diff --git a/backend/build.gradle.kts b/backend/build.gradle.kts
index 1dbda667a..f125a61d3 100644
--- a/backend/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/backend/build.gradle.kts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ dependencyManagement {
 }
 
 dependencies {
-  runtimeOnly("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools:$springVersion")
+  developmentOnly("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools")
   implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa:$springVersion")
   implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-rest:$springVersion")
   implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:$springVersion")
@@ -99,4 +99,19 @@ tasks.named<Test>("test") {
   }
 }
 
+// for hot-reload:
+tasks.register<Copy>("getDependencies") {
+  from(sourceSets.main.get().runtimeClasspath)
+  into("runtime/")
+
+  doFirst {
+    val runtimeDir = File("runtime")
+    runtimeDir.deleteRecursively()
+    runtimeDir.mkdir()
+  }
+
+  doLast {
+    File("runtime").deleteRecursively()
+  }
+}
 
diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 0d304fcc7..c6f099b0f 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -35,7 +35,5 @@ sentry.proxy.port=8090
 sentry.traces-sample-rate=1.0
 sentry.environment=production
 sentry.use-git-commit-id-as-release=true
-# Set traces_sample_rate to 1.0 to capture 100%
-# of transactions for performance monitoring.
-# We recommend adjusting this value in production.
+# hot reload:
 spring.devtools.livereload.enabled=true
diff --git a/infra/configurations/backend/application-local.properties b/infra/configurations/backend/application-local.properties
index 8ae3031c2..905e873c1 100644
--- a/infra/configurations/backend/application-local.properties
+++ b/infra/configurations/backend/application-local.properties
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ sentry.enabled=false
 sentry.dsn=
 sentry.traces-sample-rate=1.0
 sentry.environment=localhost
+# hot reload:
+spring.devtools.livereload.enabled=true
diff --git a/infra/docker/app/DockerfileLocalBack b/infra/docker/app/DockerfileLocalBack
index 1b1f78b13..3ee876362 100644
--- a/infra/docker/app/DockerfileLocalBack
+++ b/infra/docker/app/DockerfileLocalBack
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ COPY infra/configurations/backend ./configurations/
 EXPOSE 80
 
 # Run the backend application
-CMD ./gradlew bootRun --args='--spring.profiles.active=local --spring.config.additional-location=/tmp/backend/configurations/'
+CMD (./gradlew -t :bootJar) & ./gradlew bootRun -PskipDownload=true --args='--spring.profiles.active=local --spring.config.additional-location=/tmp/backend/configurations/'