diff --git a/docker/debug.Dockerfile b/docker/debug.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a9f3bba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/debug.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023 -  Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH.
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# Use of this software is governed by the Business Source License
+# included in the LICENSE file.
+#
+# As of the Change Date specified in that file, in accordance with
+# the Business Source License, use of this software will be governed
+# by the Apache License, Version 2.0.
+
+# This docker file is mainly used to build a local docker image
+# with restate binary to run sdk tests
+
+FROM alpine as runtime
+COPY ./target/debug/restate-server /usr/local/bin
+WORKDIR /
+ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/restate-server"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/debug.Dockerfile.dockerignore b/docker/debug.Dockerfile.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e18412544
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/debug.Dockerfile.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+**/.idea
+docker/Dockerfile
+**/target
+!target/debug/restate-server
+target
+restate.tar
+charts
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/release.Dockerfile
similarity index 100%
rename from docker/Dockerfile
rename to docker/release.Dockerfile
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/docker/release.Dockerfile.dockerignore
similarity index 100%
rename from .dockerignore
rename to docker/release.Dockerfile.dockerignore
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index f65f8d08f..4b2ea9774 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ docker_repo := "localhost/restatedev/restate"
 docker_tag := if path_exists(justfile_directory() / ".git") == "true" {
         `git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD | sed 's|/|.|g'` + "." + `git rev-parse --short HEAD`
     } else {
-        "unknown"
+        "latest"
     }
 docker_image := docker_repo + ":" + docker_tag
 
@@ -135,7 +135,10 @@ verify: lint test doctest
 
 docker:
     # podman builds do not work without --platform set, even though it claims to default to host arch
-    docker buildx build . --platform linux/{{ _docker_arch }} --file docker/Dockerfile --tag={{ docker_image }} --progress='{{ DOCKER_PROGRESS }}' --build-arg RESTATE_FEATURES={{ features }} --load
+    docker buildx build . --platform linux/{{ _docker_arch }} --file docker/release.Dockerfile --tag={{ docker_image }} --progress='{{ DOCKER_PROGRESS }}' --build-arg RESTATE_FEATURES={{ features }} --load
+
+debug-docker: build
+    docker buildx build . --file docker/debug.Dockerfile --tag={{ docker_image }} --progress='{{ DOCKER_PROGRESS }}' --build-arg RESTATE_FEATURES={{ features }} --load
 
 notice-file:
     cargo license -d -a --avoid-build-deps --avoid-dev-deps {{ _features }} | (echo "Restate Runtime\nCopyright (c) 2024 Restate Software, Inc., Restate GmbH <code@restate.dev>\n" && cat) > NOTICE