diff --git a/dev/.env.docker-compose b/dev/.env.docker-compose
index b69a373b..630bdc54 100644
--- a/dev/.env.docker-compose
+++ b/dev/.env.docker-compose
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ DJANGO_PHOLD_OUTPUT_DIR=/tmp/phold_output
 
 # Number of MPI processes for PHOLD simulations (set to 1 for no MPI)
 DJANGO_PHOLD_MPI_PROCESSES=4
+
+# Directory containing example ping pong config and CODES binary
+CODE_EXAMPLE_DIR=/opt/codes
diff --git a/dev/django.Dockerfile b/dev/django.Dockerfile
index 23851beb..692a9f91 100644
--- a/dev/django.Dockerfile
+++ b/dev/django.Dockerfile
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-# Pin to a specific ROSS commit for reproducible builds.
+# Pin to a specific ROSS and CODES commits for reproducible builds.
 ARG ROSS_GIT_REF=dc3a6a056cfc7a5e68f7141f88d8833407599ef8
+ARG CODES_GIT_REF=a5958cfaee6dcc73a98d084005e3412da773fb35
 
 FROM ubuntu:24.04 AS ross-builder
 ARG ROSS_GIT_REF
+ARG CODES_GIT_REF
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     ca-certificates git \
@@ -39,7 +41,19 @@ RUN cmake -S /ross -B /ross/build \
         -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
         -DROSS_BUILD_MODELS=ON \
         -DROSS_BUILD_TESTING=OFF \
-    && cmake --build /ross/build --parallel
+    && cmake --build /ross/build --parallel \
+    && cmake --install /ross/build --prefix /ross/install
+
+RUN git clone https://github.com/codes-org/codes.git opt/codes \
+    && cd /opt/codes \
+    && git checkout "${CODES_GIT_REF}" \
+    && git submodule update --init --recursive
+
+RUN cmake -S /opt/codes -B /opt/codes/build \
+        -DROSS_DIR=/ross/install/lib \
+        -DROSS_PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/ross/install/lib/pkgconfig \
+    && cmake --build opt/codes/build \
+    && cmake --install opt/codes/build/
 
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu-24.04
 
@@ -60,7 +74,7 @@ ENV PATH=/opt/mpich/bin:$PATH \
 # PHOLD binary built in the ross-builder stage above. Baked into the image instead
 # of relying on a host `ross` checkout bind-mounted at runtime.
 COPY --from=ross-builder --chown=vscode:vscode /ross/build/models/phold/phold /opt/ross/phold
-
+COPY --from=ross-builder --chown=vscode:vscode /opt/codes /opt/codes
 # Ensure Python output appears immediately in container logs.
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1