diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bf4bb5f2a7..c591aad2cc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -56,5 +56,3 @@ public/css/main*
 webpack-bundle-stats.html
 server/rev-manifest.json
 google-credentials.json
-
-docker-compose.yml
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 988e0ae1de..d38f2a307f 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -288,26 +288,30 @@ node seed
 npm run develop
 ```
 
-### Setup freeCodeCamp via Docker
+### Setup freeCodeCamp using Docker
+#### Isolated
+Use this if you just want to work on freeCodeCamp.
 
-You need to have [docker](https://docs.docker.com/install/) and [docker-compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) installed before executing commands below.
+You will need to have [docker](https://docs.docker.com/install/) and [docker-compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) installed before executing the commands below.
 
-Create docker-compose.yml from sample file
+Setup:
 ```bash
-cp sample.docker-compose.yml docker-compose.yml
+docker-compose run --rm freecodecamp npm install
+docker-compose run --rm freecodecamp npm run only-once
 ```
 
-Setup and run project:
+Run:
 ```bash
-# Setup project
-docker-compose run --rm node npm install
-docker-compose run --rm node npm run only-once
-```
-```bash
-# Run project
 docker-compose up
 ```
 
+#### Shared
+Use this if you want to work on other services that will run alongside
+of freeCodeCamp, using the  database directly. An example is the [open-api](https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/open-api) project.
+
+```bash
+docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-shared.yml up
+```
 
 ### Make Changes
 
diff --git a/docker-compose-shared.yml b/docker-compose-shared.yml
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..dfffca2735
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose-shared.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Docker Compose over ride file for FreeCodeCamp
+#
+# Run with:
+#   docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose-shared.yml up
+#
+version: "3"
+services:
+    db:
+        networks:
+            - shared
+    mailhog:
+        networks:
+            - shared
+    freecodecamp:
+        networks:
+            - shared
+
+networks: # Used by by other projects like open-api
+    shared:
+        driver: bridge
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43d6452dac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Docker Compose file for FreeCodeCamp
+#
+# Bootstrap with:
+#   docker-compose run --rm server npm install
+#   docker-compose run --rm server npm run only-once
+#
+# Run with:
+#   docker-compose up
+#
+version: "3"
+services:
+    freecodecamp:
+        image: node:8.9.4
+        depends_on:
+            - db
+            - mailhog
+        environment:
+            - MAILHOG_HOST=mailhog
+            - MONGOHQ_URL=mongodb://db:27017/freecodecamp
+        volumes:
+            - .:/app
+        working_dir: /app
+        command:
+            - npm
+            - run
+            - develop
+        ports:
+            - "3000:3000"
+    db:
+        image: mongo:3.2.6
+        ports:
+            - "27017:27017"
+    mailhog:
+        image: mailhog/mailhog
+        ports:
+            - "1025:1025"
+            - "8025:8025"
diff --git a/sample.docker-compose.yml b/sample.docker-compose.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index bed671423f..0000000000
--- a/sample.docker-compose.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-# Docker Compose sample file for freeCodeCamp
-# Copy this file to docker-compose.yml
-#
-# Bootstrap with:
-#   docker-compose run --rm node npm install
-#   docker-compose run --rm node npm run only-once
-#
-# Run with:
-#   docker-compose up
-#
-version: "3"
-services:
-  node:
-    image: node:8.9.4
-    volumes:
-      - .:/app
-    working_dir: /app
-    depends_on:
-      - mongo
-    ports:
-      - "3000:3000"
-      - "3002:3002"
-    environment:
-      - MONGOHQ_URL=mongodb://mongo:27017/freecodecamp
-    command: npm run develop
-
-  mongo:
-    image: mongo:3.0.15
-
-  mailhog:
-    image: mailhog/mailhog
diff --git a/sample.env b/sample.env
index 2d4f82a7ad..b2bae1d2ad 100644
--- a/sample.env
+++ b/sample.env
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=freecodecamp
 MONGOHQ_URL='mongodb://localhost:27017/freecodecamp'
 
 OPBEAT_FRONTEND_ORG_ID=stuff
diff --git a/server/datasources.development.js b/server/datasources.development.js
index 2239ded02c..1c52e784b8 100644
--- a/server/datasources.development.js
+++ b/server/datasources.development.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ if (!process.env.SES_ID) {
     connector: 'mail',
     transport: {
       type: 'smtp',
-      host: 'localhost',
+      host: process.env.MAILHOG_HOST || 'localhost',
       secure: false,
       port: 1025,
       tls: {
@@ -26,4 +26,5 @@ if (!process.env.SES_ID) {
 } else {
   debug('using AWS SES to deliver emails');
 }
+
 module.exports = ds;