diff --git a/.dev/docker-compose.tests.yaml b/.dev/docker-compose.tests.yaml
index 9558f9d389..4e45a78809 100644
--- a/.dev/docker-compose.tests.yaml
+++ b/.dev/docker-compose.tests.yaml
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-version: "3.9"
-
 services:
   leantime-dev:
     volumes:
-      - "../:/var/www/html"
-      - "./xdebug.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini"
-      - "./error_reporting.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/error_reporting.ini"
-      - ${PWD}/test.env:/var/www/html/config/.env
+      - "${PWD}:/var/www/html"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/xdebug.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/error_reporting.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/error_reporting.ini"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/test.env:/var/www/html/config/.env"
+
   db:
     environment:
       MYSQL_DATABASE: leantime_test
diff --git a/.dev/docker-compose.tools.yaml b/.dev/docker-compose.tools.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7283f14a56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dev/docker-compose.tools.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+x-tool-service: &tool-service
+  profiles: ["tools"]
+  working_dir: "/app"
+  volumes:
+    - "${PWD}:/app"
+
+services:
+  composer:
+    <<: *tool-service
+    image: composer
+    container_name: leantime-composer
+    environment:
+      COMPOSER_IGNORE_PLATFORM_REQS: 1
+
+  php:
+    profiles: ["tools"]
+    build: .
+    container_name: leantime-php
+    working_dir: "/var/www/html"
+    volumes:
+      - "${PWD}:/var/www/html"
+      - "./xdebug.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini"
+      - "./error_reporting.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/error_reporting.ini"
+
+  npm:
+    <<: *tool-service
+    container_name: leantime-npm
+    image: node:lts-alpine
+    entrypoint: ["npm"]
+
+  npx:
+    <<: *tool-service
+    container_name: leantime-npx
+    image: node:lts-alpine
+    entrypoint: ["npx"]
+
+  selenium:
+    <<: *tool-service
+    container_name: leantime-selenium
+    image: selenium/standalone-firefox:latest
+    ports:
+      - "4444:4444"
+      - "7900:7900"
+
+  codeception:
+    <<: *tool-service
+    container_name: leantime-codeception
+    depends_on:
+      - selenium
+    image: codeception/codeception:latest
diff --git a/.dev/docker-compose.yaml b/.dev/docker-compose.yaml
index 3db55eb738..e38de957d4 100644
--- a/.dev/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/.dev/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,23 +1,24 @@
-version: "3.9"
 networks:
   leantime:
-      external: false
-      driver: bridge
+    external: false
+    driver: bridge
+
 volumes:
   mysql:
   s3ninja-data:
 
 services:
   leantime-dev:
+    container_name: leantime-dev
     privileged: true
     build: .
     ports:
-      - "8090:8080"
+      - "127.0.0.1:8090:8080"
     volumes:
-     - "../:/var/www/html"
-     - "./xdebug.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini"
-     - "./error_reporting.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/error_reporting.ini"
-     - ".env:/var/www/html/config/.env"
+      - "${PWD}:/var/www/html"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/xdebug.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/error_reporting.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/error_reporting.ini"
+      - "${PWD}/.dev/.env:/var/www/html/config/.env"
     extra_hosts:
       - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
     depends_on:
@@ -25,8 +26,10 @@ services:
         condition: service_healthy
     networks:
       - leantime
+
   db:
     image: mysql:8.0
+    container_name: db
     ports:
       - 3306:3306
     environment:
@@ -43,8 +46,10 @@ services:
       interval: 5s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 20
+
   maildev:
     image: maildev/maildev
+    container_name: maildev
     environment:
       - MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=465
       - MAILDEV_WEB_PORT=8081
@@ -52,8 +57,10 @@ services:
       - 8081:8081
     networks:
       - leantime
+
   phpmyadmin:
     image: phpmyadmin
+    container_name: phpmyadmin
     ports:
       - 8082:80
     environment:
@@ -61,8 +68,10 @@ services:
       - PMA_PORT=3306
     networks:
       - leantime
+
   s3ninja:
     image: scireum/s3-ninja
+    container_name: s3ninja
     ports:
       - 8083:9000
     networks:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3fb03ccb01..6f2b01ef56 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ There are two ways to install a development setup of LeanTime. The first (but mo
 
 #### Development Installation via Docker ####
 
-For development, we use a dockerized development environment. You will need to have ``docker``, ``docker compose``, ``make``, ``composer``, ``git`` and ``npm`` installed.
+For development, we use a dockerized development environment. You will need to have ``docker``, ``docker compose``, and ``make`` installed.
 
