diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8b310580..45919def 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.7-labs
 # Start from a base image with Miniconda installed
 FROM continuumio/miniconda3
 
@@ -9,14 +10,36 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 # Set the working directory in the container
 WORKDIR /backend-api
 
-# Copy the current directory contents and the Conda environment file into the container
-COPY . .
-
 # Create the environment from the environment.yml file
+COPY environment.yml ./
 RUN conda env create -f environment.yml
 
 # Make RUN commands use the new environment
 SHELL ["conda", "run", "-n", "backend-api", "/bin/bash", "-c"]
 
+# Copy Optional wheels directory and handle wheel installation (for utilizing local hummingbot version)
+COPY --parents wheels* . 
+
+# Optionally install local Hummingbot wheel if present - use the latest wheel only
+RUN if [ -n "$(find wheels/ -name 'hummingbot-*.whl' 2>/dev/null)" ]; then \
+    echo "Installing local Hummingbot wheel..." && \
+    LATEST_WHEEL=$(find wheels/ -name 'hummingbot-*.whl' | sort -r | head -n1) && \
+    echo "Using wheel: $LATEST_WHEEL" && \
+    pip install --force-reinstall $LATEST_WHEEL && \
+    echo "Local Hummingbot wheel installed successfully"; \
+    else \
+    echo "No local Hummingbot wheel found, using version from environment.yml"; \
+    fi
+
+# Copy the current directory contents and the Conda environment file into the container
+COPY main.py models.py config.py LICENSE README.md ./
+COPY utils/ utils/
+COPY routers/ routers/
+COPY services/ services/
+
+COPY bots/controllers bots/credentials bots/scripts bots/__init__.py bots/
+
+# Add any other specific directories or files needed
+
 # The code to run when container is started
 ENTRYPOINT ["conda", "run", "--no-capture-output", "-n", "backend-api", "uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b608e236..c50e92df 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 .PHONY: install-pre-commit
 .PHONY: docker_build
 .PHONY: docker_run
+.PHONY: reference-local-hummingbot
 
 
 detect_conda_bin := $(shell bash -c 'if [ "${CONDA_EXE} " == " " ]; then \
@@ -44,7 +45,11 @@ install-pre-commit:
 	fi && pre-commit install'
 
 docker_build:
-	docker build -t hummingbot/backend-api:latest .
+	docker build -t hummingbot/backend-api$(TAG) .
 
