diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3d51f0a5a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# arm + amd compatible Dockerfile
+FROM ghcr.io/findy-network/findy-base:indy-1.16.ubuntu-18.04 AS indy-base
+
+FROM ubuntu:18.04
+
+# install indy deps and files from base
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libsodium23 libssl1.1 libzmq5 git zsh
+
+COPY --from=indy-base /usr/include/indy /usr/include/indy
+COPY --from=indy-base /usr/lib/libindy.a /usr/lib/libindy.a
+COPY --from=indy-base /usr/lib/libindy.so /usr/lib/libindy.so
+
+RUN apt-get install -y curl python3 build-essential ca-certificates && \
+  curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | bash && \
+  export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm" && \
+  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" && \
+  nvm install v16 && \
+  npm install yarn -g
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.env b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b31a5ab62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.env
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#
+# Any environment variables that the container needs
+# go in here.
+#
+# Example(s)
+# GENESIS_TXN_PATH=/work/network/genesis/local-genesis.txn
+#
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1728c1a7cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
+  },
+  "runArgs": ["--env-file", ".devcontainer/devcontainer.env"],
+  "workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/work,type=bind",
+  "workspaceFolder": "/work"
+}
diff --git a/DEVREADME.md b/DEVREADME.md
index cea95a96da..73550b193e 100644
--- a/DEVREADME.md
+++ b/DEVREADME.md
@@ -2,6 +2,20 @@
 
 This file is intended for developers working on the internals of the framework. If you're just looking how to get started with the framework, see the [docs](./docs)
 
+# Environment Setup
+
+## VSCode devContainer
+
+This project comes with a [.devcontainer](./devcontainer) to make it as easy as possible to setup your dev environment and begin contributing to this project.
+
+All the [environment variables](https://code.visualstudio.com/remote/advancedcontainers/environment-variables) noted below can be added to [devcontainer.env](./devcontainer.env) and exposed to the development docker container.
+
+When running in a container your project root directory will be `/work`. Use this to correctly path any environment variables, for example:
+
+```console
+GENESIS_TXN_PATH=/work/network/genesis/local-genesis.txn
+```
+
 ## Running tests
 
 Test are executed using jest. Some test require either the **mediator agents** or the **ledger** to be running. When running tests that require a connection to the ledger pool, you need to set the `TEST_AGENT_PUBLIC_DID_SEED` and `GENESIS_TXN_PATH` environment variables.