diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 6b374cd..1c00ed2 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -24,4 +24,7 @@ RUN /home/vscode/.local/bin/mise exec -- mix local.hex --force && \
 
 RUN npm install -g @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent
 
-USER root
+RUN npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
+
+RUN echo 'eval "$(/home/vscode/.local/bin/mise activate bash)"' >> /home/vscode/.bashrc
+RUN /home/vscode/.local/bin/mise settings set trusted_config_paths /workspaces/firehose
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 0a76dd0..5cc1896 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@
     "dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
     "service": "app",
     "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/firehose",
-    "remoteUser": "root",
+    "remoteUser": "vscode",
     "containerEnv": {
-        "DB_HOST": "db",
-        "HOME": "/home/vscode"
+        "DB_HOST": "db"
     },
     "features": {
         "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python:1": {},
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@
         "source=${localEnv:HOME}/.pi/agent/bin,target=/home/vscode/.pi/agent/bin,type=bind,consistency=cached"
     ],
     "postCreateCommand": {
-        "pi-subagents": "bash -ic 'pi install npm:pi-subagents'"
+        "pi-subagents-disabled": "echo 'pi-subagents disabled: upstream JSON schema bug — investigate version pinning separately'"
     },
     "customizations": {
         "jetbrains": {
diff --git a/app.json b/app.json
index 45344ec..78aa67f 100644
--- a/app.json
+++ b/app.json
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 {
   "name": "firehose",
+  "healthchecks": {
+    "web": [
+      {
+        "type": "startup",
+        "name": "web check",
+        "path": "/",
+        "attempts": 5,
+        "wait": 3,
+        "timeout": 5
+      }
+    ]
+  },
   "scripts": {
     "dokku": {
       "postdeploy": "/app/bin/migrate"