diff --git a/compose-dev.yml b/compose-dev.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a1b918
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compose-dev.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+services:
+  web:
+    build: .
+    ports:
+      - "3000:3000"
+    environment:
+      - DATABASE_URL=
+      # ORIGIN is only necessary when not using a reverse proxy or hosting that includes https
+      - ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000
+      - SKIP_DB_WAIT=true
+      # Only necessary for externaly hosted databases such as NeonDB
+    volumes:
+    - ./sql:/sql
diff --git a/startup.sh b/startup.sh
index d136da4..ef4e7b9 100644
--- a/startup.sh
+++ b/startup.sh
@@ -29,10 +29,9 @@ run_sql_scripts() {
 echo "Starting AdventureLog"
 
 # Wait for the database to start up
-if (!$SKIP_DB_WAIT); then
+if [ -z "$SKIP_DB_WAIT" ] || [ "$SKIP_DB_WAIT" = "false" ]; then
     wait_for_db
 fi
-wait_for_db
 
 # generate the schema
 # npm run generate