diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6a250e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Use a Ruby image >= 3.1, as required by some dependencies like recent nokogiri
+FROM ruby:3.2-slim-bookworm
+
+# Prevent interactive prompts from apt
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+# Install system dependencies required for building gems with native extensions
+# and for general development.
+# - build-essential: For compiling native extensions
+# - git: For cloning repos if needed, although VS Code handles the main clone
+# - curl, wget: Useful general tools
+# - libxml2-dev, libxslt1-dev: Needed by nokogiri gem
+# - zlib1g-dev: Needed by many gems
+# - sqlite3, libsqlite3-dev: Needed by some gems that might be transitively included
+# - libssl-dev: Needed for secure connections, potentially by some gems
+# - pkg-config: Build helper
+# - make: Used by the Makefile in the repo
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    build-essential \
+    git \
+    curl \
+    wget \
+    libxml2-dev \
+    libxslt1-dev \
+    zlib1g-dev \
+    sqlite3 \
+    libsqlite3-dev \
+    libssl-dev \
+    pkg-config \
+    make \
+    zsh \
+    && apt-get clean \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+
+# (Optional but Recommended) Create a non-root user for development
+# This matches the default user setup by Dev Containers 'automatic' creation
+ARG USERNAME=vscode
+ARG USER_UID=1000
+ARG USER_GID=$USER_UID
+
+RUN groupadd --gid $USER_GID $USERNAME \
+    && useradd --uid $USER_UID --gid $USER_GID -m $USERNAME \
+    # Add the new user to the sudo group to allow them to run commands with sudo
+    && apt-get update \
+    && apt-get install -y sudo \
+    && echo $USERNAME ALL=\(ALL\) NOPASSWD:ALL > /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME \
+    && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USERNAME \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Set Zsh as the default shell for the non-root user
+# Needs to be run as root, after the user is created and zsh is installed
+RUN chsh -s $(which zsh) ${USERNAME}
+
+# Set the default working directory for subsequent commands and where the project code will be mounted
+WORKDIR /workspaces
+
+# Switch to the non-root user
+USER $USERNAME
+
+# The project code will be mounted into /workspaces by Dev Containers.
+# Dependencies will be installed via postCreateCommand in devcontainer.json
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be25f55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+{
+  "name": "Fluent Plugin Datadog Dev", // A friendly name
+  // Specify the path to the custom Dockerfile
+  "build": {
+    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
+  },
+  // Use the non-root user created in the Dockerfile
+  "remoteUser": "vscode",
+  // Set the workspace folder inside the container
+  "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/fluent-plugin-datadog",
+  // Command to run after the container is created and the workspace is mounted.
+  // This installs the gem dependencies using Bundler.
+  "postCreateCommand": "bundle install && sh -c \"$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)\"",
+  // Forward ports that might be useful (e.g., for testing Fluentd)
+  // Fluentd's default forward port is 24224. The repo's docker-compose also uses this.
+  "forwardPorts": [
+    24224
+  ],
+  // Configuration specific to VS Code
+  "customizations": {
+    "vscode": {
+      "settings": {
+        // Optional: Configure Ruby environment settings if needed
+        "ruby.useBundler": true,
+        "ruby.lint": {
+          "rubocop": true
+        },
+        "ruby.format": "rubocop",
+        // Add other Ruby or general settings here
+        // Configure VS Code's integrated terminal to use Zsh
+        "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "zsh (2)",
+        "terminal.integrated.profiles.linux": {
+          "zsh (2)": {
+            "path": "zsh"
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      // Specify VS Code extensions to install automatically
+      "extensions": [
+        "rebornix.ruby", // Official Ruby extension
+        "bungcip.better-toml", // For TOML config files
+        "kaiinui.vscode-ruby-test-explorer", // If you want a test explorer UI
+        "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint", // If there are JS parts or linting
+        "redhat.vscode-yaml", // For YAML files (like the docker-compose)
+        "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker" // Useful for working with Docker inside VS Code
+        // Add any other extensions relevant to your workflow
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+  // Uncomment to connect as root instead of the remoteUser.
+  // "remoteUser": "root"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 93071b4..5c07e37 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -14,10 +14,17 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
     - name: Set up Ruby
       uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
       with:
-        ruby-version: 3.0
-        bundler-cache: true
+        ruby-version: ${{ matrix.ruby-version }}
+
+    - name: Configure Bundler to exclude development gems
+      run: bundle config set --local without development
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
+
     - name: Run tests
       run: bundle exec rake
diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b08c771
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+    "version": "0.2.0",
+    "configurations": [
+        {
+            "name": "Debug Fluentd with Plugin",
+            "type": "Ruby",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "program": "/usr/local/bin/bundle",
+            "args": [
+                "exec",
+                "fluentd",
+                "-c",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/test/fluentd-test.conf",
+                "-p",
+                "${workspaceFolder}/lib/fluent/plugin"
+            ],
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+            "showDebuggerOutput": true,
+            "useBundler": true
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Debug Rake Tests",
+            "type": "Ruby",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "program": "/usr/local/bin/bundle",
+            "args": [
+                "exec",
+                "rake",
+                "test"
+            ],
+            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+            "showDebuggerOutput": true,
+            "useBundler": true
+        }
+    ]
+} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.vscode/tasks.json b/.vscode/tasks.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..440595e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/tasks.json
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+{
+    "version": "2.0.0",
+    "tasks": [
+        {
+            "label": "Install Dependencies",
+            "type": "shell",
+            "command": "bundle install",
+            "group": "build",
+            "presentation": {
+                "reveal": "always",
+                "panel": "new"
+            },
+            "problemMatcher": []
+        },
+        {
+            "label": "Build Gem",
+            "type": "shell",
+            "command": "gem build fluent-plugin-datadog.gemspec",
+            "group": {
+                "kind": "build",
+                "isDefault": true
+            },
+            "presentation": {
+                "reveal": "always",
+                "panel": "new"
+            },
+            "problemMatcher": [],
+            "dependsOn": ["Install Dependencies"]
+        },
+        {
+            "label": "Run Tests",
+            "type": "shell",
+            "command": "bundle exec rake test",
+            "group": "test",
+            "presentation": {
+                "reveal": "always",
+                "panel": "new"
+            },
+            "problemMatcher": []
+        },
+        {
+            "label": "Build and Test",
+            "dependsOn": [
+                "Install Dependencies",
+                "Build Gem",
+                "Run Tests"
+            ],
+            "group": {
+                "kind": "build",
+                "isDefault": false
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 55c1fba..d46bc2a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -156,3 +156,11 @@ To build a new version of this plugin and push it to RubyGems:
 
