diff --git a/scripts/local-up.sh b/scripts/local-up.sh
index c74d0d2b..987ce697 100755
--- a/scripts/local-up.sh
+++ b/scripts/local-up.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 set -e
 
 # Simple local bring-up helper. Usage:
-#   ./rad/scripts/local-up.sh
+#   ./rad/scripts/local-up.sh [--no-build]
+#
+# Options:
+#   -n, --no-build   Skip rebuilding images (omit `--build` when bringing up compose)
+#   -h, --help       Show this help message
+#
 # It requires rad/.env.dev to exist (do NOT auto-create from examples) and then
 # runs the prod+dev compose stack using COMPOSE_ENV to select the env file.
 
@@ -15,6 +20,26 @@ if [ ! -f .env.dev ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# Parse simple CLI flags. Use --no-build or -n to skip rebuilding docker images.
+NO_BUILD=0
+while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    -n|--no-build)
+      NO_BUILD=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      sed -n '1,40p' "$0"
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Unknown option: $1"
+      echo "Run with --help to see available options."
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
 # Default to 'dev' but allow overriding with COMPOSE_ENV environment variable
 COMPOSE_ENV=${COMPOSE_ENV:-dev}
 
@@ -98,4 +123,8 @@ else
   fi
 fi
 
-COMPOSE_ENV=$COMPOSE_ENV docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.prod.yml -f docker/docker-compose.dev.yml up --build
+if [ "$NO_BUILD" -eq 1 ]; then
+  COMPOSE_ENV=$COMPOSE_ENV docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.prod.yml -f docker/docker-compose.dev.yml up
+else
+  COMPOSE_ENV=$COMPOSE_ENV docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.prod.yml -f docker/docker-compose.dev.yml up --build
+fi