diff --git a/Dockerfile.dev b/Dockerfile.dev
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3ea210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+FROM golang:1.26
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+RUN apt install -y make gcc
+
+ENV CGO_ENABLED=1
+
+# Copy dependency definitions first (caching optimization)
+COPY go.mod go.sum ./
+RUN go mod download
+
+COPY . .
+
+RUN make build BUILD_DIR=/tmp
diff --git a/Dockerfile.grunt b/Dockerfile.grunt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3843997
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.grunt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Node.js runtime
+FROM node:24
+
+WORKDIR /var/www/html/
+
+COPY package.* /var/www/html/
+
+RUN npm install
+
+# Run the app
+CMD [ "npm", "run", "grunt" ]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 519740f..d89e400 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,45 +1,24 @@
 NAME=blt
 VERSION=`git describe --tags`
 
-.PHONY: build
-## build: Compile the packages.
+# used for changing the output directory within docker containers
+BUILD_DIR ?= .
+
+dev-up:
+	docker compose -f docker-dev.yml up -d
+
+dev-down:
+	docker compose -f docker-dev.yml down
+
+dev-build:
+	docker compose -f docker-dev.yml build
+
 build:
-	@go build -o $(NAME) -ldflags "-X git.metaunix.net/bitgoblin/blt/app.AppVersion=$(VERSION)"
+	@echo "Building Go binary..."
+	@go build -o $(BUILD_DIR)/$(NAME) -ldflags "-X git.metaunix.net/bitgoblin/blt/app.AppVersion=$(VERSION)"
 
-.PHONY: grunt
-## grunt: Compile frontend assets.
-grunt:
-	@npm run grunt
-
-.PHONY: grunt-watch
-## grunt-watch: Compile frontend assets while watching for changes.
-grunt-watch:
-	@npm run grunt watch
-
-.PHONY: run
-## run: Build and Run in development mode.
-run: build
-	@./$(NAME) -e development
-
-.PHONY: run-prod
-## run-prod: Build and Run in production mode.
-run-prod: build
-	@./$(NAME) -e production
-
-.PHONY: clean
-## clean: Clean project and previous builds.
-clean:
-	@rm -f $(NAME)
-
-.PHONY: deps
-## deps: Download modules
-deps:
-	@go mod download
-
-.PHONY: test
-## test: Run tests with verbose mode
-test:
-	@go test -v ./tests/*
+run:
+	$(BUILD_DIR)/$(NAME)
 
 .PHONY: help
 all: help
diff --git a/docker-dev.yml b/docker-dev.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01b0f6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-dev.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+services:
+  app:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
+    command: make run BUILD_DIR=/tmp
+    ports:
+      - "2830:2830"
+    volumes:
+      - .:/app # Mounts local directory for hot-reloading/live edits
+      - go-modules:/go/pkg/mod # Caches Go modules on host
+      # Mount the compiled static assets generated by Grunt
+      - static-assets:/app/public
+    environment:
+      - APP_ENV=development
+  assets:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.grunt
+    # Override CMD to run watch mode during local dev
+    command: npm run grunt watch
+    volumes:
+      # Mount host code so Grunt detects file changes in real time
+      - .:/var/www/html
+      # Preserve container node_modules from being overwritten by host
+      - /var/www/html/node_modules
+      # Output compiled assets into the shared volume
+      - static-assets:/var/www/html/public
+
+volumes:
+  go-modules:
+  static-assets:
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 672e89e..2f4548f 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -44,6 +44,6 @@ func main() {
 	web.RegisterRoutes(f)
 
 	// alert the user and start the server
-	log.Println("Server is running...")
+	log.Println("Server is listening on 0.0.0.0:2830.")
 	log.Println(http.ListenAndServe("0.0.0.0:2830", f))
 }