 `curl -u <USERNAME> https://rubygems.org/api/v1/api_key.yaml > ~/.gem/credentials`, it will ask for your password.
 
+## Development Environment
+
+This repository includes the files to run it in a dev container in VS Code. To use it:
+
+1. Install VS Code and Docker.
+2. Open the project in VS Code with the Dev Containers extension.
+
+VS Code will build and start the container automatically.
diff --git a/fluent-plugin-datadog.gemspec b/fluent-plugin-datadog.gemspec
index 9acb04d..8840cc4 100644
--- a/fluent-plugin-datadog.gemspec
+++ b/fluent-plugin-datadog.gemspec
@@ -25,12 +25,14 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
 
   spec.add_runtime_dependency "fluentd", [">= 1", "< 2"]
   spec.add_runtime_dependency "net-http-persistent", '~> 4.0.1'
+  spec.add_runtime_dependency "rake", "~> 12.0"
+  spec.add_runtime_dependency "test-unit", "~> 3.1"
+  spec.add_runtime_dependency "webmock", "~> 3.6.0"
 
   spec.add_development_dependency "bundler", "~> 2.1"
-  spec.add_development_dependency "test-unit", '~> 3.1'
-  spec.add_development_dependency "rake", "~> 12.0"
   spec.add_development_dependency "yajl-ruby", "~> 1.2"
-  spec.add_development_dependency 'webmock', "~> 3.6.0"
+  spec.add_development_dependency "ruby-debug-ide"
+  spec.add_development_dependency "debase"
 
   spec.metadata      = {
     'bug_tracker_uri'   => 'https://github.com/DataDog/fluent-plugin-datadog/issues',