diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index 9e0e4b563..67b8305a9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
         with:
           context: .
-          file: "docker/Dockerfile"
+          file: "docker/release.Dockerfile"
           push: ${{ inputs.uploadImageAsTarball != true }}
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           load: ${{ inputs.uploadImageAsTarball == true }}
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
         with:
           context: .
-          file: "docker/Dockerfile"
+          file: "docker/release.Dockerfile"
           push: true
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           load: false
diff --git a/docker/debug.Dockerfile b/docker/debug.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..060009fe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/debug.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# syntax=docker.io/docker/dockerfile:1.7-labs
+# 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 ghcr.io/restatedev/dev-tools:latest AS builder
+WORKDIR /usr/src/app
+COPY --exclude=.git . .
+RUN \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/usr/src/app/target,sharing=locked \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/usr/src/app/cargo-home,sharing=locked \
+    du -sh target && du -sh cargo-home && \
+    CARGO_HOME=/usr/src/app/cargo-home just libc=gnu build --bin restate-server && \
+    cp target/debug/restate-server restate-server && \
+    du -sh target && du -sh cargo-home
+
+# We do not need the Rust toolchain to run the server binary!
+FROM debian:bookworm-slim AS runtime
+COPY --from=builder /usr/src/app/restate-server /usr/local/bin
+# copy OS roots
+COPY --from=builder /etc/ssl /etc/ssl
+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..2336c9094
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/debug.Dockerfile.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+**/.idea
+docker/Dockerfile
+**/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..76e4f4279 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:
+    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