 * Notes for Windows Environments:
     - Run all commands within the git bash terminal in order to utilize unix specific commands
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 0d843b4e64..834fa719d2 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -1,23 +1,49 @@
+export COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=leantime-make
+
 VERSION := $(shell grep "appVersion" ./app/Core/AppSettings.php |awk -F' = ' '{print substr($$2,2,length($$2)-3)}')
-TARGET_DIR:= ./target/leantime
-DOCS_DIR:= ./builddocs
-DOCS_REPO:= git@github.com:Leantime/docs.git
-RUNNING_DOCKER_CONTAINERS:= $(shell docker ps -a -q)
-RUNNING_DOCKER_VOLUMES:= $(shell docker volume ls -q)
+TARGET_DIR := ./target/leantime
+DOCS_DIR := ./builddocs
+DOCS_REPO := git@github.com:Leantime/docs.git
+RUNNING_DOCKER_CONTAINERS := $(shell docker compose ps -a -q)
+RUNNING_DOCKER_VOLUMES := $(shell docker volume ls -q)
+UID := $(shell id -u)
+GID := $(shell id -g)
+
+# Base compose file
+COMPOSE_FILES := -f .dev/docker-compose.yaml
+
+# If local docker-compose file exists, add it to the command
+ifneq ("$(wildcard .dev/docker-compose.local.yaml)","")
+	COMPOSE_FILES += " -f .dev/docker-compose.local.yaml"
+endif
+
+# Compose files for tests
+COMPOSE_FILES_TEST := $(COMPOSE_FILES) -f .dev/docker-compose.tests.yaml
+
+# Command aliases for running tools in docker
+run-tool := docker compose -f .dev/docker-compose.tools.yaml run --rm --user "$(UID):$(GID)"
+run-composer := $(run-tool) composer
+run-npx := $(run-tool) npx
+run-npm := $(run-tool) npm
+run-php := $(run-tool) php
+run-codeception := $(run-tool) codeception
+
+# Alias for running SQL against the test database
+run-sql-test := docker compose $(COMPOSE_FILES_TEST) exec -T db mysql -hlocalhost -P3307 -uroot -pleantime -e
 
 install-deps-dev:
-	npm install --only=dev
-	composer install --optimize-autoloader
+	$(run-npm) install --only=dev
+	$(run-composer) install --optimize-autoloader
 
 install-deps:
-	npm install
-	composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
+	$(run-npm) install
+	$(run-composer) install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
 
 build: install-deps
-	npx mix --production
+	$(run-npx) mix --production
 
 build-dev: install-deps-dev
-	npx mix --production
+	$(run-npx) mix --production
 
 package: clean build
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)
@@ -84,7 +110,7 @@ gendocs: # Requires github CLI (brew install gh)
 
 	# Generate the docs
 	phpDocumentor
-	php vendor/bin/leantime-documentor parse app --format=markdown --template=templates/markdown.php --output=builddocs/technical/hooks.md --memory-limit=-1
+	$(run-php) vendor/bin/leantime-documentor parse app --format=markdown --template=templates/markdown.php --output=builddocs/technical/hooks.md --memory-limit=-1
 
 	# create pull request
 	cd $(DOCS_DIR) && git switch -c "release/$(VERSION)"
@@ -96,38 +122,52 @@ gendocs: # Requires github CLI (brew install gh)
 	# Delete the temporary docs directory
 	rm -rf $(DOCS_DIR)
 
-
 clean:
 	rm -rf $(TARGET_DIR)
 
-run-dev: build-dev
-	cd .dev && docker-compose up --build --remove-orphans
+docker-clean:
+	docker compose $(COMPOSE_FILES) down -v
 
-acceptance-test: build-dev
-	php vendor/bin/codecept run Acceptance --steps
+docker-clean-test:
+	docker compose $(COMPOSE_FILES_TEST) down -v
 
-acceptance-test-ci: build-dev
-	php vendor/bin/codecept build
-ifeq ($(strip $(RUNNING_DOCKER_CONTAINERS)),)
-	@echo "No running docker containers found"
-else
-	docker rm -f $(RUNNING_DOCKER_CONTAINERS)
-endif
-ifeq ($(strip $(RUNNING_DOCKER_VOLUMES)),)
-	@echo "No running docker volumes found"
-else
-	docker volume rm $(RUNNING_DOCKER_VOLUMES)
-endif
-	php vendor/bin/codecept run Acceptance --steps
+run-dev: build-dev docker-clean
+	docker compose $(COMPOSE_FILES) up -d --build --remove-orphans
+	make set-folder-permissions
+
+stop-dev:
+	make docker-clean
+
+run-test: build-dev docker-clean-test
+	docker compose $(COMPOSE_FILES_TEST) up -d --build --remove-orphans
+	make set-folder-permissions
+
+stop-test:
+	make docker-clean-test
+
+acceptance-test: run-test create-test-database
+	$(run-php) ./vendor/bin/codecept run Acceptance --steps
+	make stop-test
+
+acceptance-test-ci: run-test create-test-database
+	$(run-codeception) build
+	$(run-codeception) run Acceptance --steps
+	make stop-test
 
