diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b57cc67..8665c16 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -649,8 +649,10 @@ name = "smitebot"
 version = "0.0.0"
 dependencies = [
  "clap",
+ "log",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "simple_logger",
  "tempfile",
  "thiserror",
 ]
diff --git a/smitebot/Cargo.toml b/smitebot/Cargo.toml
index 93ac9ed..39e2c7a 100644
--- a/smitebot/Cargo.toml
+++ b/smitebot/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ workspace = true
 
 [dependencies]
 clap = { version = "4.6", features = ["derive"] }
+log.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
+simple_logger.workspace = true
 thiserror.workspace = true
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/smitebot/README.md b/smitebot/README.md
index d0dcf41..656fa50 100644
--- a/smitebot/README.md
+++ b/smitebot/README.md
@@ -19,6 +19,32 @@ smitebot doctor --aflpp-path ~/AFLplusplus --json
 
 ## Commands
 
+### smitebot build
+
+`smitebot build` builds Smite workload Docker images for manual rebuilds and debugging.
+
+```bash
+smitebot build --target lnd --scenario encrypted_bytes
+smitebot build --target cln --scenario noise --coverage
+smitebot build --target ldk --scenario init --image local/ldk-init:debug --no-cache
+```
+
+Flags:
+
+- `--target`: Workload implementation to build an image for (`lnd`, `cln`, `ldk`, or `eclair`).
+- `--scenario`: Scenario that the image should run.
+- `--coverage`: Build a coverage-instrumented image.
+- `--image`: Use a custom image tag instead of the default tag used by Smite.
+- `--smite-dir`: Path to the Smite repository root. Defaults to the current directory.
+- `--no-cache`: Perform a clean rebuild without using cached Docker layers.
+
+By default, image tags follow the existing Smite convention:
+
+```text
+smite-<target>-<scenario>
+smite-<target>-<scenario>-coverage
+```
+
 ### smitebot doctor
 
 `smitebot doctor` validates host prerequisites before running Smite campaigns.
diff --git a/smitebot/src/commands.rs b/smitebot/src/commands.rs
index 85483bb..2be552a 100644
--- a/smitebot/src/commands.rs
+++ b/smitebot/src/commands.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+pub mod build;
 pub mod doctor;
 
