diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b429c197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# See here for image contents: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-dev-containers/tree/v0.245.2/containers/python-3/.devcontainer/base.Dockerfile
+
+# [Choice] Python version (use -bullseye variants on local arm64/Apple Silicon): 3, 3.10, 3.9, 3.8, 3.7, 3.6, 3-bullseye, 3.10-bullseye, 3.9-bullseye, 3.8-bullseye, 3.7-bullseye, 3.6-bullseye, 3-buster, 3.10-buster, 3.9-buster, 3.8-buster, 3.7-buster, 3.6-buster
+ARG VARIANT="3.10-bullseye"
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/python:0-${VARIANT}
+
+# [Choice] Node.js version: none, lts/*, 16, 14, 12, 10
+ARG NODE_VERSION="none"
+RUN if [ "${NODE_VERSION}" != "none" ]; then su vscode -c "umask 0002 && . /usr/local/share/nvm/nvm.sh && nvm install ${NODE_VERSION} 2>&1"; fi
+
+# [Optional] If your pip requirements rarely change, uncomment this section to add them to the image.
+# COPY requirements.txt /tmp/pip-tmp/
+# RUN pip3 --disable-pip-version-check --no-cache-dir install -r /tmp/pip-tmp/requirements.txt \
+#    && rm -rf /tmp/pip-tmp
+
+# [Optional] Uncomment this section to install additional OS packages.
+# RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
+#     && apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends <your-package-list-here>
+
+# [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
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..45bc8495
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the README at:
+// https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-dev-containers/tree/v0.245.2/containers/python-3
+{
+	"name": "Python 3",
+	"build": {
+		"dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
+		"context": "..",
+		"args": {
+			// Update 'VARIANT' to pick a Python version: 3, 3.10, 3.9, 3.8, 3.7, 3.6
+			// Append -bullseye or -buster to pin to an OS version.
+			// Use -bullseye variants on local on arm64/Apple Silicon.
+			"VARIANT": "3.10",
+			// Options
+			"NODE_VERSION": "14"
+		}
+	},
+	// Configure tool-specific properties.
+	"customizations": {
+		// Configure properties specific to VS Code.
+		"vscode": {
+			// Set *default* container specific settings.json values on container create.
+			"settings": {
+				"python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/usr/local/bin/python",
+				"python.linting.enabled": true,
+				"python.linting.pylintEnabled": true,
+				"python.formatting.autopep8Path": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/autopep8",
+				"python.formatting.blackPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/black",
+				"python.formatting.yapfPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/yapf",
+				"python.linting.banditPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/bandit",
+				"python.linting.flake8Path": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/flake8",
+				"python.linting.mypyPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/mypy",
+				"python.linting.pycodestylePath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pycodestyle",
+				"python.linting.pydocstylePath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pydocstyle",
+				"python.linting.pylintPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pylint"
+			},
+			// Add the IDs of extensions you want installed when the container is created.
+			"extensions": [
+				"ms-python.python",
+				"ms-python.vscode-pylance"
+			]
+		}
+	},
+	// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
+	// "forwardPorts": [],
+	// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
+	"postCreateCommand": "./.devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh",
+	// Comment out to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/containers/non-root.
+	"remoteUser": "vscode",
+	"features": {
+		"git": "latest",
+		"github-cli": "latest",
+		"jupyterlab": "latest"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..e39770b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+pip install -e .
+python setup.py build
+
+jupyter server extension enable nbdime # if developing for jupyter lab or nbclassic
+jupyter labextension develop . --overwrite
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0f2cb892..5d96be8c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,10 +12,9 @@ MANIFEST
 .cache
 .pytest_cache
 .idea
-
+**/.vscode/
 
 .spyderproject
-**/.vscode/
 **/node_modules/
 nbdime/webapp/test/build/
 nbdime/webapp/build/
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 6b73dbf3..6069f04b 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,3 +1,36 @@
 # Contributing
 
 We follow the [IPython Contributing Guide](https://github.com/ipython/ipython/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+# Contributing with codespaces
+
+Opening this repository in Codespaces will pre-install the environment you need to develop with.
+
+## Updating Javascript packages.
+
+This project uses lerna to manage the multiple packages inside the packages folder. If you run an npm command at the root it will run the command for each subpackage. This is good for working across packages, however more commonly we want to work with an individual package. To do this change directories into the package you wish to alter, then npm will run only for that package.
+
+### Adding npm dependency
+
+This should be done inside the directory of the package which requires the dependency.
+
+### Testing changes to the webapp
+
+The python setup.py script will built the entirety of the project and place it inside the build folder. Run `python setup.py build` once you are ready to test a change. Then the nbdime module can be invoked to test changes by running `python -m nbdime service` for example diff web can be started at `python -m nbdime diff-web testnotebookpath testnotebookpath2` there are test notebooks in the `nbdime/webapp/testnotebook` folder.
+
+
+### Testing Changes to The Jupyter Lab Extension
+
+The `python setup.py build` script will again update the extension. In order to see changes to in the Jupyter Lab interface you will need it to be setup. Running these commands will setup the environment:
+
+```bash
+jupyter server extension enable nbdime
+jupyter labextension develop . --overwrite
+```
+(Note if you are using Codespace the above setup should have already happened for you.)
+
+Every time you make a change you can re-run the build script and overwrite the lab extension to see the update.
+
+### Running npm tests
+
+The project uses jest to test the javascript, a typescript compile step occurs before the test suite runs. You can run the tests for the entire project with `npm run test` in the root, or change directories to the package you are working on and run `npm run test` to test just that package.