diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 2d9d5e73a..8ad46b0e4 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -47,6 +47,16 @@ remove the `SKIP_SETUP` flag to ensure tests run against the latest build.
 * Subsequent runs (no code changes): `SKIP_SETUP=true npm run test:e2e -- --project chromium`
 * Single test by line number: `SKIP_SETUP=true npm run test:e2e -- tests/e2e/repo/commits.spec.ts:90 --project chromium`
 
+**Testing with local radicle-httpd build:**
+
+If you're developing radicle-httpd and want to test changes locally:
+
+    npm run test:e2e:local
+
+This will:
+1. Compile radicle-httpd from the `radicle-httpd/` directory
+2. Run the full test suite against the locally compiled binary
+
 Proposing changes
 -----------------
 When proposing changes via a patch:
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7f89a61a4..2d2bf6932 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     "format": "npx prettier '**/*.@(ts|js|svelte|json|css|html|yml)' --write",
     "test:unit": "TZ='UTC' vitest run",
     "test:e2e": "NODE_CONFIG_ENV='test' TZ='UTC' playwright test",
+    "test:e2e:local": "scripts/compile-local-httpd && USE_LOCAL_HTTPD=true NODE_CONFIG_ENV='test' TZ='UTC' playwright test",
     "test:http-client:unit": "NODE_CONFIG_ENV='test' TZ='UTC' vitest run --config http-client/vite.config.ts --reporter verbose",
     "test:radicle-httpd": "cd radicle-httpd && cargo test --all-features",
     "deploy": "rimraf build && npm clean-install && npm run build && scripts/inject-plausible && npx wrangler deploy"
diff --git a/scripts/compile-local-httpd b/scripts/compile-local-httpd
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..865b921e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/compile-local-httpd
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+echo "🔨 Compiling local radicle-httpd..."
+
+# Ensure radicle-httpd directory exists
+if [ ! -d "radicle-httpd" ]; then
+  echo "❌ radicle-httpd directory not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Compile radicle-httpd (debug build for faster compilation)
+cd radicle-httpd
+cargo build
+cd ..
+
+# Verify binary was created
+if [ ! -f "radicle-httpd/target/debug/radicle-httpd" ]; then
+  echo "❌ Compilation failed - binary not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Create target directory
+mkdir -p tests/tmp/bin/httpd/local
+
+# Copy binary to test location
+cp radicle-httpd/target/debug/radicle-httpd tests/tmp/bin/httpd/local/radicle-httpd
+
+echo "✅ Local radicle-httpd compiled and ready at tests/tmp/bin/httpd/local/radicle-httpd"
diff --git a/tests/support/globalSetup.ts b/tests/support/globalSetup.ts
index a285492b1..b273fdd5d 100644
--- a/tests/support/globalSetup.ts
+++ b/tests/support/globalSetup.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   radicleHttpdRelease,
   removeWorkspace,
   tmpDir,
+  useLocalHttpd,
 } from "@tests/support/support.js";
 import {
   defaultConfig,
@@ -24,12 +25,9 @@ const heartwoodBinaryPath = Path.join(
   "heartwood",
   heartwoodRelease,
 ).trim();
-const httpdBinaryPath = Path.join(
-  tmpDir,
-  "bin",
-  "httpd",
-  radicleHttpdRelease,
-).trim();
+const httpdBinaryPath = useLocalHttpd
+  ? Path.join(tmpDir, "bin", "httpd", "local").trim()
+  : Path.join(tmpDir, "bin", "httpd", radicleHttpdRelease).trim();
 
 process.env.PATH = [
   heartwoodBinaryPath,
@@ -42,14 +40,19 @@ export default async function globalSetup(): Promise<() => void> {
     await assertBinariesInstalled("rad", heartwoodRelease, heartwoodBinaryPath);
     await assertBinariesInstalled(
       "radicle-httpd",
-      radicleHttpdRelease,
+      useLocalHttpd ? "pre-release" : radicleHttpdRelease,
       httpdBinaryPath,
     );
   } catch (error) {
     console.error(error);
     console.log("");
-    console.log("To download the required test binaries, run:");
-    console.log(" 👉 ./scripts/install-binaries");
+    if (useLocalHttpd) {
+      console.log("To compile local radicle-httpd binary, run:");
+      console.log(" 👉 ./scripts/compile-local-httpd");
+    } else {
+      console.log("To download the required test binaries, run:");
+      console.log(" 👉 ./scripts/install-binaries");
+    }
     console.log("");
     process.exit(1);
   }
@@ -62,7 +65,7 @@ export default async function globalSetup(): Promise<() => void> {
   if (shouldSetup) {
     console.log("⚡ Starting parallel setup...");
   } else {
-    console.log("⏭️  Skipping setup (SKIP_SETUP is set)");
+    console.log("⏭️ Skipping setup (SKIP_SETUP is set)");
   }
 
   // Run build and fixture setup in parallel
@@ -162,6 +165,25 @@ export default async function globalSetup(): Promise<() => void> {
     console.log("🚀 Setup complete, ready to run tests");
   }
 
+  // Print binary versions
+  const { execa: exec } = await import("execa");
+  const { stdout: radVersion } = await exec("rad", ["--version"]);
+  const { stdout: gitRemoteRadVersion } = await exec("git-remote-rad", [
+    "--version",
+  ]);
+  const { stdout: httpdVersion } = await exec("radicle-httpd", ["--version"]);
+  // radicle-httpd outputs logging lines, extract just the version line (last line)
+  const httpdVersionClean =
+    httpdVersion.trim().split("\n").pop() || httpdVersion;
+  console.log("");
+  console.log("Binary versions:");
+  console.log(`  rad: ${radVersion.trim()}`);
+  console.log(`  git-remote-rad: ${gitRemoteRadVersion.trim()}`);
+  console.log(
+    `  radicle-httpd: ${httpdVersionClean}${useLocalHttpd ? " (local)" : ""}`,
+  );
+  console.log("");
+
   return async () => {
     await peerManager.shutdown();
   };
diff --git a/tests/support/support.ts b/tests/support/support.ts
index cdc81dfb4..16abe286e 100644
--- a/tests/support/support.ts
+++ b/tests/support/support.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ export const radicleHttpdRelease = (
   await Fs.readFile(`${supportDir}/radicle-httpd-release`, "utf8")
 ).trim();
 
+export const useLocalHttpd = process.env.USE_LOCAL_HTTPD === "true";
+
 // Assert that binaries are installed and are the correct version.
 export async function assertBinariesInstalled(
   binary: string,