diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e2e323..5f9d05d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ To start a jupyter lab server:
 
 ```console
 $ aiida-jupyterlab
+...
+    To access the notebook, open this file in a browser:
+        file:///root/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/nbserver-14617-open.html
+    Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
+        http://localhost:8890/?token=a7086764cda7aba8488a767386d57121429958771a8bccb2
+     or http://127.0.0.1:8890/?token=a7086764cda7aba8488a767386d57121429958771a8bccb2
 ```
 
 ## Development and testing
@@ -98,6 +104,26 @@ pip install tox
 tox
 ```
 
+To manually test the created docker container, first run:
+
+```bash
+tox converge
+```
+
+This will run the ansible role, leaving the container running.
+The recommended way to interact with the container is then to use the [VS Code Docker extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-azuretools.vscode-docker).
+Using this you can then attach a visual studio code instance:
+
+![VS Code Docker extension](./vscode.png)
+
+Inside the container run `aiida-jupyterlab`, and you will be able to access the supplied URL from your local browser.
+
+When you are finished with the container, destroy the container with:
+
+```bash
+tox destroy
+```
+
 ## Code style
 
 Code style is formatted and linted with [pre-commit](https://pre-commit.com/).
diff --git a/molecule/default/molecule.yml b/molecule/default/molecule.yml
index 2d33c5f..a17d546 100644
--- a/molecule/default/molecule.yml
+++ b/molecule/default/molecule.yml
@@ -34,3 +34,5 @@ provisioner:
           ansible_python_interpreter: /usr/bin/python3
           aiida_python_version: "${MOLECULE_PYTHON_VERSION:-3.7}"
           install_node: "${MOLECULE_INSTALL_NODE:-no}"
+          # for testing in docker container
+          aiida_jupyter_extra_args: "--allow-root"
diff --git a/templates/jupyterlab.sh b/templates/jupyterlab.sh
index 3e76829..87a4c11 100644
--- a/templates/jupyterlab.sh
+++ b/templates/jupyterlab.sh
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ if jupyter notebook list | grep localhost:${1:-{{ aiida_jupyter_port }}}; then
     echo "already open at: $url"
     xdg-open $url
 else
-    jupyter lab --MultiKernelManager.default_kernel_name='{{ aiida_kernel_name }}' --port=${1:-{{ aiida_jupyter_port }}}
+    jupyter lab --MultiKernelManager.default_kernel_name='{{ aiida_kernel_name }}' --port=${1:-{{ aiida_jupyter_port }}} {{ aiida_jupyter_extra_args | default('') }}
 fi
diff --git a/vscode.png b/vscode.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de2e9bd
Binary files /dev/null and b/vscode.png differ