diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 8d07dbbc38d..f12588989db 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ env:
   ECR_REPO: '720541322708.dkr.ecr.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medic'
   ECR_PUBLIC_REPO: 'public.ecr.aws/medic'
   COUCHDB_LOG_LEVEL: 'debug'
+  LOG_LEVEL: 'debug'
   TAG: ${{ (github.ref_type == 'tag' && github.ref_name) || '' }}
   BRANCH: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
   BUILD_NUMBER: ${{ github.run_id }}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7579026f49f..4dcb71308c9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
     "build-webapp-dev": "cd webapp && npm run build -- --configuration=development && npm run compile",
     "build-cht-form": "./scripts/build/build-prepare.sh && cd webapp && npm run build:cht-form",
     "copy-api-resources": "cp -r api/src/public/* api/build/static/",
-    "dev-api": "./scripts/build/copy-static-files.sh && (npm run --prefix shared-libs/cht-datasource build-watch & npm run --prefix api run-watch)",
-    "dev-sentinel": "npm run --prefix shared-libs/cht-datasource build-watch & npm run --prefix sentinel run-watch",
+    "dev-api": "export LOG_LEVEL=debug && ./scripts/build/copy-static-files.sh && (npm run --prefix shared-libs/cht-datasource build-watch & npm run --prefix api run-watch)",
+    "dev-sentinel": "export LOG_LEVEL=debug; npm run --prefix shared-libs/cht-datasource build-watch & npm run --prefix sentinel run-watch",
     "local-images": "export VERSION=$(node ./scripts/build/get-version.js) && ./scripts/build/build-service-images.sh && node scripts/build/cli localDockerComposeFiles",
     "update-service-worker": "node scripts/build/cli updateServiceWorker",
     "-- DEV TEST SCRIPTS": "-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------",
diff --git a/scripts/build/helm/templates/api/deployment.yaml b/scripts/build/helm/templates/api/deployment.yaml
index 3d50e406a68..da68bbbe389 100644
--- a/scripts/build/helm/templates/api/deployment.yaml
+++ b/scripts/build/helm/templates/api/deployment.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ spec:
       terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 0
       containers:
         - env:
+            - name: LOG_LEVEL
+              value: '{{ .Values.api.log_level | default "info" }}'
             - name: BUILDS_URL
               value: {{ .Values.upstream_servers.builds_url | default "https://staging.dev.medicmobile.org/_couch/builds_4" }}
             - name: COUCH_URL
diff --git a/scripts/build/helm/templates/sentinel/deployment.yaml b/scripts/build/helm/templates/sentinel/deployment.yaml
index 13a05b91455..03f7479ae79 100644
--- a/scripts/build/helm/templates/sentinel/deployment.yaml
+++ b/scripts/build/helm/templates/sentinel/deployment.yaml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ spec:
     spec:
       containers:
         - env:
+            - name: LOG_LEVEL
+              value: '{{ .Values.sentinel.log_level | default "info" }}'
             - name: API_HOST
               value: api.{{ .Values.namespace }}.svc.cluster.local
             - name: COUCH_URL
diff --git a/scripts/build/helm/tests/integration-k3d-values.yaml.template b/scripts/build/helm/tests/integration-k3d-values.yaml.template
index c14c8fa1fb9..722f7a56197 100644
--- a/scripts/build/helm/tests/integration-k3d-values.yaml.template
+++ b/scripts/build/helm/tests/integration-k3d-values.yaml.template
@@ -27,3 +27,10 @@ local_storage:
   preExistingDiskPath-2: "{{{data_path}}}/srv2"
   preExistingDiskPath-3: "{{{data_path}}}/srv3"
 
+# API log level for integration tests
+api:
+  log_level: "debug"
+
+# Sentinel log level for integration tests
+sentinel:
+  log_level: "debug"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/build/helm/values/base.yaml b/scripts/build/helm/values/base.yaml
index f9d03b654ae..28829c0644e 100644
--- a/scripts/build/helm/values/base.yaml
+++ b/scripts/build/helm/values/base.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ cht_image_tag: "{{cht_image_tag}}" # TEMPLATE: This is a template variable, not
 api:
   service:
     type: ClusterIP # DEFAULT: Good default for internal services
+  log_level: "info" # DEFAULT: Log level for API service
+
+# Sentinel Service configuration
+sentinel:
+  log_level: "info" # DEFAULT: Log level for Sentinel service
 
