diff --git a/thoughts/test-docker-build.sh b/thoughts/test-docker-build.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2745088
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thoughts/test-docker-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+echo "🧪 Testing Docker build with cargo-watch 8.4.0..."
+echo ""
+
+cd backend
+
+echo "📋 Step 1: Clean up old containers and images..."
+docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml down 2>/dev/null || true
+docker rmi normogen-backend-dev 2>/dev/null || true
+echo "✓ Cleanup complete"
+echo ""
+
+echo "📋 Step 2: Building Docker image (this will take a few minutes)..."
+docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml build --no-cache
+
+echo ""
+echo "✓ Build complete!"
+echo ""
+
+echo "📋 Step 3: Starting services..."
+docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d
+
+echo ""
+echo "📋 Step 4: Waiting for services to be ready..."
+sleep 5
+
+echo ""
+echo "📋 Step 5: Checking service status..."
+docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml ps
+
+echo ""
+echo "📋 Step 6: Showing backend logs..."
+docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml logs --tail=20 backend
+
+echo ""
+echo "✅ Done! Server should be running on http://localhost:6800"
+echo ""
+echo "To view logs: docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml logs -f backend"
+echo "To stop: docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml down"