diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 957262526..8cb419720 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ RUN sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings \
 # install containerlab and tools
 RUN apt update && \
     apt install -y python3-pip && \
-    python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages networklab && \
+    python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages $PIP_OPTIONS networklab && \
     apt install -y --no-install-recommends containerlab \
     btop \
     gh \
diff --git a/.github/get-container-tags.sh b/.github/get-container-tags.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9f9af11b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/get-container-tags.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+TAG=${1#release_}
+XTAG=latest
+if [[ $TAG == *"dev"* ]]; then
+  XTAG=dev
+  echo "PIP_OPTIONS=--pre"
+else
+  echo "PIP_OPTIONS="
+fi
+echo "IMAGE_TAG=$TAG,$XTAG"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml
index 0f43dec81..8a0b3d5ef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml
@@ -35,3 +35,5 @@ jobs:
         imageName: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/devcontainer
         imageTag: ${{ inputs.docker-tags }}
         push: always
+        env: |
+          PIP_OPTIONS=${{ inputs.pip-options }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-devc.yml b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-devc.yml
index cb07638a8..201cb3d02 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-devc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-devc.yml
@@ -13,5 +13,6 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml
     with:
       docker-tags: devc
+      pip-options: --pre
     secrets:
       GHCR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-release.yml b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-release.yml
index 97b4d1dbd..0fe45ce0d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/devcontainer-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/devcontainer-release.yml
@@ -16,12 +16,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Find release tag
       id: release_tag
-      run: echo "IMAGE_TAG=${GITHUB_REF_NAME#release_}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      run: .github/get-contaienr-tags.sh $GITHUB_REF_NAME >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   build:
     needs: [ setup ]
     uses: ./.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml
     with:
-      docker-tags: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.IMAGE_TAG }},latest
+      docker-tags: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.IMAGE_TAG }}
+      pip-options: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.PIP_OPTIONS }}
     secrets:
       GHCR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}