diff --git a/.devcontainer/build-devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/build-devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index cb3882f84f..02eca8b421 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/build-devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/build-devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+    "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devcontainers/spec/main/schemas/devContainer.schema.json",
     "name": "nfcore-devcontainer-build",
 
     // installs python3.14, nf-core tools from current workspace, nextflow, nf-test,
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index f6d47fc237..c264ba8e7e 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+    "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devcontainers/spec/main/schemas/devContainer.schema.json",
     "name": "nfcore",
     "image": "nfcore/devcontainer:dev",
 
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8d33c02065..cb39255d1a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 - Update pre-commit hook astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit to v0.14.5 ([#3900](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3900))
 - devcontainer: Set `moby: false` to fix trixie builds ([#3904](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3904))
 - Update actions/checkout digest to 93cb6ef ([#3906](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3906))
+- add schema to devcontainer.json ([#3908](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3908))
 
 ### Template
 
diff --git a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 97c8c97fe3..237c9ed083 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+    "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devcontainers/spec/main/schemas/devContainer.schema.json",
     "name": "nfcore",
     "image": "nfcore/devcontainer:latest",