diff --git a/.coverage b/.coverage
deleted file mode 100644
index 6b6701342..000000000
Binary files a/.coverage and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d8e071531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
+// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/docker-existing-docker-compose
+{
+    "name": "tapir",
+
+	// Update the 'dockerComposeFile' list if you have more compose files or use different names.
+	// The .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml file contains any overrides you need/want to make.
+	"dockerComposeFile": [
+		"../docker-compose.yml",
+        "docker-compose.dev.override.yml"
+	],
+
+	// The 'service' property is the name of the service for the container that VS Code should
+	// use. Update this value and .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml to the real service name.
+	"service": "web",
+
+	// The optional 'workspaceFolder' property is the path VS Code should open by default when
+	// connected. This is typically a file mount in .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
+	"workspaceFolder": "/app",
+    "remoteUser": "noroot",
+    "shutdownAction": "stopCompose",
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.dev.override.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.dev.override.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e45129bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.dev.override.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+services:
+  web:
+    build:
+      args:
+        UID: 1000
diff --git a/django.Dockerfile b/django.Dockerfile
index 2f2a5a4f9..5c79ca255 100644
--- a/django.Dockerfile
+++ b/django.Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 FROM python:3.13
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
-WORKDIR /app
-COPY . /app
+
+ARG UID=1000
+ARG GID=$UID
+ARG USERNAME=noroot
 
 RUN apt-get update -y  \
     && apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y  \
@@ -9,8 +11,22 @@ RUN apt-get update -y  \
         libldap2-dev  \
         libsasl2-dev  \
         postgresql-client  \
-        postgresql-client-common \
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*  \
-    && pip install poetry  \
-    && poetry install  \
-    && poetry run python manage.py compilemessages
+        postgresql-client-common  \
+        python3-poetry  \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+RUN if [ "$UID" -ne 0 ]; then  \
+      addgroup --gid "$GID" "$USERNAME"  \
+      && adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" --uid "$UID" --gid "$GID" "$USERNAME";  \
+    fi
+
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --chown=$UID:$GID . /app
+# change ownership of the app dir itself
+RUN chown $UID:$GID /app
+
+USER ${UID}:${GID}
+
+RUN poetry config virtualenvs.in-project true
+
+CMD bash -c "poetry install && poetry run python manage.py compilemessages --ignore '.venv' && poetry run python manage.py runserver_plus 0.0.0.0:80"
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 325bc90c4..6c0bc2ff3 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -17,9 +17,8 @@ services:
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: ./django.Dockerfile
-    command: bash -c "poetry install &&
-                      poetry run python manage.py compilemessages --ignore \".venv\" &&
-                      poetry run python manage.py runserver_plus 0.0.0.0:80"
+      args:
+        UID: 0
     volumes:
       - .:/app
     environment: