diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3c4c559378..3bc6a8b3ed 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ FROM golang:1.13-buster AS build-env
 # Install minimum necessary dependencies, build Cosmos SDK, remove packages
 RUN apt update
 RUN apt install -y curl git build-essential
+# debug: for live editting in the image
+RUN apt install -y vim
 
 # Set working directory for the build
 WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/cosmwasm/wasmd
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1a6fccea97..2b75ed786a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,20 +28,25 @@ If you want to deploy a whole cluster, [look at the network scripts](./networks/
 
 ## Dockerized
 
-This is just designed for local testing/CI - DO NOT USE IN PRODUCTION
+We provide a docker image to help with test setups. There are two modes to use it
+
+Build:  `docker build  -t wasmd:manual .`  or pull from dockerhub
 
-Build: `docker build  -t wasmd:manual .`
+### Dev server
 
-Run:
+Bring up a local node with a test account containing tokens
+
+This is just designed for local testing/CI - DO NOT USE IN PRODUCTION
 
 ```sh
 docker volume rm -f wasmd_data
 
 # pass password (one time) as env variable for setup, so we don't need to keep typing it
+# add some addresses that you have private keys for (locally) to give them genesis funds
 docker run --rm -it \
     -e PASSWORD=my-secret-password \
     --mount type=volume,source=wasmd_data,target=/root \
-    wasmd:manual ./setup.sh
+    wasmd:manual ./setup.sh cosmos1pkptre7fdkl6gfrzlesjjvhxhlc3r4gmmk8rs6
 
 # This will start both wasmd and wasmcli rest-server, only wasmcli output is shown on the screen
 docker run --rm -it -p 26657:26657 -p 26656:26656 -p 1317:1317 \
@@ -53,3 +58,37 @@ docker run --rm -it \
     --mount type=volume,source=wasmd_data,target=/root,readonly \
     wasmd:manual ./logs.sh
 ```
+
+### CI
+
+For CI, we want to generate a template one time and save to disk/repo. Then we can start a chain copying the initial state, but not modifying it. This lets us get the same, fresh start every time.
+
+```sh
+# Init chain and pass addresses so they are non-empty accounts
+rm -rf ./template && mkdir ./template
+docker run --rm -it \
+    -e PASSWORD=my-secret-password \
+    --mount type=bind,source=$(pwd)/template,target=/root \
+    wasmd:manual ./setup.sh cosmos1pkptre7fdkl6gfrzlesjjvhxhlc3r4gmmk8rs6
+
+sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ./template
+
+# FIRST TIME
+# bind to non-/root and pass an argument to run.sh to copy the template into /root
+# we need wasmd_data volume mount not just for restart, but also to view logs
+docker volume rm -f wasmd_data
+docker run --rm -it -p 26657:26657 -p 26656:26656 -p 1317:1317 \
+    --mount type=bind,source=$(pwd)/template,target=/template \
+    --mount type=volume,source=wasmd_data,target=/root \
+    wasmd:manual ./run.sh /template
+
+# RESTART CHAIN with existing state
+docker run --rm -it -p 26657:26657 -p 26656:26656 -p 1317:1317 \
+    --mount type=volume,source=wasmd_data,target=/root \
+    wasmd:manual ./run.sh
+
+# view wasmd logs in another shell
+docker run --rm -it \
+    --mount type=volume,source=wasmd_data,target=/root,readonly \
+    wasmd:manual ./logs.sh
+```
diff --git a/docker/run.sh b/docker/run.sh
index f8dcd7e6d0..3e3b6680ff 100644
--- a/docker/run.sh
+++ b/docker/run.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+if test -n "$1"; then
+    # need -R not -r to copy hidden files
+    cp -R "$1/.wasmd" /root
+    cp -R "$1/.wasmcli" /root
+fi
+
 echo Starting Wasmd...
 
 mkdir -p /root/log
-wasmd start --rpc.laddr tcp://0.0.0.0:26657 > /root/log/wasmd.log &
+wasmd start --rpc.laddr tcp://0.0.0.0:26657 >> /root/log/wasmd.log &
 
-sleep 10
+sleep 4
 echo Starting Rest Server...
 
 wasmcli rest-server --laddr tcp://0.0.0.0:1317 --trust-node
diff --git a/docker/setup.sh b/docker/setup.sh
index 1904ac8fb8..bf65ed3eb6 100755
--- a/docker/setup.sh
+++ b/docker/setup.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ PASSWORD=${PASSWORD:-1234567890}
 
 wasmd init --chain-id=testing testing
 (echo $PASSWORD; echo $PASSWORD) | wasmcli keys add validator
-echo $PASSWORD | wasmd add-genesis-account validator 1000000000stake,1000000000validatortoken
+# hardcode the validator account for this instance
+echo $PASSWORD | wasmd add-genesis-account validator 1000000000stake,1000000000cosm
+# (optionally) add a few more genesis accounts
+for addr in "$@"; do
+  wasmd add-genesis-account $addr 1000000000stake,1000000000cosm
+done
+# submit a genesis validator tx
 (echo $PASSWORD; echo $PASSWORD; echo $PASSWORD) | wasmd gentx --name validator
 wasmd collect-gentxs
\ No newline at end of file