
+    a.binaries,
+    a.zipfiles,
+    a.datas,
+    strip=False,
+    upx=True,
+    upx_exclude=[],
+    name='LottoSight',       # output: dist/LottoSight/
+)
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index a07eb95..e10e700 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from apscheduler.schedulers.background import BackgroundScheduler
 from db.database import init_db
 from core.fetcher import fetch_all
 from core.exporter import create_icon_png
+from core.paths import bundled_asset, user_data_dir
 from ui.statusbar import StatusBar
 from ui.history import HistoryScreen
 from ui.analysis import AnalysisScreen
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ class LottoSightApp(tk.Tk):
         self.minsize(900, 600)
 
         try:
-            self.iconphoto(True, tk.PhotoImage(file="assets/icon.png"))
+            self.iconphoto(True, tk.PhotoImage(file=bundled_asset("assets/icon.png")))
         except Exception:
             pass
 
@@ -172,9 +173,10 @@ class LottoSightApp(tk.Tk):
 
 def main():
     init_db()
-    if not os.path.exists("assets/icon.png"):
-        os.makedirs("assets", exist_ok=True)
-        create_icon_png("assets/icon.png")
+    icon_path = bundled_asset("assets/icon.png")
+    if not os.path.exists(icon_path):
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(icon_path), exist_ok=True)
+        create_icon_png(icon_path)
     app = LottoSightApp()
     app.protocol("WM_DELETE_WINDOW", app.on_close)
     app.mainloop()