diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c55ec0d78..9c372235e7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@ coverage
 !/.config/helm_values_example.yml
 !/.config/LICENSE
 
-# docker dev config
-/dev/docker-compose.yml
-
 # ESLint
 .eslintcache
 
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 743eaef005..dec6f86a70 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -69,6 +69,42 @@ Be willing to comment on the good points and not just the things you want fixed
 	- Are there any omissions or gaps?
 	- Does it check for anomalies?
 
+## Preparing the development environment
+
+1. Install the following software
+  - nodejs
+  - rustup
+  - cargo
+  - sea-orm-cli
+  - podman
+  - podman-compose
+1. Copy the config file
+  ```sh
+  cp .config/dev.example.yml .config/default.yml
+  ```
+1. Start postgres/redis containers
+  ```sh
+  pnpm run dev:up
+  ```
+1. Build Firefish
+  ```sh
+  pnpm install
+  pnpm run build:debug
+  pnpm run migrate
+  ```
+1. Start Firefish on your localhost
+  ```sh
+  pnpm run start
+  ```
+
+You can use the following commands to initialize the database:
+```sh
+pnpm run dev:init
+pnpm run migrate
+```
+
+Make sure to clear your browser local storage after initializing the dev instance.
+
 ## Deploy (SOON)
 The `/deploy` command by issue comment can be used to deploy the contents of a MR to the preview environment.
 ```
diff --git a/dev/docker-compose.yml b/dev/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..184c0366c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+version: "3"
+
+services:
+  redis:
+    image: docker.io/redis:7-alpine
+    ports:
+      - "26379:6379"
+  db:
+    image: docker.io/postgres:16-alpine
+    environment:
+      - "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password"
+      - "POSTGRES_USER=firefish"
+      - "POSTGRES_DB=firefish_db"
+    ports:
+      - "25432:5432"
diff --git a/dev/docker-compose.yml.example b/dev/docker-compose.yml.example
deleted file mode 100644
index e8f4dcbe52..0000000000
--- a/dev/docker-compose.yml.example
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-version: "3"
-
-services:
-  web:
-    image: registry.firefish.dev/firefish/firefish
-    build: ..
-    container_name: firefish_web
-    restart: always
-    depends_on:
-      - db
-      - redis
-#      - es
-    ports:
-      - "3000:3000"
-    networks:
-      - network
-#      - web
-    volumes:
-      - ../files:/firefish/files
-      - ../.config:/firefish/.config:ro
-
-  redis:
-    restart: always
-    container_name: firefish_redis
-    image: docker.io/redis:7.0-alpine
-    networks:
-      - network
-    volumes:
-      - ../redis:/data
-
-  db:
-    restart: always
-    image: docker.io/postgres:12.2-alpine
-    container_name: firefish_db
-    networks:
-      - network
-    env_file:
-      - ../.config/docker.env
-    volumes:
-      - ../db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
-
-#  es:
-#    restart: always
-#    image: docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-oss:6.4.2
-#    environment:
-#      - "ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
-#      - "TAKE_FILE_OWNERSHIP=111"
-#    networks:
-#      - network
-#    volumes:
-#      - ./elasticsearch:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data
-
-networks:
-  network:
-#  web:
-#    external:
-#      name: web
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 855eba3631..2711ffa903 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@
 		"gulp": "gulp build",
 		"watch": "pnpm run dev",
 		"dev": "pnpm node ./scripts/dev.mjs",
+		"dev:up": "pnpm node ./scripts/dev-up.mjs",
+		"dev:down": "pnpm node ./scripts/dev-down.mjs",
+		"dev:init": "pnpm run dev:down && pnpm run dev:up",
 		"dev:staging": "NODE_OPTIONS=--max_old_space_size=3072 NODE_ENV=development pnpm run build && pnpm run start",
 		"lint": "pnpm -r --parallel run lint",
-		"debug": "pnpm run build:debug && pnpm run start",
+		"debug": "pnpm run clean && pnpm run build:debug && pnpm run start",
 		"build:debug": "pnpm -r --parallel run build:debug && pnpm run gulp",
 		"cy:open": "cypress open --browser --e2e --config-file=cypress.config.ts",
 		"cy:run": "cypress run",
diff --git a/scripts/dev-down.mjs b/scripts/dev-down.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..97d9cd3515
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev-down.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import path, { join } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { execa } from "execa";
+
+(async () => {
+	const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
+	execa("podman-compose", ["down"], {
+		cwd: join(__dirname, "/../dev"),
+		stdio: "inherit",
+	});
+})();
diff --git a/scripts/dev-up.mjs b/scripts/dev-up.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c2de8717a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/dev-up.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import path, { join } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { execa } from "execa";
+
+(async () => {
+	const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
+	execa("podman-compose", ["up", "--detach"], {
+		cwd: join(__dirname, "/../dev"),
+		stdio: "inherit",
+	});
+})();