diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 26e4786a3..37ea98417 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 {
   "name": "listmonk",
   "dockerComposeFile": "../dev/docker-compose.yml",
-  "service": "backend",
+  "service": "devcontainer",
   "workspaceFolder": "/app",
-  "forwardPorts": [9000],
-  "postStartCommand": "make dist && ./listmonk --install --idempotent --yes --config dev/config.toml"
+  "runServices": ["adminer", "mailhog", "db", "backend", "front"],
+  "features": {
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-outside-of-docker:1": {}
+  }
 }
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5f82cf54f..b073f0678 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ release-dry:
 release:
 	goreleaser release --parallelism 1 --clean
 
+# App services for `make dev-docker` (excludes the devcontainer workspace).
+DEV_DOCKER_SERVICES = adminer mailhog db backend front
+
 # Build local docker images for development.
 .PHONY: build-dev-docker
 build-dev-docker: build ## Build docker containers for the entire suite (Front/Core/PG).
@@ -129,13 +132,20 @@ build-dev-docker: build ## Build docker containers for the entire suite (Front/C
 .PHONY: dev-docker
 dev-docker: build-dev-docker ## Build and spawns docker containers for the entire suite (Front/Core/PG).
 	cd dev; \
-	docker compose up
+	docker compose up $(DEV_DOCKER_SERVICES)
 
 # Run the backend in docker-dev mode. The frontend assets in dev mode are loaded from disk from frontend/dist.
 .PHONY: run-backend-docker
 run-backend-docker:
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 go run -ldflags="-s -w -X 'main.buildString=${BUILDSTR}' -X 'main.versionString=${VERSION}' -X 'main.frontendDir=frontend/dist'" ./cmd --config=dev/config.toml
 
+# Build assets and install the DB schema for the docker dev suite.
+.PHONY: init-docker
+init-docker:
+	@test -d frontend/dist || $(MAKE) build-frontend
+	@test -f $(BIN) || $(MAKE) build
+	./listmonk --install --idempotent --yes --config dev/config.toml
+
 # Tear down the complete local development docker suite.
 .PHONY: rm-dev-docker
 rm-dev-docker: build ## Delete the docker containers including DB volumes.
@@ -144,6 +154,6 @@ rm-dev-docker: build ## Delete the docker containers including DB volumes.
 
 # Setup the db for local dev docker suite.
 .PHONY: init-dev-docker
-init-dev-docker: build-dev-docker ## Delete the docker containers including DB volumes.
+init-dev-docker: build-dev-docker ## Build assets and install the DB schema in docker.
 	cd dev; \
-	docker compose run --rm backend sh -c "make dist && ./listmonk --install --idempotent --yes --config dev/config.toml"
+	docker compose run --rm init
diff --git a/dev/docker-compose.yml b/dev/docker-compose.yml
index 080c98d1a..8fa1496b6 100644
--- a/dev/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/dev/docker-compose.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,21 @@ services:
         source: listmonk-dev-db
         target: /var/lib/postgresql/data
 
+  init:
+    build:
+      context: ../
+      dockerfile: dev/app.Dockerfile
+    command: ["make", "init-docker"]
+    depends_on:
+      db:
+        condition: service_started
+    volumes:
+      - ../:/app
+      - ${GOPATH:-${HOME}/go}/pkg/mod/cache:/go/pkg/mod/cache
+    networks:
+      - listmonk-dev
+    restart: "no"
+
   front:
     build:
       context: ../
@@ -57,13 +72,34 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "9000:9000"
     depends_on:
-      - db
+      db:
+        condition: service_started
+      init:
+        condition: service_completed_successfully
     volumes:
       - ../:/app
       - ${GOPATH:-${HOME}/go}/pkg/mod/cache:/go/pkg/mod/cache
     networks:
       - listmonk-dev
 
+  # Workspace container for VS Code / Cursor devcontainers. Omitted from
+  # `make dev-docker`; the editor starts this service when reopening in container.
+  devcontainer:
+    image: dev-devcontainer
+    build:
+      context: ../
+      dockerfile: dev/app.Dockerfile
+    command: ["sleep", "infinity"]
+    volumes:
+      - ../:/app
+      - ${GOPATH:-${HOME}/go}/pkg/mod/cache:/go/pkg/mod/cache
+      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
+    depends_on:
+      db:
+        condition: service_started
+    networks:
+      - listmonk-dev
+
 volumes:
   listmonk-dev-db:
 
diff --git a/docs/docs/content/developer-setup.md b/docs/docs/content/developer-setup.md
index 58137329c..0de551367 100644
--- a/docs/docs/content/developer-setup.md
+++ b/docs/docs/content/developer-setup.md
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ After setting up the dev environment, you can visit `http://localhost:8080`.
 
 2. Inside containers (Using Makefile)
 
-    - Run `make init-dev-docker` to setup container for db.
-    - Run `make dev-docker` to setup docker container suite.
+    - Run `make dev-docker` to build and start the docker container suite.
     - Run `make rm-dev-docker` to clean up docker container suite.
 
 3. Inside containers (Using devcontainer)