diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index e69de29..762995c 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
+// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/anaconda
+{
+  "name": "Unipept Devcontainers",
+  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
+
+  // Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
+  "features": {},
+
+  // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
+  // "forwardPorts": [],
+
+  // Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
+  // "postCreateCommand": "",
+
+  // Configure tool-specific properties.
+  // "customizations": {},
+
+  // Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
+  // "remoteUser": "root"
+}
diff --git a/unipept-index/devcontainer-feature.json b/unipept-index/devcontainer-feature.json
index e69de29..914a325 100644
--- a/unipept-index/devcontainer-feature.json
+++ b/unipept-index/devcontainer-feature.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "id": "unipept-index",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "name": "Unipept Index Downloader",
+  "description": "Downloads and extracts a specific version of the unipept index.",
+  "options": {
+    "version": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "description": "Version to download. Use 'latest' for the most recent release or specify a date in YYYY-MM-DD format.",
+      "default": "latest"
+    }
+  },
+  "install": "install.sh"
+}
diff --git a/unipept-index/install.sh b/unipept-index/install.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index e69de29..6dbe29d
--- a/unipept-index/install.sh
+++ b/unipept-index/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Exit immediately if a command exits with a non-zero status
+# and ensure failing commands in pipes are also detected
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Function to handle errors and exit gracefully
+error_exit() {
+    echo "Error: $1"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# Function to handle any error that occurs during execution
+trap 'error_exit "An unexpected error occurred."' ERR
+
+# Define variables
+FEATURE_DIR="/unipept-index-data"
+VERSION_OPTION="${VERSION:-latest}"
+GITHUB_API="https://api.github.com/repos/unipept/unipept-index/releases"
+
+# Create the feature directory if it doesn't exist
+mkdir -p "$FEATURE_DIR"
+
+# Function to get releases from GitHub
+get_releases() {
+    curl -s "$GITHUB_API" | jq -r '.[] | .tag_name' || error_exit "Failed to retrieve releases from GitHub."
+}
+
+# Function to download and extract the specified version
+download_and_extract() {
+    local version=$1
+    local release_url
+    local zip_file_name
+    local zip_file
+
+    # Construct the expected ZIP file name based on the version date
+    zip_file_name="index_SP_${version}.zip"
+
+    # Get the release URL for the specific ZIP file
+    release_url=$(curl -s "$GITHUB_API" | jq -r --arg zip_name "$zip_file_name" '.[] | .assets[] | select(.name == $zip_name) | .browser_download_url')
+
+    # Check if release URL is found
+    if [ -z "$release_url" ]; then
+        error_exit "No release found for version $version with the expected ZIP file: $zip_file_name."
+    fi
+
+    zip_file="${FEATURE_DIR}/$(basename "$release_url")"
+    echo "Downloading $zip_file..."
+
+    # Perform the curl command
+    curl -L -o "$zip_file" "$release_url"
+    # Check if curl command succeeded
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        error_exit "Failed to download $zip_file."
+    fi
+
+    echo "Extracting $zip_file to $FEATURE_DIR..."
+
+    # Perform the unzip command
+    unzip -o "$zip_file" -d "$FEATURE_DIR"
+    # Check if unzip command succeeded
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        error_exit "Failed to extract $zip_file."
+    fi
+
+    # Remove the ZIP file
+    rm "$zip_file"
+    # Check if removal succeeded
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        error_exit "Failed to remove $zip_file after extraction."
+    fi
+
+    # Store the version in the .VERSION file
+    echo "$version" > "$FEATURE_DIR/.VERSION" || error_exit "Failed to write version to .VERSION file."
+}
+
+# Function to list the last 10 releases
+list_last_10_releases() {
+    echo "Available releases:"
+    get_releases | head -n 10 || error_exit "Failed to list the last 10 releases."
+}
+
+# Determine which version to download
+download_version() {
+    if [ "$VERSION_OPTION" = "latest" ]; then
+        # Get the latest version
+        latest_version=$(get_releases | head -n 1) || error_exit "Failed to determine the latest version."
+
+        # Extract the date part from the latest version
+        latest_version_date=${latest_version#*SP_}; latest_version_date=${latest_version_date%.zip}
+
+        download_and_extract "$latest_version_date"
+        echo "Successfully downloaded and extracted the latest version: $latest_version_date"
+    else
+        # Attempt to download the specified version
+        download_and_extract "$VERSION_OPTION" || {
+            echo "No release available for the specified date: $VERSION_OPTION"
+            list_last_10_releases
+            exit 1
+        }
+    fi
+}
+
+# Call the function to download the specified version
+download_version