diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 51111543b4bb..49aacd118e19 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -4,8 +4,12 @@ RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
     # Remove imagemagick due to https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-10131
     && apt-get purge -y imagemagick imagemagick-6-common
 
-# Add protoc
+# setup the containers WORKDIR so npm install works
+# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57534295/npm-err-tracker-idealtree-already-exists-while-creating-the-docker-image-for
+WORKDIR /root
+
+# Add protoc, npm, prettier
 # https://datafusion.apache.org/contributor-guide/development_environment.html#protoc-installation
 RUN apt-get update \
-    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends protobuf-compiler libprotobuf-dev \
+    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends protobuf-compiler libprotobuf-dev npm nodejs\
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*