 # If images are cached, the same image tag will never be pulled twice. For development, this means that it's not
 # possible to upgrade to a newer version of the same branch, as the old image will always be reused.
diff --git a/shared-libs/logger/src/node-logger.js b/shared-libs/logger/src/node-logger.js
index 4488aa17e2b..3744c382d11 100644
--- a/shared-libs/logger/src/node-logger.js
+++ b/shared-libs/logger/src/node-logger.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 const { createLogger, format, transports } = require('winston');
-const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
+// LOG_LEVEL controls logging globally. Defaults to 'info' if not explicitly set.
+const logLevel = process.env.LOG_LEVEL || 'info';
+
 
 const cleanUpErrorsFromSymbolProperties = (info) => {
   if (!info) {
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ module.exports.create = (dateFormat) => createLogger({
   transports: [
     new transports.Console({
       // change level if in dev environment versus production
-      level: env === 'development' ? 'debug' : 'info',
+      level: logLevel,
       format: format.combine(
         // https://github.com/winstonjs/winston/issues/1345
         format(info => {
diff --git a/shared-libs/logger/test/index.spec.js b/shared-libs/logger/test/index.spec.js
index 5cf28b171ed..9426af55782 100644
--- a/shared-libs/logger/test/index.spec.js
+++ b/shared-libs/logger/test/index.spec.js
@@ -123,10 +123,30 @@ describe('node-logger internals', () => {
   });
 
   describe('create', () => {
-    it('uses info level in production environment', () => {
-      nodeLogger.__set__('env', 'production');
-      const logger = nodeLogger.create('YYYY-MM-DD');
+    it('defaults to info level when LOG_LEVEL is not set', () => {
+      const originalLogLevel = process.env.LOG_LEVEL;
+      delete process.env.LOG_LEVEL;
+      const freshLogger = rewire('../src/node-logger');
+      const logger = freshLogger.create('YYYY-MM-DD');
       expect(logger).to.be.ok;
+      expect(freshLogger.__get__('logLevel')).to.equal('info');
+      if (originalLogLevel !== undefined) {
+        process.env.LOG_LEVEL = originalLogLevel;
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('uses LOG_LEVEL when set', () => {
+      const originalLogLevel = process.env.LOG_LEVEL;
+      process.env.LOG_LEVEL = 'debug';
+      const freshLogger = rewire('../src/node-logger');
+      const logger = freshLogger.create('YYYY-MM-DD');
+      expect(logger).to.be.ok;
+      expect(freshLogger.__get__('logLevel')).to.equal('debug');
+      if (originalLogLevel !== undefined) {
+        process.env.LOG_LEVEL = originalLogLevel;
+      } else {
+        delete process.env.LOG_LEVEL;
+      }
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/tests/cht-core-test.override.yml b/tests/cht-core-test.override.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b55d0dd8cf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cht-core-test.override.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+services:
+  api:
+    environment:
+      - "LOG_LEVEL=debug"
+  sentinel:
+    environment:
+      - "LOG_LEVEL=debug"
diff --git a/tests/utils/index.js b/tests/utils/index.js
index 6c854a0b4c6..0e23cfb2aa5 100644
--- a/tests/utils/index.js
+++ b/tests/utils/index.js
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ const CONTAINER_NAMES = {};
 const originalTranslations = {};
 const COUCH_USER_ID_PREFIX = 'org.couchdb.user:';
 const COMPOSE_FILES = ['cht-core', 'cht-couchdb-cluster'];
+const COMPOSE_OVERRIDE_FILE = path.resolve(__dirname, '../cht-core-test.override.yml');
 const PERMANENT_TYPES = [DOC_TYPES.TRANSLATIONS, 'translations-backup', 'user-settings', 'info'];
 const db = new PouchDB(`${constants.BASE_URL}/${constants.DB_NAME}`, { auth });
 const sentinelDb = new PouchDB(`${constants.BASE_URL}/${constants.DB_NAME}-sentinel`, { auth });
@@ -918,6 +919,7 @@ const listenForApi = async () => {
 
 const dockerComposeCmd = (params) => {
   const composeFiles = COMPOSE_FILES.map(file => ['-f', getTestComposeFilePath(file)]).flat();
+  composeFiles.push('-f', COMPOSE_OVERRIDE_FILE);
   params = `docker compose ${composeFiles.join(' ')} -p ${PROJECT_NAME} ${params}`;
 
   return runCommand(params);
@@ -1207,7 +1209,8 @@ const generateComposeFiles = async () => {
     const testComposePath = getTestComposeFilePath(file);
 
     const template = await fs.promises.readFile(templatePath, 'utf-8');
-    await fs.promises.writeFile(testComposePath, mustache.render(template, view));
+    const compiled = mustache.render(template, view);
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(testComposePath, compiled);
   }
 };