+pub use build::{BuildArgs, BuildCommand};
 pub use doctor::{DoctorArgs, DoctorCommand};
diff --git a/smitebot/src/commands/build.rs b/smitebot/src/commands/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50b0b8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/smitebot/src/commands/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
+//! Docker image builds for Smite workloads.
+//! The command keeps Docker's output visible so rebuild failures are easy to debug.
+
+use std::fmt;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::process::{Command, ExitStatus};
+
+use clap::{Args, ValueEnum};
+
+/// Command handler for `smitebot build`.
+pub struct BuildCommand;
+
+/// CLI arguments for `smitebot build`.
+#[derive(Debug, Args)]
+pub struct BuildArgs {
+    /// Target implementation to build.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    target: WorkloadTarget,
+    /// Scenario binary selected by the workload Dockerfile.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    scenario: String,
+    /// Build the coverage-instrumented Docker image.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    coverage: bool,
+    /// Override the Docker image tag.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    image: Option<String>,
+    /// Path to smite repository root.
+    #[arg(long, default_value = ".")]
+    smite_dir: PathBuf,
+    /// Pass --no-cache to docker build.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    no_cache: bool,
+}
+
+/// Smite workload targets with Dockerfiles under `workloads/`.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, ValueEnum)]
+enum WorkloadTarget {
+    /// Lightning Network Daemon workload.
+    Lnd,
+    /// Core Lightning workload.
+    Cln,
+    /// LDK Node workload.
+    Ldk,
+    /// Eclair workload.
+    Eclair,
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for WorkloadTarget {
+    /// Formats the lowercase target name used in paths and Docker image tags.
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::Lnd => write!(f, "lnd"),
+            Self::Cln => write!(f, "cln"),
+            Self::Ldk => write!(f, "ldk"),
+            Self::Eclair => write!(f, "eclair"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Fully resolved Docker build inputs.
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+struct BuildInputs {
+    /// Docker image tag to produce.
+    image: String,
+    /// Workload Dockerfile selected from `--target` and `--coverage`.
+    dockerfile: PathBuf,
+    /// Smite repository root used as the Docker build context.
+    smite_dir: PathBuf,
+    /// Scenario passed to Docker as `--build-arg SCENARIO=...`.
+    scenario: String,
+    /// Whether Docker should rebuild without using its layer cache.
+    no_cache: bool,
+}
+
+impl BuildInputs {
+    /// Resolves Docker build inputs from parsed CLI arguments.
+    fn from_args(args: &BuildArgs) -> Self {
+        let dockerfile_name = if args.coverage {
+            "Dockerfile.coverage"
+        } else {
+            "Dockerfile"
+        };
+
+        Self {
+            image: args.image.clone().unwrap_or_else(|| {
+                default_workload_image_tag(args.target, &args.scenario, args.coverage)
+            }),
+            dockerfile: args
+                .smite_dir
+                .join("workloads")
+                .join(args.target.to_string())
+                .join(dockerfile_name),
+            smite_dir: args.smite_dir.clone(),
+            scenario: args.scenario.clone(),
+            no_cache: args.no_cache,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl BuildCommand {
+    /// Builds the requested Smite Docker image and returns whether Docker succeeded.
+    pub fn execute(args: &BuildArgs) -> bool {
+        let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(args);
+        if !inputs.dockerfile.exists() {
+            log::error!("Dockerfile not found: {}", inputs.dockerfile.display());
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        log::info!(
+            "building {} with {}",
+            inputs.image,
+            inputs.dockerfile.display()
+        );
+
+        let status = match run_docker_build(&inputs) {
+            Ok(status) => status,
+            Err(e) => {
+                log::error!("failed to run docker build: {e}");
+                return false;
+            }
+        };
+
+        if !status.success() {
+            log::error!("docker build failed with {status}");
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        log::info!("built {}", inputs.image);
+        true
+    }
+}
+
+/// Returns the default image tag used by Smite's manual Docker build flow.
+fn default_workload_image_tag(target: WorkloadTarget, scenario: &str, coverage: bool) -> String {
+    let suffix = if coverage { "-coverage" } else { "" };
+    format!("smite-{target}-{scenario}{suffix}")
+}
+
+/// Runs `docker build`, streaming stdout/stderr directly to the terminal.
+fn run_docker_build(inputs: &BuildInputs) -> std::io::Result<ExitStatus> {
+    let mut command = Command::new("docker");
+    command.arg("build");
+    if inputs.no_cache {
+        command.arg("--no-cache");
+    }
+    command
+        .arg("-t")
+        .arg(&inputs.image)
+        .arg("--build-arg")
+        .arg(format!("SCENARIO={}", inputs.scenario))
+        .arg("-f")
+        .arg(&inputs.dockerfile)
+        .arg(&inputs.smite_dir);
+
+    command.status()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::path::Path;
+
+    fn sample_build_args(target: WorkloadTarget, scenario: &str) -> BuildArgs {
+        BuildArgs {
+            target,
+            scenario: scenario.to_string(),
+            coverage: false,
+            image: None,
+            smite_dir: PathBuf::from("/repo/smite"),
+            no_cache: false,
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn default_workload_image_tag_matches_smite_convention() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            default_workload_image_tag(WorkloadTarget::Lnd, "encrypted_bytes", false),
+            "smite-lnd-encrypted_bytes"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            default_workload_image_tag(WorkloadTarget::Cln, "noise", true),
+            "smite-cln-noise-coverage"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_inputs_use_normal_dockerfile_by_default() {
+        let args = sample_build_args(WorkloadTarget::Ldk, "init");
+        let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(&args);
+
+        assert_eq!(inputs.image, "smite-ldk-init");
+        assert_eq!(
+            inputs.dockerfile,
+            Path::new("/repo/smite/workloads/ldk/Dockerfile")
+        );
+        assert_eq!(inputs.smite_dir, Path::new("/repo/smite"));
+        assert_eq!(inputs.scenario, "init");
+        assert!(!inputs.no_cache);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_inputs_select_expected_dockerfile_for_each_target() {
+        let cases = [
+            (WorkloadTarget::Lnd, "/repo/smite/workloads/lnd/Dockerfile"),
+            (WorkloadTarget::Cln, "/repo/smite/workloads/cln/Dockerfile"),
+            (WorkloadTarget::Ldk, "/repo/smite/workloads/ldk/Dockerfile"),
+            (
+                WorkloadTarget::Eclair,
+                "/repo/smite/workloads/eclair/Dockerfile",
+            ),
+        ];
+
+        for (target, expected_dockerfile) in cases {
+            let args = sample_build_args(target, "noise");
+            let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(&args);
+
+            assert_eq!(inputs.dockerfile, Path::new(expected_dockerfile));
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_inputs_support_coverage_and_custom_image() {
+        let mut args = sample_build_args(WorkloadTarget::Eclair, "encrypted_bytes");
+        args.coverage = true;
+        args.image = Some("local/eclair-eb:debug".to_string());
+        args.no_cache = true;
+
+        let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(&args);
+
+        assert_eq!(inputs.image, "local/eclair-eb:debug");
+        assert_eq!(
+            inputs.dockerfile,
+            Path::new("/repo/smite/workloads/eclair/Dockerfile.coverage")
+        );
+        assert!(inputs.no_cache);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_inputs_use_default_coverage_image_when_not_overridden() {
+        let mut args = sample_build_args(WorkloadTarget::Cln, "noise");
+        args.coverage = true;
+
+        let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(&args);
+
+        assert_eq!(inputs.image, "smite-cln-noise-coverage");
+        assert_eq!(
+            inputs.dockerfile,
+            Path::new("/repo/smite/workloads/cln/Dockerfile.coverage")
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_inputs_preserve_custom_smite_dir() {
+        let mut args = sample_build_args(WorkloadTarget::Lnd, "encrypted_bytes");
+        args.smite_dir = PathBuf::from("/tmp/local-smite");
+
+        let inputs = BuildInputs::from_args(&args);
+
+        assert_eq!(inputs.smite_dir, Path::new("/tmp/local-smite"));
+        assert_eq!(
+            inputs.dockerfile,
+            Path::new("/tmp/local-smite/workloads/lnd/Dockerfile")
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/smitebot/src/main.rs b/smitebot/src/main.rs
index ccf4890..40dc6d1 100644
--- a/smitebot/src/main.rs
+++ b/smitebot/src/main.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use std::process::ExitCode;
 
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 
-use commands::{DoctorArgs, DoctorCommand};
+use commands::{BuildArgs, BuildCommand, DoctorArgs, DoctorCommand};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Parser)]
 #[command(name = "smitebot", version, about = "Smite campaign manager")]
@@ -18,13 +18,18 @@ struct Cli {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Subcommand)]
 enum Commands {
+    /// Build Smite workload Docker images.
+    Build(BuildArgs),
     /// Validate host prerequisites for running Smite campaigns.
     Doctor(DoctorArgs),
 }
 
 fn main() -> ExitCode {
+    simple_logger::init_with_env().expect("Failed to initialize logger");
+
     let cli = Cli::parse();
     let success = match cli.command {
+        Commands::Build(args) => BuildCommand::execute(&args),
         Commands::Doctor(args) => DoctorCommand::execute(&args),
     };