diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 023d98ea27e..6f60a8d67c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -907,6 +907,8 @@ Create a `DOTENV_LOCAL` secret to your HF space with the content of your .env.lo
 
 ## Building
 
+### Local
+
 To create a production version of your app:
 
 ```bash
@@ -917,6 +919,21 @@ You can preview the production build with `npm run preview`.
 
 > To deploy your app, you may need to install an [adapter](https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/adapters) for your target environment.
 
+### Docker Compose
+
+If `.env.local` is not present, remove the volume in `compose.yaml` as follows to avoid errors.
+
+```diff
+-     volumes:
+-      - .env.local:/app/.env.local
+```
+
+Start the app with Docker Compose:
+
+```bash
+docker compose --env-file /dev/null up --build
+```
+
 ## Config changes for HuggingChat
 
 The config file for HuggingChat is stored in the `chart/env/prod.yaml` file. It is the source of truth for the environment variables used for our CI/CD pipeline. For HuggingChat, as we need to customize the app color, as well as the base path, we build a custom docker image. You can find the workflow here.
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a7421ce17c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+services:
+  mongo:
+    image: mongo:latest
+    expose:
+      - 27017
+    networks:
+      - huggingchat-mongo
+    restart: always
+
+  huggingchat:
+    image: chat-ui:latest
+    ports:
+      - "3000:3000"
+    depends_on:
+      - mongo
+    networks:
+      - huggingchat-mongo
+    volumes:
+      - .env.local:/app/.env.local
+    environment:
+      - MONGODB_URL=mongodb://mongo:27017
+    restart: always
+
+networks:
+  huggingchat-mongo:
+    driver: bridge