 docker_run:
 	docker compose up -d
+
+# See reference_local_hummingbot.sh for available options
+reference-local-hummingbot:
+	bash ./scripts/reference_local_hummingbot.sh $(if $(force-repackage),--force-repackage,) $(if $(build-env),--build-env=$(build-env),) $(ARGS)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/reference_local_hummingbot.sh b/scripts/reference_local_hummingbot.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..9fd35038
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/reference_local_hummingbot.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Script to build, copy and install a Python wheel package from a source directory to a destination directory
+
+print_usage() {
+    echo "Usage: $0 [OPTIONS]"
+    echo "Options:"
+    echo "  --force-repackage           Force rebuilding the wheel package"
+    echo "  --source-dir=DIR            Source directory containing the Python package (default: ../hummingbot)"
+    echo "  --dest-dir=DIR              Destination directory for the wheel file (default: ./wheels)"
+    echo "  --package-name=NAME         Name of the package to build (default: hummingbot)"
+    echo "  --conda-env=NAME            Conda environment to install into (required if not in environment.yml or .env)"
+    echo "  --build-env=NAME            Conda environment to build the package in (default: hummingbot)"
+    echo "  --help                      Show this help message"
+    echo ""
+    echo "When called from Makefile, you can use this format for arguments not in the makefile:"
+    echo "make reference-local-hummingbot ARGS=\"--force-repackage --source-dir=DIR ...\""
+}
+
+# Default values
+FORCE_REPACKAGE=false
+SOURCE_DIR=""
+DEST_DIR=""
+PACKAGE_NAME="hummingbot"
+CONDA_ENV=""
+BUILD_ENV="hummingbot"
+
+# Get current working directory
+CWD="$(pwd)"
+
+# Parse arguments
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    case $1 in
+        --force-repackage)
+            FORCE_REPACKAGE=true
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --source-dir=*)
+            SOURCE_DIR="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --dest-dir=*)
+            DEST_DIR="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --package-name=*)
+            PACKAGE_NAME="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --conda-env=*)
+            CONDA_ENV="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --build-env=*)
+            BUILD_ENV="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --help)
+            print_usage
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Unknown option: $1"
+            print_usage
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+# Extract conda environment name from environment.yml
+if [ -z "$CONDA_ENV" ] && [ -f "$CWD/environment.yml" ]; then
+    CONDA_ENV=$(grep "^name:" "$CWD/environment.yml" | cut -d ":" -f2 | tr -d " ")
+fi
+
+# If not found in environment.yml, try .env file
+if [ -z "$CONDA_ENV" ] && [ -f "$CWD/.env" ]; then
+    CONDA_ENV=$(grep "^CONDA_ENV=" "$CWD/.env" | cut -d "=" -f2 | tr -d '"' | tr -d "'" | tr -d " ")
+fi
+
+# If still not found, throw an error
+if [ -z "$CONDA_ENV" ]; then
+    echo "Error: Conda environment name not found in environment.yml or .env"
+    echo "Please specify with --conda-env option or add CONDA_ENV to .env file or name to environment.yml"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Set default paths if not provided
+if [ -z "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
+    SOURCE_DIR="../$PACKAGE_NAME"
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$DEST_DIR" ]; then
+    DEST_DIR="./wheels"
+fi
+
+# Convert to absolute paths if relative
+if [[ ! "$SOURCE_DIR" = /* ]]; then
+    SOURCE_DIR="$CWD/$SOURCE_DIR"
+fi
+
+if [[ ! "$DEST_DIR" = /* ]]; then
+    DEST_DIR="$CWD/$DEST_DIR"
+fi
+
+# Create wheels directory if it doesn't exist
+mkdir -p "$DEST_DIR"
+
+# Check for existing wheel in source directory
+cd "$SOURCE_DIR" || { echo "Error: Could not change to source directory: $SOURCE_DIR"; exit 1; }
+EXISTING_WHEEL=$(ls "dist/$PACKAGE_NAME-"*.whl 2>/dev/null)
+if [ -n "$EXISTING_WHEEL" ] && [ "$FORCE_REPACKAGE" = false ]; then
+    echo "Found existing wheel: $EXISTING_WHEEL"
+    WHEEL_FILE="$EXISTING_WHEEL"
+else
+    if [ -n "$EXISTING_WHEEL" ]; then
+        echo "Force repackage requested, rebuilding wheel..."
+        rm -f "$EXISTING_WHEEL"
+        echo "Removed existing wheel: $EXISTING_WHEEL"
+    fi
+
+    # Build wheel
+    echo "Building $PACKAGE_NAME wheel in conda environment '$BUILD_ENV'..."
+    conda run -n $BUILD_ENV python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
+
+    # Find the wheel file
+    WHEEL_FILE=$(ls "dist/$PACKAGE_NAME-"*.whl 2>/dev/null)
+    if [ -z "$WHEEL_FILE" ]; then
+        echo "Error: No wheel file found in dist directory"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
+# Get the wheel filename without path
+WHEEL_FILENAME=$(basename "$WHEEL_FILE")
+
+# Check if there's already a matching wheel file in the destination directory
+LOCAL_WHEEL_FILE="$DEST_DIR/$WHEEL_FILENAME"
+if [ -f "$LOCAL_WHEEL_FILE" ]; then
+    # Calculate hashes for both files
+    SOURCE_HASH=$(sha256sum "$WHEEL_FILE" | cut -d ' ' -f 1)
+    LOCAL_HASH=$(sha256sum "$LOCAL_WHEEL_FILE" | cut -d ' ' -f 1)
+    
+    # Compare hashes
+    if [ "$SOURCE_HASH" = "$LOCAL_HASH" ]; then
+        if [ -z "$EXISTING_WHEEL" ] || [ "$FORCE_REPACKAGE" = true ]; then
+            echo "Existing local $LOCAL_WHEEL_FILE already matches generated $WHEEL_FILE"
+        else
+            echo "Existing local $LOCAL_WHEEL_FILE already matches existing $WHEEL_FILE"
+        fi
+        echo "Skipping installation as files are identical."
+        exit 0
+    else
+        echo "Local wheel exists but has different hash, will update..."
+    fi
+fi
+
+# Copy wheel to destination directory
+echo "Copying $(basename "$WHEEL_FILE") to wheels directory..."
+cp "$WHEEL_FILE" "$DEST_DIR/"
+WHEEL_FILE="$DEST_DIR/$(basename "$WHEEL_FILE")"
+
+# Install new wheel
+echo "Installing $(basename "$WHEEL_FILE") into conda environment '$CONDA_ENV'..."
+conda run -n $CONDA_ENV pip install --force-reinstall "$WHEEL_FILE"
+
+echo -e "\nSuccessfully installed $(basename "$WHEEL_FILE") into conda environment '$CONDA_ENV'"