diff --git a/docker/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
similarity index 83%
rename from docker/.dockerignore
rename to .dockerignore
index 67d0e5d4..cb148ae2 100644
--- a/docker/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ coverage.xml
 .gitignore
 .github
 .gitattributes
+.pre-commit-config.yaml
 *.egg-info
 .mypy_cache
 .pytest_cache
 .hypothesis
 build
+docker
+!docker/resources
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index bace8945..9ba06cb5 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM python:3.10.12-slim-bullseye as build_tarball
+FROM python:3.12.2-slim-bullseye AS build_wheel
 
 RUN apt-get update \
     && apt-get install \
@@ -8,24 +8,26 @@ RUN apt-get update \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 COPY ./ /terracotta
-COPY ./docker/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
 WORKDIR /terracotta
 
 RUN python -m pip install --upgrade pip \
-    && python setup.py sdist
+    && python setup.py bdist_wheel
 
 
-FROM python:3.10.12-slim-bullseye
+FROM python:3.12.2-slim-bullseye
 
-COPY --from=build_tarball /terracotta/dist/terracotta-*.tar.gz /terracotta/terracotta.tar.gz
+COPY --from=build_wheel /terracotta/dist/*.whl /terracotta/
 
-RUN pip install --upgrade pip \
-    && pip install psycopg2-binary gunicorn \
-    && pip install /terracotta/terracotta.tar.gz \
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade pip \
+    && pip install --no-cache-dir \
+        $(ls /terracotta/*.whl) \
+        pymysql>=1.0.0 \
+        psycopg2-binary \
+        gunicorn \
     && rm -rf /terracotta
 
-COPY --from=build_tarball /entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
+COPY docker/resources /
 
 ENV TC_SERVER_PORT=5000
 EXPOSE $TC_SERVER_PORT
diff --git a/docker/README.md b/docker/README.md
index 0c53f168..1376a11c 100644
--- a/docker/README.md
+++ b/docker/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Terracotta docker
 
-This directory contains the files to build the Terracotta docker image.
+This directory contains the files to build the Terracotta docker image. This image can be used to serve the tile server.
+It can also be used to connect to a running terracotta tiler and serve the client depending on the value of the environment variable `TERRACOTTA_SERVICE`. By default, the tiler server is started.
 
 ## Build the image
 
@@ -14,12 +15,6 @@ Build using a custom registry, image name and tag:
 $ make build REGISTRY=myregistry.com IMAGE=terracotta TAG=test
 ```
 
-## Start the server (locally)
-
-```bash
-$ docker run -v /path/to/database:/mnt -e TC_DRIVER_PATH=/mnt/db.sqlite -t myregistry.com/terracotta:test
-```
-
 ## Push the image to a registry
 
 Push using the default image name and tag:
@@ -31,3 +26,15 @@ Push using a custom registry, image name and tag:
 ```bash
 $ make push REGISTRY=myregistry.com IMAGE=terracotta TAG=test
 ```
+
+## Start the server (local database)
+
+```bash
+$ docker run -v /path/to/database:/mnt TERRACOTTA_SERVICE=tiler -e TC_DRIVER_PATH=/mnt/db.sqlite myregistry.com/terracotta:test
+```
+
+## Start the client
+
+```bash
+$ docker run -e TERRACOTTA_SERVICE=client -e TERRACOTTA_API_URL=<url to terracotta tiler> myregistry.com/terracotta:test
+```
diff --git a/docker/resources/entrypoint.sh b/docker/resources/entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..64318352
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/resources/entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+DEFAULT_TERRACOTTA_SERVICE="tiler"
+API_SERVICE_KEYWORD="tiler"
+CLIENT_SERVICE_KEYWORD="client"
+
+
+# Validate that environment variables are set
+if [ -z "$TERRACOTTA_SERVICE" ]; then
+  echo "TERRACOTTA_SERVICE is not set. Using default value: $DEFAULT_TERRACOTTA_SERVICE"
+  TERRACOTTA_SERVICE=$DEFAULT_TERRACOTTA_SERVICE
+fi
+
+
+if [ $TERRACOTTA_SERVICE = $API_SERVICE_KEYWORD ]; then
+   ./entrypoint_api.sh
+elif [ $TERRACOTTA_SERVICE = $CLIENT_SERVICE_KEYWORD ]; then
+   ./entrypoint_client.sh
+else
+  echo "TERRACOTTA_SERVICE is not set to a valid value. Exiting."
+  exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/resources/entrypoint_api.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from docker/entrypoint.sh
rename to docker/resources/entrypoint_api.sh
diff --git a/docker/resources/entrypoint_client.sh b/docker/resources/entrypoint_client.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0fdcd83c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/resources/entrypoint_client.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+
+# Validate that environment variables are set
+if [ -z "$TERRACOTTA_API_URL" ]; then
+  echo "TERRACOTTA_API_URL is not set. Exiting."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+
+# Start the server
+gunicorn terracotta.client.client_app:client_app --bind 0.0.0.0:$TC_SERVER_PORT
diff --git a/terracotta/client/client_app.py b/terracotta/client/client_app.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0753611c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/terracotta/client/client_app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import os
+from terracotta.client.flask_api import create_app
+
+TERRACOTTA_API_URL = os.environ["TERRACOTTA_API_URL"]
+
+client_app = create_app(TERRACOTTA_API_URL)