diff --git a/.docker/app/Dockerfile b/.docker/app/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcca7d63c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/app/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+ARG ALPINE_RUBY_VERSION
+
+FROM --platform=linux/amd64 ruby:${ALPINE_RUBY_VERSION}-bookworm
+
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
+
+RUN apt-get update -qq && \
+    apt-get install -y \
+  bash \
+  build-essential \
+  git \
+  libxml2-dev \
+  libxslt-dev \
+  nodejs \
+  shared-mime-info \
+  sqlite3 \
+  tzdata \
+  yarn
+
+RUN mkdir /app
+WORKDIR /app
+
+RUN gem update --system && \
+  gem install bundler && \
+  bundle config build.nokogiri --use-system-libraries
+
+COPY . .
+
+EXPOSE 3000
+
+CMD [".docker/app/entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/.docker/app/entrypoint.sh b/.docker/app/entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a0095f95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/app/entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+rm -f /app/.internal_test_app/tmp/pids/server.pid
+bundle install
+bundle exec rails engine_cart:generate
+bundle exec rails arclight:seed
+bundle exec rake arclight:server["-p 3000 -b 0.0.0.0"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a64fc5fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+ALPINE_RUBY_VERSION=3.2.2
+RAILS_VERSION=7.1.2
+VIEW_COMPONENT_VERSION=3.8.0
+SOLR_PORT=8983
+SOLR_URL=http://solr:8983/solr/blacklight-core
+SOLR_VERSION=latest
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 83a8bc510..e74e6ef71 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ See the [CONTRIBUTORS](CONTRIBUTORS.md) file.
 
 ## Development
 
-ArcLight requires Solr to be running.  For development you can start this using `solr_wrapper` or you may choose to use Docker. Start Solr using Docker by doing `docker compose up`.
+ArcLight requires Solr to be running.  For development you can start this using `solr_wrapper` or you may choose to use Docker. Start Solr using Docker by doing `docker compose up solr`.
 
 ### Run the test suite
 
@@ -105,7 +105,30 @@ Then visit http://localhost:3000. It will also start a Solr instance on port 898
 
 You can also run `bin/console` for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.
 
-### Releasing
+### Docker Development Environment
+
+**NOTE:** If you are on an M1/M2 mac, you will have to do the following first:
+
+```sh
+$ export DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM=linux/amd64
+```
+
+Another option for a local development environment is to use the included docker materials to spin up a local dockerized development instance. After cloning this repository, run the following command inside the project directory:
+
+```sh
+$ docker compose up
+```
+
+or for a full rebuild and with containers running in the background:
+
+```sh
+$  docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up --build -d --force-recreate 
+```
+
+Either should bring up a dockerized solr and arclight running at ports 8983 and 3000, with the seed data indexed. This uses a mount which allows you to make changes in your IDE/text editor of choice and see them reflected in the running app without a restart.
+
+
+## Releasing
 
 #### To release a new gem:
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 3d6d221cf..81d335aa3 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,39 @@
 version: "3.7"
 
 services:
+  app:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: .docker/app/Dockerfile
+      args:
+        - ALPINE_RUBY_VERSION
+    # mounting . is causing seg-fault on macosx
+    volumes:
+      - .:/app
+    depends_on:
+      - solr
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+    ports:
+      - "3000:3000"
+    environment:
+      - SOLR_URL # Set via environment variable or use default defined in .env file
+      - RAILS_VERSION # Set via environment variable or use default defined in .env file
+      - VIEW_COMPONENT_VERSION # Set via environment variable or use default defined in .env file
+      - SOLR_ENV=docker-compose
+      - ENGINE_CART_RAILS_OPTIONS=--skip-git --skip-listen --skip-spring --skip-keeps --skip-action-cable --skip-coffee --skip-test --skip-solr
+
   solr:
-    image: solr:latest
+    environment:
+      - SOLR_PORT # Set via environment variable or use default defined in .env file
+      - SOLR_VERSION # Set via environment variable or use default defined in .env file
+    image: "solr:${SOLR_VERSION}"
     volumes:
-      - $PWD/solr/conf:/opt/solr/conf
+      - ./solr/conf:/opt/solr/conf
+    env_file:
+      - .env 
     ports:
-      - 8983:8983
+      - "${SOLR_PORT}:8983"
     entrypoint:
       - docker-entrypoint.sh
       - solr-precreate
diff --git a/tasks/arclight.rake b/tasks/arclight.rake
index 7cc11d7a4..9652bf7ca 100644
--- a/tasks/arclight.rake
+++ b/tasks/arclight.rake
@@ -41,14 +41,33 @@ namespace :arclight do
       Rake::Task['engine_cart:generate'].invoke
     end
 
-    print 'Starting Solr...'
-    SolrWrapper.wrap do |solr|
-      puts 'done.'
-      solr.with_collection do
-        Rake::Task['arclight:seed'].invoke
+    if ENV['SOLR_ENV'] == 'docker-compose'
+      puts 'Using docker solr'
+      within_test_app do
+        system "bundle exec rails s #{args[:rails_server_args]}"
+      end
+    elsif system('docker-compose -v')
+      # We're not running docker-compose up but still want to use a docker instance of solr.
+      begin
+        puts 'Starting Solr'
+        system_with_error_handling 'docker-compose up -d solr'
         within_test_app do
           system "bundle exec rails s #{args[:rails_server_args]}"
         end
+      ensure
+        puts 'Stopping Solr'
+        system_with_error_handling 'docker-compose stop solr'
+      end
+    else
+      print 'Starting Solr...'
+      SolrWrapper.wrap do |solr|
+        puts 'done.'
+        solr.with_collection do
+          Rake::Task['arclight:seed'].invoke
+          within_test_app do
+            system "bundle exec rails s #{args[:rails_server_args]}"
+          end
+        end
       end
     end
   end
@@ -59,13 +78,24 @@ namespace :arclight do
     Dir.glob('spec/fixtures/ead/*').each do |dir|
       next unless File.directory?(dir)
 
-      within_test_app do
-        # Sets the REPOSITORY_ID to the name of the file's containing directory
-        system("REPOSITORY_ID=#{File.basename(dir)} " \
-               "REPOSITORY_FILE=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/spec/fixtures/config/repositories.yml " \
-               "DIR=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/#{dir} " \
-               'SOLR_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8983/solr/blacklight-core ' \
-               'rake arclight:index_dir')
+      if (ENV['SOLR_ENV'] == 'docker-compose') || system('docker-compose -v')
+        within_test_app do
+          # Sets the REPOSITORY_ID to the name of the file's containing directory
+          system("REPOSITORY_ID=#{File.basename(dir)} " \
+                 "REPOSITORY_FILE=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/spec/fixtures/config/repositories.yml " \
+                 "DIR=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/#{dir} " \
+                 "SOLR_URL=#{ENV.fetch('SOLR_URL', nil)} " \
+                 'rake arclight:index_dir')
+        end
+      else
+        within_test_app do
+          # Sets the REPOSITORY_ID to the name of the file's containing directory
+          system("REPOSITORY_ID=#{File.basename(dir)} " \
+                 "REPOSITORY_FILE=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/spec/fixtures/config/repositories.yml " \
+                 "DIR=#{Arclight::Engine.root}/#{dir} " \
+                 'SOLR_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8983/solr/blacklight-core ' \
+                 'rake arclight:index_dir')
+        end
       end
     end
   end