docs: Add devcontainer development environment guide to CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ For development, at least install the development dependencies:
 pip install -r requirements/requirements-dev.txt
 ```
 
-Consider installing other optional dependencies from the `requirements/` directory, if your development work needs them. 
+Consider installing other optional dependencies from the `requirements/` directory, if your development work needs them.
 
 Note that these dependency files are generated by `./scripts/pip-compile.sh` and then committed. See [Managing Dependencies](#managing-dependencies).
 
@@ -151,6 +151,37 @@ The project's documentation is built using Jekyll and hosted on GitHub Pages. To
 
 The built documentation will be available in the `aider/website/_site` directory.
 
+### Devcontainers as a development environment
+
+The project includes a `.devcontainer` configuration that provides a fully configured development environment. You can use this either through VS Code or the devcontainer CLI.
+
+#### Using VS Code
+
+1. Install the "Remote - Containers" extension in VS Code
+2. Open the project folder in VS Code
+3. When prompted to "Reopen in Container", click yes
+   - Or use the Command Palette (F1) and select "Remote-Containers: Reopen in Container"
+4. VS Code will build and start the development container
+5. The container includes all dependencies and tools needed for development
+
+#### Using Devcontainer CLI
+
+1. Install the devcontainer CLI:
+```bash
+npm install -g @devcontainers/cli
+```
+
+2. Build and start the development container:
+```bash
+devcontainer up --workspace-folder .
+```
+
+The development container provides:
+- All Python dependencies pre-installed
+- Pre-commit hooks configured
+- Development tools like git, pytest, etc.
+- Proper Python version and environment
+
 ## Coding Standards
 
 ### Python Compatibility