diff --git a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeBuild.swift b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeBuild.swift
index 5abde194..f54a9a79 100644
--- a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeBuild.swift
+++ b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeBuild.swift
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public struct ComposeBuild: AsyncParsableCommand, @unchecked Sendable {
     @OptionGroup
     var logging: Flags.Logging
 
-    private var cwd: String { process.cwd ?? FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath }
+    private var cwd: String { composeFileOptions.effectiveCwd(processCwd: process.cwd) }
 
     private var cwdURL: URL { URL(fileURLWithPath: cwd) }
 
diff --git a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeDown.swift b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeDown.swift
index 30240c65..9a7c1730 100644
--- a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeDown.swift
+++ b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeDown.swift
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public struct ComposeDown: AsyncParsableCommand {
     @OptionGroup
     var process: Flags.Process
 
-    private var cwd: String { process.cwd ?? FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath }
+    private var cwd: String { composeFileOptions.effectiveCwd(processCwd: process.cwd) }
 
     @OptionGroup
     var composeFileOptions: ComposeFileOptions
diff --git a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeFileOptions.swift b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeFileOptions.swift
index e27782af..c69bf5c5 100644
--- a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeFileOptions.swift
+++ b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeFileOptions.swift
@@ -15,10 +15,25 @@
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 import ArgumentParser
+import Foundation
 
 public struct ComposeFileOptions: ParsableArguments, Sendable {
     public init() {}
-    
+
     @Option(name: [.customShort("f"), .customLong("file")], help: "The path to your Docker Compose file")
     public var composeFilename: String?
+
+    @Option(name: .customLong("project-directory"), help: "Specify an alternate working directory")
+    public var projectDirectory: String?
+
+    /// Resolves the effective working directory with priority:
+    ///   1. `projectDirectory` (--project-directory flag)
+    ///   2. `processCwd` (from Flags.Process)
+    ///   3. `FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath` (fallback)
+    public func effectiveCwd(processCwd: String?) -> String {
+        if let dir = projectDirectory {
+            return resolvedPath(for: dir, relativeTo: URL(fileURLWithPath: FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath, isDirectory: true))
+        }
+        return processCwd ?? FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeUp.swift b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeUp.swift
index 3a874f08..44ff9e6c 100644
--- a/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeUp.swift
+++ b/Sources/Container-Compose/Commands/ComposeUp.swift
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public struct ComposeUp: AsyncParsableCommand, @unchecked Sendable {
     @OptionGroup
     var logging: Flags.Logging
 
-    private var cwd: String { process.cwd ?? FileManager.default.currentDirectoryPath }
+    private var cwd: String { composeFileOptions.effectiveCwd(processCwd: process.cwd) }
 
     private var fileManager: FileManager { FileManager.default }
     private var projectName: String?