diff --git a/.env.dist b/.env.dist
index 7b75bd5..456b0c1 100644
--- a/.env.dist
+++ b/.env.dist
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-TAG_VERSION=
\ No newline at end of file
+BUILD_TAG=
+REG_NS= #ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-app
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-images.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-images.yml
index c3a8fc1..fd56198 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-images.yml
@@ -38,11 +38,4 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo $BUILD_TAG
 
-
-          DIMGS="content-unification vocab-configs vocab-fetch"
-          cd services            
-          for dimg in $DIMGS; do
-            echo "Building $REG_NS/$dimg:$BUILD_TAG"
-            docker build -t $REG_NS/$dimg:$BUILD_TAG -f $dimg/Dockerfile .
-            docker push $REG_NS/$dimg:$BUILD_TAG
-          done
+          make docker-push
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5ad928d..8d594f9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ x-logging: &default-logging
     max-file: "3"
 services:
   frontend:
-    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-frontend:${TAG_VERSION}
+    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-frontend:${BUILD_TAG}
     restart: always
     logging: *default-logging
   identifier:
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ services:
   vocab-fetch:
     build:
       context: ./services/vocab-fetch
-    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-app/vocab-fetch:${TAG_VERSION}
+    image: ${REG_NS:-vocabserver_app}/vocab-fetch:${BUILD_TAG}
     volumes:
       - ./data/vocab-fetch:/share
     # Run in dev mode to circument memory limitations
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ services:
   content-unification:
     build:
       context: ./services/content-unification
-    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-app/content-unification:${TAG_VERSION:-latest}
+    image: ${REG_NS:-vocabserver_app}/content-unification:${BUILD_TAG:-latest}
     volumes:
       - ./data/vocab-fetch:/share
     environment:
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ services:
     restart: always
     logging: *default-logging
   webcomponent:
-    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-webcomponent:${TAG_VERSION:-latest}
+    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-webcomponent:${BUILD_TAG:-latest}
   ldes-consumer-manager:
     image: redpencil/ldes-consumer-manager:0.1.0
     environment:
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ services:
   vocab-configs:
     build:
       context: ./services/vocab-configs
-    image: ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-app/vocab-configs:${TAG_VERSION:-latest}
+    image: ${REG_NS:-vocabserver_app}/vocab-configs:${BUILD_TAG:-latest}
     environment:
       MU_APPLICATION_FILE_STORAGE_PATH: "vocab-configs/"
       MODE: "development"
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec6f80f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Note: Ensure variable declarations in makefiles have NO trailing whitespace
+#       This can be achieved by sliding in the # comment-sign directly after the value
+
+include .env
+
+PROJECT := "vocabserver-app"#              - this project
+TIME_TAG := $(shell date +%s)#  - the unix epoch
+BUILD_TAG ?= ${TIME_TAG}#       - provide the BUILD_TAG in the environment, or fallback to time
+REG_NS ?= "vocabserver-app"#               - allow the namespace to be overridden to e.g. ghcr.io/vlizbe/vocabserver-app
+DIMGS="content-unification vocab-configs vocab-fetch"#        - the list of docker images in docker-compose.yml ready to be pushed
+
+.PHONY: help docker-build docker-push docker-start docker-stop
+.DEFAULT_GOAL := help
+
+
+help:  ## Shows this list of available targets and their effect.
+	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "\033[36m%-30s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'
+
+
+# usage `make BUILD_TAG=0.2 docker-build` to include a specific tag to the build docker images
+docker-build: ## Builds the docker-images as described in the local docker-compose.yml for ${REG_NS} and ${BUILD_TAG}
+	@echo "building all images as described in local docker-compose.yml for registry/namespace=${REG_NS} with tag=${BUILD_TAG}"
+	@env BUILD_TAG=${BUILD_TAG} REG_NS=${REG_NS} bash -c "docker compose build --no-cache"
+	
+
+# usage `make REG_NS=ghcr.io/vliz-be-opsci/kgap docker-build` to push images to github-container-registry
+docker-push: docker-build ## Builds, then pushes the docker-images to ${REG_NS}
+	@echo "pushing docker images tagged=${BUILD_TAG} to registry/namespace=${REG_NS}"
+ifeq ($(shell echo ${REG_NS} | egrep '.+/.+'),)  # the 'shell' call is essential
+# empty match indicates no registry-part is available to push to
+	@echo "not pushing docker images if no / between non-empty parts in REG_NS=${REG_NS}"
+	@exit 1
+else
+# note the double $$ on dn distinction between makefile and shell var expansion
+	@for dn in "${DIMGS}"; do \
+		docker push ${REG_NS}/${PROJECT}_$${dn}:${BUILD_TAG}; \
+	done;
+endif
+
+
+docker-start:  ## Launches local-named variants of the containers/images in docker-compose.yml
+	@echo "launching docker-stack for local test with default names and tags"
+	@mkdir -p ./data/
+	@mkdir -p ./notebooks/
+	@docker compose -p ${PROJECT} up -d
+
+
+docker-stop:  ## Stops local-named variants of those containers
+	@echo "shutting down docker-stack from docker-start"
+	@docker compose -p ${PROJECT} down
+
+
+docker-clean:  ## Helps (interactively) to cleanup containers and images linked to this project
+	@./docker_clean.sh ${PROJECT}
\ No newline at end of file