diff --git a/.env.default b/.env.default
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6bb21c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.default
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Please copy and rename this file.
+#
+# !Attention!
+# Always ensure to load the env variables in every terminal session.
+# Otherwise the env variables will not be available
+
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_PORT_PUBLISHED=9001
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_PORT_TARGET=9001
+
+# IMPORTANT: When the env var DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT is unset or empty, then the pad is not established (not the landing page).
+# The env var DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT seems to be mandatory in the latest version of etherpad.
+# Therefore, we have already set the default value in the docker-compose-prod.yml, i.e. a string with one space character.
+# Here, you can customize default pad text that will appear as the first string on each new pad.
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT="Welcome to etherpad"
+
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_DATABASE=db
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_PASSWORD=etherpad-lite-password
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_USER=etherpad-lite-user
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index 9909d9583..2edf31cee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
         with:
           context: .
+          target: production
           load: true
           tags: ${{ env.TEST_TAG }}
           cache-from: type=gha
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
         with:
           context: .
+          target: production
           platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
           push: true
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cb81fbc85..6ca52b159 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ node_modules
 APIKEY.txt
 SESSIONKEY.txt
 var/dirty.db
+.env
 *~
 *.patch
 npm-debug.log
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ credentials.json
 out/
 .nyc_output
 .idea
+/.pnpm-store
 /package-lock.json
 /src/bin/abiword.exe
 /src/bin/convertSettings.json
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index ff6417001..fd2b391d3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 # Author: muxator
 
-FROM node:alpine AS builder
+FROM node:alpine as build
 LABEL maintainer="Etherpad team, https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite"
 
 ARG TIMEZONE=
@@ -44,11 +44,6 @@ ARG INSTALL_ABIWORD=
 #   INSTALL_LIBREOFFICE=true
 ARG INSTALL_SOFFICE=
 
-# By default, Etherpad container is built and run in "production" mode. This is
-# leaner (development dependencies are not installed) and runs faster (among
-# other things, assets are minified & compressed).
-ENV NODE_ENV=production
-ENV ETHERPAD_PRODUCTION=true
 # Install dependencies required for modifying access.
 RUN apk add shadow bash
 # Follow the principle of least privilege: run as unprivileged user.
@@ -63,9 +58,6 @@ ARG EP_UID=5001
 ARG EP_GID=0
 ARG EP_SHELL=
 
-ARG NODE_ENV
-ENV NODE_ENV=${NODE_ENV:-production}
-
 RUN groupadd --system ${EP_GID:+--gid "${EP_GID}" --non-unique} etherpad && \
     useradd --system ${EP_UID:+--uid "${EP_UID}" --non-unique} --gid etherpad \
         ${EP_HOME:+--home-dir "${EP_HOME}"} --create-home \
@@ -74,7 +66,6 @@ RUN groupadd --system ${EP_GID:+--gid "${EP_GID}" --non-unique} etherpad && \
 ARG EP_DIR=/opt/etherpad-lite
 RUN mkdir -p "${EP_DIR}" && chown etherpad:etherpad "${EP_DIR}"
 
-USER root
 # the mkdir is needed for configuration of openjdk-11-jre-headless, see
 # https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=863199
 RUN  \
@@ -85,6 +76,7 @@ RUN  \
         ca-certificates \
         curl \
         git \
+        openssh \
         ${INSTALL_ABIWORD:+abiword abiword-plugin-command} \
         ${INSTALL_SOFFICE:+libreoffice openjdk8-jre libreoffice-common}
 
@@ -92,6 +84,24 @@ USER etherpad
 
 WORKDIR "${EP_DIR}"
 
+FROM build as development
+
+COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./src/package.json .npmrc ./src/pnpm-lock.yaml ./src/
+COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./src/bin ./src/bin
+COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ${SETTINGS} "${EP_DIR}"/settings.json
+
+RUN { [ -z "${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}" ] || \
+      pnpm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}; } && \
+    src/bin/installDeps.sh
+
+FROM build as production
+
+# By default, Etherpad container is built and run in "production" mode. This is
+# leaner (development dependencies are not installed) and runs faster (among
+# other things, assets are minified & compressed).
+ENV NODE_ENV=production
+ENV ETHERPAD_PRODUCTION=true
+
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./ ./
 
 # Plugins must be installed before installing Etherpad's dependencies, otherwise
@@ -103,7 +113,7 @@ COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./ ./
 # seems to confuse tools such as `npm outdated`, `npm update`, and some ESLint
 # rules.
 RUN { [ -z "${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}" ] || \
-      npm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}; } && \
+      pnpm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}; } && \
     src/bin/installDeps.sh && \
     rm -rf ~/.npm
 
@@ -111,15 +121,14 @@ RUN { [ -z "${ETHERPAD_PLUGINS}" ] || \
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ${SETTINGS} "${EP_DIR}"/settings.json
 
 # Fix group permissions
-#RUN chmod -R g=u .
+RUN chmod -R g=u .
 
 USER root
-
+RUN cd src && npm link
 USER etherpad
 
-WORKDIR /opt/etherpad-lite
-
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=5s --timeout=3s \
-    CMD curl --silent http://localhost:9001/health | grep -E "pass|ok|up" > /dev/null || exit 1
+  CMD curl --silent http://localhost:9001/health | grep -E "pass|ok|up" > /dev/null || exit 1
+
 EXPOSE 9001
 CMD ["npm", "run", "prod", "--prefix", "./src"]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da7d8c3bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+version: "3.8"
+
+# Add this file to extend the docker-compose setup, e.g.:
+# docker-compose build --no-cache
+# docker-compose up -d --build --force-recreate
+
+services:
+  app:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      args:
+        ETHERPAD_PLUGINS:
+      target: development
+    tty: true
+    stdin_open: true
+    volumes:
+      - .:/opt/etherpad-lite
+      - node_modules:/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node_modules
+    depends_on:
+      - postgres
+    environment:
+      NODE_ENV: development
+      ETHERPAD_PRODUCTION: false
+      DB_CHARSET: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_DB_CHARSET:-utf8mb4}
+      DB_HOST: postgres
+      DB_NAME: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_DATABASE:?}
+      DB_PASS: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?}
+      DB_PORT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}
+      DB_TYPE: "postgres"
+      DB_USER: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_USER:?}
+      # For now, the env var DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT cannot be unset or empty; it seems to be mandatory in the latest version of etherpad
+      DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT:- }
+      DISABLE_IP_LOGGING: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_DISABLE_IP_LOGGING:-true}
+      SOFFICE: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_SOFFICE:-null}
+      TRUST_PROXY: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_ENV_TRUST_PROXY:-true}
+    restart: always
+    ports:
+      - "${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_PORT_PUBLISHED:-9001}:${DOCKER_COMPOSE_APP_DEV_PORT_TARGET:-9001}"
+
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:15-alpine
+    # Pass config parameters to the mysql server.
+    # Find more information below when you need to generate the ssl-relevant file your self
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_DB: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_DATABASE:?}
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?}
+      POSTGRES_PORT: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}
+      POSTGRES_USER: ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_POSTGRES_DEV_ENV_POSTGRES_USER:?}
+      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata
+    restart: always
+    # Exposing the port is not needed unless you want to access this database instance from the host.
+    # Be careful when other postgres docker container are running on the same port
+    # ports:
+    #   - "5432:5432"
+    volumes:
+      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata
+
+volumes:
+  postgres_data:
+  node_modules:
\ No newline at end of file