diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a04b6ab..812d492 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -58,9 +58,11 @@ RUN groupadd -g 1000 user && \
 RUN mkdir -p /workspace && \
     chown -R user:user /workspace
 
-# Copy startup script
+# Copy startup scripts
 COPY --chmod=755 scripts/startapp.sh /startapp.sh
 COPY --chmod=755 scripts/init-repo.sh /usr/local/bin/init-repo
+# Fix app user shell after baseimage-gui creates it at runtime
+COPY --chmod=755 scripts/cont-init-user.sh /etc/cont-init.d/20-fix-user-shell.sh
 
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /workspace
diff --git a/scripts/cont-init-user.sh b/scripts/cont-init-user.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f756d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/cont-init-user.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Fix the app user (UID 1000) created by baseimage-gui at runtime.
+# baseimage-gui sets shell=/sbin/nologin and home=/dev/null, which
+# prevents VSCode from opening terminals.
+usermod -s /bin/bash app
+usermod -d /home/user app