diff --git a/.devcontainer/.env.example b/.devcontainer/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..013c45ba3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# When running devcontainers, you can specify if docker & docker-compose should be installed in your environment 
+INSTALL_DOCKER=false
diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 4622b4e5b1..d7ef14c02f 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 FROM node:18-bullseye
 
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y sudo
-RUN useradd -m -s /bin/bash vscode && echo "vscode ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/vscode
-RUN mkdir -p /workspaces && chown -R vscode:vscode /workspaces
-WORKDIR /workspaces
+ARG INSTALL_DOCKER="false"
+ENV INSTALL_DOCKER=${INSTALL_DOCKER}
 
-# Install Docker and Docker Compose
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release && \
-    curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg && \
-    echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null && \
-    apt-get update && \
-    apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin
+# Install Docker and Docker Compose only if INSTALL_DOCKER is "true"
+RUN if [ "$INSTALL_DOCKER" = "true" ]; then \
+        apt-get update && \
+        apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release && \
+        curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg && \
+        echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null && \
+        apt-get update && \
+        apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin; \
+    fi
+
+# Set up non-root user
+RUN useradd -m -s /bin/bash vscode
+RUN if [ "$INSTALL_DOCKER" = "true" ]; then usermod -aG docker vscode; fi
 
 USER vscode
+
+WORKDIR /workspaces
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 389e181070..07fb45e075 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -5,17 +5,19 @@
   "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces",
   "customizations": {
     "vscode": {
-      "extensions": ["ms-azuretools.vscode-docker"],
-      "settings": {
-        "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "bash"
-      }
+      "extensions": ["ms-azuretools.vscode-docker"]
     }
   },
-  "postCreateCommand": "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose",
   "features": {
-    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
-    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {}
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {
+      "version": "latest",
+      "moby": true,
+      "dockerDashComposeVersion": "v2"
+    }
   },
   "remoteUser": "vscode",
-  "forwardPorts": [3080, 27017, 7700]
+  "postCreateCommand": "sudo chown -R vscode:vscode /workspaces && if [ \"$CODESPACES\" = \"true\" ]; then sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin; fi",
+  "remoteEnv": {
+    "INSTALL_DOCKER": "${localEnv:INSTALL_DOCKER:false}"
+  }
 }
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
index 825f26a60e..1d0b06cba2 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ version: "3.8"
 
 services:
   app:
-    build:
+    build: 
       context: ..
       dockerfile: .devcontainer/Dockerfile
+      args:
+        - INSTALL_DOCKER=${INSTALL_DOCKER:-false}
     # restart: always
     links:
       - mongodb
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ services:
     user: vscode
 
     # Overrides default command so things don't shut down after the process ends.
-    command: /bin/sh -c "while sleep 1000; do :; done"  
+    command: /bin/sh -c "while sleep 1000; do :; done"
 
   mongodb:
     container_name: chat-mongodb