 codesniffer:
-	./vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/bin/phpcs app
+	$(run-php) ./vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/bin/phpcs app
 
 codesniffer-fix:
-	./vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/bin/phpcbf app
+	$(run-php) ./vendor/squizlabs/php_codesniffer/bin/phpcbf app
 
-get-version:
-	@echo $(VERSION) 
+create-test-database: run-test
+	$(run-sql-test) "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS leantime_test;"
+	$(run-sql-test) "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS leantime_test; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON leantime_test.* TO 'leantime'@'%'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
 
-.PHONY: install-deps build package clean run-dev
+set-folder-permissions:
+	docker compose exec -T leantime-dev chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/cache/
+
+get-version:
+	@echo $(VERSION)
 
+.PHONY: install-deps build package clean run-dev run-test
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index e697c8a0ed..bf27fb3bf2 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
 
 declare(strict_types=1);
 
-use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\ProcessFailedException;
-use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
-
 // Don't run script unless using the 'run' command
 if (! isset($_SERVER['argv'][1]) || $_SERVER['argv'][1] !== 'run') {
     return;
@@ -26,16 +23,6 @@
      */
     protected static $instance;
 
-    /**
-     * @var Process
-     */
-    protected Process $seleniumProcess;
-
-    /**
-     * @var Process
-     */
-    protected Process $dockerProcess;
-
     /**
      * Get the singleton instance of this class
      *
@@ -54,228 +41,97 @@ public static function getInstance(): self
     /**
      * Start the testing environment
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access public
      * @return void
      */
     public function start(): void
     {
-        $this->startDevEnvironment();
-        $this->setFolderPermissions();
-        $this->createDatabase();
-        $this->startSelenium();
-        $this->createStep('Starting Codeception Testing Framework');
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
      * Destroy the testing environment
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access public
      * @return void
      */
     public function destroy(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Stopping Codeception Testing Framework');
-        $this->stopSelenium();
-        $this->stopDevEnvironment();
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
      * Stop Selenium
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access protected
      * @return void
      */
     protected function stopSelenium(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Stopping Selenium');
-
-        try {
-            $this->seleniumProcess->stop();
-            // we want the script to continue even if failure
-        } catch (Throwable $e) {
-            return;
-        }
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
      * Stop the dev environment
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access protected
      * @return void
      */
     protected function stopDevEnvironment(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Stopping Leantime Dev Environment');
-
-        foreach (
-            [
-                fn () => $this->dockerProcess->stop(),
-                fn () => $this->executeCommand('docker compose down', ['cwd' => DEV_ROOT]),
-            ] as $count => $shutdown
-        ) {
-            try {
-                $shutdown();
-                // we want the script to continue even if failure
-            } catch (Throwable $e) {
-                if ($count === 1) {
-                    return;
-                }
-
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
-     * Start the dev environment
+     * Start the dev environment and set up DB connection
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access protected
      * @return void
      */
     protected function startDevEnvironment(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Build & Start Leantime Dev Environment');
-        $hasLocalOverride = file_exists(DEV_ROOT . 'docker-compose.local.yaml');
-        $this->dockerProcess = $this->executeCommand(
-            array_filter(
-                [
-                    'docker',
-                    'compose',
-                    '-f',
-                    'docker-compose.yaml',
-                    '-f',
-                    'docker-compose.tests.yaml',
-                    $hasLocalOverride ? '-f' : null,
-                    $hasLocalOverride ? 'docker-compose.local.yaml' : null,
-                    'up',
-                    '-d',
-                    '--build',
-                    '--remove-orphans',
-                ]
-            ),
-            [
-                'cwd' => DEV_ROOT,
-                'background' => true,
-                'timeout' => 0,
-            ]
-        );
-
-        $this->dockerProcess->waitUntil(function ($type, $buffer) {
-            if (! isset($started)) {
-                static $started = [
-                    'dev-maildev-1' => false,
-                    'dev-db-1' => false,
-                    'dev-s3ninja-1' => false,
-                    'dev-phpmyadmin-1' => false,
-                    'dev-leantime-dev-1' => false,
-                ];
-            }
-
-            foreach ($started as $container => $status) {
-                if (! $status && strpos($buffer, "Container \"$container\" started") !== false) {
-                    $started[$container] = true;
-                }
-            }
-
-            $this->commandOutputHandler($type, $buffer);
-
-            return ! in_array(false, $started, true);
-        });
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
      * Create the test database
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access protected
      * @return void
      */
     protected function createDatabase(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Creating Test Database');
-        $this->executeCommand(
-            [
-                'docker',
-                'compose',
-                'exec',
-                '-T',
-                'db',
-                'mysql',
-                '-hlocalhost',
-                '-uroot',
-                '-pleantime',
-                '-e',
-                'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS leantime_test;',
-            ],
-            ['cwd' => DEV_ROOT]
-        );
-        $this->executeCommand(
-            [
-                'docker',
-                'compose',
-                'exec',
-                '-T',
-                'db',
-                'mysql',
-                '-hlocalhost',
-                '-uroot',
-                '-pleantime',
-                '-e',
-                'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS leantime_test; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON leantime_test.* TO \'leantime\'@\'%\'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;',
-            ],
-            ['cwd' => DEV_ROOT]
-        );
+        return;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set folder permissions
+     *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
+     * @access protected
+     * @return void
+     */
     protected function setFolderPermissions(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Setting folder permissions on cache folder');
-
-        //Set file permissions
-        $this->executeCommand(
-            array_filter(
-                [
-                    'docker',
-                    'compose',
-                    'exec',
-                    '-T',
-                    'leantime-dev',
-                    'chown',
-                    '-R',
-                    'www-data:www-data',
-                    '/var/www/html/cache/',
-                ]
-            ),
-            [
-                'cwd' => DEV_ROOT,
-            ]
-        );
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
      * Start Selenium
      *
+     * @deprecated We do this in the makefile now
      * @access protected
      * @return void
      */
     protected function startSelenium(): void
     {
-        $this->createStep('Starting Selenium');
-        $this->executeCommand(
-            [
-                'npx',
-                'selenium-standalone',
-                'install',
-            ]
-        );
-        $this->seleniumProcess = $this->executeCommand([
-            'npx',
-            'selenium-standalone',
-            'start',
-        ], ['background' => true]);
-        $this->seleniumProcess->waitUntil(function ($type, $buffer) {
-            $this->commandOutputHandler($type, $buffer);
-            return strpos($buffer, 'Selenium started') !== false;
-        });
+        return;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -292,79 +148,6 @@ protected function createStep(string $message): void
 
