diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 2b83f80..12434a0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -58,3 +58,33 @@ jobs:
           name: coverage-report
           path: coverage/
           retention-days: 7
+
+  docker-validation:
+    name: Docker Build Validation
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Validate Docker production build
+        run: |
+          echo "🐳 Testing Docker production target..."
+          docker build --target runtime . --no-cache --progress=plain
+          echo "✅ Production target builds successfully"
+
+      - name: Validate Docker development build
+        run: |
+          echo "🐳 Testing Docker development target..."
+          docker build --target development . --no-cache --progress=plain
+          echo "✅ Development target builds successfully"
+
+      - name: Validate docker-compose configuration
+        run: |
+          echo "🐳 Validating docker-compose configuration..."
+          docker compose config --quiet
+          echo "✅ docker-compose configuration is valid"
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 08367cd..44960e2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -54,3 +54,39 @@ HEALTHCHECK --interval=10s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=5 \
 
 # Start the Remix server
 CMD ["node", "build/server/index.js"]
+
+
+# ---- development stage ----
+FROM build AS development
+
+# Define environment variables for development
+ARG GROQ_API_KEY
+ARG HuggingFace_API_KEY
+ARG OPENAI_API_KEY
+ARG ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
+ARG OPEN_ROUTER_API_KEY
+ARG GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY
+ARG OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL
+ARG XAI_API_KEY
+ARG TOGETHER_API_KEY
+ARG TOGETHER_API_BASE_URL
+ARG VITE_LOG_LEVEL=debug
+ARG DEFAULT_NUM_CTX
+
+ENV GROQ_API_KEY=${GROQ_API_KEY} \
+    HuggingFace_API_KEY=${HuggingFace_API_KEY} \
+    OPENAI_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY} \
+    ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY} \
+    OPEN_ROUTER_API_KEY=${OPEN_ROUTER_API_KEY} \
+    GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=${GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY} \
+    OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL=${OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL} \
+    XAI_API_KEY=${XAI_API_KEY} \
+    TOGETHER_API_KEY=${TOGETHER_API_KEY} \
+    TOGETHER_API_BASE_URL=${TOGETHER_API_BASE_URL} \
+    AWS_BEDROCK_CONFIG=${AWS_BEDROCK_CONFIG} \
+    VITE_LOG_LEVEL=${VITE_LOG_LEVEL} \
+    DEFAULT_NUM_CTX=${DEFAULT_NUM_CTX} \
+    RUNNING_IN_DOCKER=true
+
+RUN mkdir -p /app/run
+CMD ["pnpm", "run", "dev", "--host"]