diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5e7d963ce00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/php:1-8.3-bookworm
+
+# Install MariaDB client and network debug tools
+RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
+    && apt-get install -y mariadb-client libpng-dev libicu-dev libzip-dev inetutils-ping netcat-openbsd tcpdump\ 
+    && apt-get clean -y && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Install necessary PHP extensions
+RUN docker-php-ext-install mysqli pdo pdo_mysql gd intl zip
+
+# [Optional] Uncomment this section to install additional OS packages.
+
+# [Optional] Uncomment this line to install global node packages.
+# RUN su vscode -c "source /usr/local/share/nvm/nvm.sh && npm install -g <your-package-here>" 2>&1
+
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..29800f95cf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
+// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/php-mariadb
+{
+	"name": "Webtrees PHP",
+	"dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
+	"service": "app",
+	"workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/${localWorkspaceFolderBasename}",
+
+	// Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
+	"features": {
+		"ghcr.io/opencodeco/devcontainers/install-php-extensions:latest": {},
+		"ghcr.io/devcontainers-extra/features/composer:1": {}
+	},
+
+	"forwardPorts": [
+		8080,
+		3306		
+	],
+
+	// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
+	"postCreateCommand": ".devcontainer/postinstall.sh"
+
+	// Configure tool-specific properties.
+	// "customizations": {},
+
+	// Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
+	// "remoteUser": "root"
+}
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..70224a6afe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+version: '3.8'
+
+services: 
+  app:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+
+    volumes:
+      - ../..:/workspaces:cached
+
+    # Overrides default command so things don't shut down after the process ends.
+    command: sleep infinity
+      
+
+
+    # Use "forwardPorts" in **devcontainer.json** to forward an app port locally. 
+    # (Adding the "ports" property to this file will not forward from a Codespace.)
+
+  db:
+    image: mariadb:10.4
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    volumes:
+      - mariadb-data:/var/lib/mysql
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: mariadb
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: mariadb
+      MYSQL_USER: mariadb
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: mariadb
+
+    # Add "forwardPorts": ["3306"] to **devcontainer.json** to forward MariaDB locally.
+    # (Adding the "ports" property to this file will not forward from a Codespace.)
+  
+volumes:
+  mariadb-data:
+
diff --git a/.devcontainer/postinstall.sh b/.devcontainer/postinstall.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..5f82873f0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/postinstall.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+sudo cp .devcontainer/xdebug.ini /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/xdebug.ini
+composer update 
+composer install 
+sudo chmod a+x $(pwd)
+sudo rm -rf /var/www/html
+sudo ln -s $(pwd) /var/www/html
diff --git a/.devcontainer/xdebug.ini b/.devcontainer/xdebug.ini
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..79e11fd1a2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/xdebug.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[xdebug]
+zend_extension=xdebug
+xdebug.mode=develop,debug
+xdebug.start_with_request = yes
+xdebug.client_port = "9003"
+xdebug.idekey="vsc"
+xdebug.log=/tmp/xdebug_remote.log
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.vscode/.gitignore b/.vscode/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..450a23404be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+launch.json
diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json-devcontainer-dist b/.vscode/launch.json-devcontainer-dist
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d45bc0bddc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json-devcontainer-dist
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{
+    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
+    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
+    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
+    "version": "0.2.0",
+    "configurations": [
+        {
+            "name": "Debug server",
+            "type": "php",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "runtimeArgs": [
+                "-dxdebug.mode=debug",
+                "-dxdebug.start_with_request=yes",
+                "-S",
+                "0.0.0.0:8080"
+            ],
+            "program": "",
+            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
+            /* This is the debugger port on your dev machine that the container will connect to, xdebug.ini uses it*/
+            "port": 9003,
+            "serverReadyAction": {
+                "pattern": "Development Server \\(http://\w:([0-9]+)\\) started",
+                "uriFormat": "http://localhost:%s",
+                "action": "openExternally"
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file