         echo "\n$line\n$message\n$line\n";
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Execute a command
-     *
-     * @access protected
-     * @param  string|array $command
-     * @param  array        $args
-     * @param  boolean      $required
-     * @return Process|string
-     */
-    protected function executeCommand(
-        string|array $command,
-        array $args = [],
-        bool $required = true,
-    ): Process|string {
-        $process = is_array($command)
-            ? new Process($command)
-            : Process::fromShellCommandline($command);
-
-        if (isset($args['cwd'])) {
-            $process->setWorkingDirectory($args['cwd']);
-        }
-
-        if (isset($args['timeout'])) {
-            $process->setTimeout($args['timeout']);
-        }
-
-        if (isset($args['options'])) {
-            $process->setOptions($args['options']);
-        }
-
-        if (isset($args['background']) && $args['background']) {
-            $process->start();
-        } else {
-            $process->run(fn ($type, $buffer) => $this->commandOutputHandler($type, $buffer));
-        }
-
-        if (
-            $required
-            && (! isset($args['background']) || ! $args['background'])
-            && ! $process->isSuccessful()
-        ) {
-            throw new ProcessFailedException($process);
-        }
-
-        if (
-            isset($args['getOutput'])
-            && $args['getOutput']
-        ) {
-            if (isset($args['background']) && $args['background']) {
-                throw new RuntimeException('Cannot get output from background process');
-            }
-
-            return $process->getOutput();
-        }
-
-        return $process;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Handle command output
-     *
-     * @access private
-     * @param  string $type
-     * @param  string $buffer
-     * @return void
-     */
-    private function commandOutputHandler(string $type, string $buffer): void
-    {
-        echo Process::ERR === $type
-            ? "\nSTDERR: $buffer"
-            : "\nSTDOUT: $buffer";
-    }
 });
 
 register_shutdown_function(fn () => $bootstrapper::getInstance()->destroy());