diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index b3926fb..fadb452 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -2,8 +2,17 @@ FROM python:3.11-slim
 
 # Dev tools — not needed in production, but essential for development
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-    git \
+    ca-certificates \
     curl \
+    gnupg \
+    && install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings \
+    && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc \
+    && chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc \
+    && echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
+    tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null \
+    && apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    docker-ce-cli \
+    git \
     ffmpeg \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index ee1c3db..4bddcc8 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 {
   "name": "Guardian Newscast Pipeline",
   "build": {
-    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
+    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
+    "context": ".."
   },
   "forwardPorts": [8080],
   "portsAttributes": {
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index a55c949..64aa0d4 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -54,6 +54,34 @@ Each stage reads the previous stage's output file. Stages are independent and ca
 - Concurrent processing with `asyncio.Semaphore(CONCURRENCY_LIMIT=1)`.
 - Cleans up intermediate WAV files after conversion.
 
+### DevContainer (`.devcontainer/`)
+
+A VS Code Dev Container enables reproducible development. Two files define it:
+
+- **`Dockerfile`** (based on `python:3.11-slim`):
+  - Installs system deps: `git`, `curl`, `ffmpeg`.
+  - Copies and installs `requirements.txt` (project root) into the container at `/app/`.
+  - Sets default env vars: `OLLAMA_URL`, `MODEL_NAME`, `PORT`, `POLL_INTERVAL`, `DATA_DIR`, `TTS_VOICE`.
+  - Creates `/app/data/audio/` for output.
+
+- **`devcontainer.json`**:
+  - Points VS Code to the Dockerfile.
+  - Forwards port `8080` (newscast API).
+  - `postCreateCommand`: runs `pip install -r requirements.txt` in the VS Code Python interpreter for IDE features (linting, completions).
+  - `remoteEnv`: overrides Dockerfile defaults with workspace-relative values (e.g., `DATA_DIR` points to `${workspaceFolder}/data`).
+  - Extensions: `ms-python.python`, `ms-python.vscode-pylance`.
+
+**Key env vars** (Dockerfile defaults, overridable via `devcontainer.json` `remoteEnv`):
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `OLLAMA_URL` | `http://host.docker.internal:11434/api/generate` | Ollama API endpoint (use `host.docker.internal` to reach host from container) |
+| `MODEL_NAME` | `gemma4:e2b` | Ollama model identifier |
+| `PORT` | `8080` | Newscast API listen port |
+| `POLL_INTERVAL` | `21600` | API polling interval in seconds (6 hours) |
+| `DATA_DIR` | `/app/data` | Base directory for all pipeline output files |
+| `TTS_VOICE` | `af_heart` | Kokoro TTS voice |
+
 ## Common Tasks
 
 ### Add a New Pipeline Stage