diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..688ba129
--- /dev/null
+++ b/justfile
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# A justfile for dex-explorer development.
+# Documents common tasks for local dev.
+
+# build container image
+container:
+  podman build -f Containerfile .
diff --git a/src/utils/indexer/connector.tsx b/src/utils/indexer/connector.tsx
index e7b86274..3c226853 100644
--- a/src/utils/indexer/connector.tsx
+++ b/src/utils/indexer/connector.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,19 @@ export class IndexerQuerier {
   private pool: Pool;
 
   constructor(connectionString: string) {
-    this.pool = new Pool({ connectionString });
+    const dbConfig = {
+      connectionString: connectionString,
+      // If a CA certificate was specified as an env var, pass that info to the database config.
+      // Be advised that if CA_CERT is set, then PENUMBRA_INDEXER_ENDPOINT must *lack* an `sslmode` param!
+      // This is documented here: https://node-postgres.com/features/ssl#usage-with-connectionstring
+      ...(process.env.CA_CERT != null && {
+        ssl: {
+            rejectUnauthorized: true,
+            ca: process.env.CA_CERT,
+          },
+      }),
+    };
+    this.pool = new Pool(dbConfig);
   }
 
   /**