diff --git a/docker/.gitignore b/docker/.gitignore
index ad60b679..ba5c05a6 100644
--- a/docker/.gitignore
+++ b/docker/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .env
+!dev/.env
+!dev-all/.env
 data/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/README.md b/docker/README.md
index fefc8d1c..d32b60f9 100644
--- a/docker/README.md
+++ b/docker/README.md
@@ -171,4 +171,40 @@ The port is defined in `docker/.env` (`CSAF_COUCHDB_PORT`, default 5984).
 - CouchDB admin UI: [http://localhost:5984/_utils/#login](http://localhost:5984/_utils/#login)
 - CouchDB info: [http://localhost:5984/](http://localhost:5984/)
 
+## Building images and running from local source
+
+Running `docker compose` from `docker/` (as above) is the quick-look path: every
+service pulls a pinned/published image and nothing builds. (If you just want to
+iterate on backend code without building a container at all, see
+[Debugging the backend](#debugging-the-backend) above — it runs the backend
+directly on the host instead.) Two subdirectories give you a build-from-source
+stack instead, without touching the base setup — same `docker/.env`, `docker/data`,
+and `docker/config`, just built rather than pulled:
+
+- **`docker/dev`** — builds `backend-cms` from this repo's own source. Use this
+  when you're only working on the backend:
+
+  ```shell
+  cd docker/dev
+  docker compose up -d --build
+  ```
+
+- **`docker/dev-all`** — builds `backend-cms`, `secvisogram`, and the validator
+  service, all from local source. Requires
+  [`secvisogram`](https://github.com/secvisogram/secvisogram) and
+  [`csaf-validator-service`](https://github.com/secvisogram/csaf-validator-service)
+  checked out as sibling directories next to this repo (i.e. `../secvisogram` and
+  `../csaf-validator-service` relative to this repo's root):
+
+  ```shell
+  cd docker/dev-all
+  docker compose up -d --build
+  ```
+
+Each subdirectory's `.env` sets Compose's `COMPOSE_FILE` so that running from there
+merges in that subdirectory's own `compose.build.yaml`.
+You can freely switch between `docker/`, `docker/dev/`, and `docker/dev-all/` for
+the same containers and volumes; it's not a separate environment, just a different
+set of compose files layered on top of the same one.
+
 [(back to top)](#local-development-with-docker)
diff --git a/docker/dev-all/.env b/docker/dev-all/.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ace1f56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/dev-all/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# No secrets here. This only makes `docker compose` (run from this directory) merge
+# in ./compose.build.yaml on top of ../compose.yaml, so `docker compose up -d --build`
+# builds backend-cms, secvisogram, and the validator service from local source
+# instead of pulling their pinned images.
+COMPOSE_PATH_SEPARATOR=:
+COMPOSE_FILE=../compose.yaml:compose.build.yaml
diff --git a/docker/dev-all/compose.build.yaml b/docker/dev-all/compose.build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ecbfadb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/dev-all/compose.build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# All paths are relative to ../compose.yaml.
+
+services:
+  backend-cms:
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+
+  secvisogram:
+    build:
+      context: ../../secvisogram
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+
+  validator:
+    build:
+      context: ../../csaf-validator-service
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
diff --git a/docker/dev/.env b/docker/dev/.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..81ad5633
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/dev/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# No secrets here. This only makes `docker compose` (run from this directory) merge
+# in ./compose.build.yaml on top of ../compose.yaml, so `docker compose up -d --build`
+# builds backend-cms from local source instead of pulling its pinned image.
+COMPOSE_PATH_SEPARATOR=:
+COMPOSE_FILE=../compose.yaml:compose.build.yaml
diff --git a/docker/dev/compose.build.yaml b/docker/dev/compose.build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1c624eb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/dev/compose.build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Context is relative to ../compose.yaml.
+
+services:
+  backend-cms:
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile