diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 38ce4652..fa89204a 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -70,10 +70,17 @@ RUN . "$TBD_IDF_ACTIVATE" && pip install \
     breathe
 
 
+#### web app build stage ####
+
+FROM sphinx_docs_stage AS web_app_build_stage
+
+COPY ./tbd-init.sh "$TBD_PATH/"
+RUN "$TBD_INIT" install-bun
+
 #### TBD tools ####
 
 # required to build TBD software
-FROM sphinx_docs_stage AS tbd_tools_stage
+FROM web_app_build_stage AS tbd_tools_stage
 
 RUN . "$TBD_IDF_ACTIVATE" && pip install \
     typer \
@@ -86,7 +93,6 @@ RUN . "$TBD_IDF_ACTIVATE" && pip install \
     pyyaml
 
 # setup container shell environment
-COPY ./tbd-init.sh "$TBD_PATH/"
 ENV PATH="$PATH:$TBD_PATH"
 RUN "$TBD_INIT" integrate-idf
 
diff --git a/.devcontainer/tbd-init.sh b/.devcontainer/tbd-init.sh
index e8085419..a3634095 100755
--- a/.devcontainer/tbd-init.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/tbd-init.sh
@@ -195,16 +195,22 @@ install_clang() {
   fi
 
   if ! curl -o "$clang_installer" "https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh"; then
-	raise "failed to download clang installer"
+	  raise "failed to download clang installer"
   fi
 
   if ! chmod +x "$clang_installer"; then
-	raise "failed to set permissions on clang installer"
+	  raise "failed to set permissions on clang installer"
   fi
    
   # install
   if ! "$clang_installer" 18 all; then 
-	raise "clang installation failed"
+	  raise "clang installation failed"
+  fi
+}
+
+install_bun() {
+  if ! curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash -s "bun-v1.1.4"; then
+    raise "bun installation failed"
   fi
 }
 
@@ -257,6 +263,9 @@ case $command in
     install-clang)
         install_clang $command_args
         ;;
+    install-bun)
+        install_bun $command_args
+        ;;
     *)
         raise "unknown command $command"
         ;;