diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index ea698b061..469efb78f 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ func BuildRoot() *cobra.Command {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(NewExecCmd(globalFlags))
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(NewOutdatedCmd(globalFlags))
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(NewSetUpCmd(globalFlags))
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(NewRunUserCommandsCmd(globalFlags))
+	rootCmd.AddCommand(NewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias(globalFlags))
 
 	inheritCommandFlagsFromEnvironment(rootCmd)
 
diff --git a/cmd/runusercommands.go b/cmd/runusercommands.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de1e77f08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/runusercommands.go
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/cmd/flags"
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/devcontainer"
+	devcconfig "github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/devcontainer/config"
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/docker"
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/log"
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/types"
+	workspace2 "github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/workspace"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+// RunUserCommandsCmd holds the run-user-commands command flags.
+type RunUserCommandsCmd struct {
+	*flags.GlobalFlags
+
+	WorkspaceFolder string
+	IDLabels        []string
+}
+
+// NewRunUserCommandsCmd creates a new run-user-commands command.
+func NewRunUserCommandsCmd(f *flags.GlobalFlags) *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &RunUserCommandsCmd{GlobalFlags: f}
+	runE := func(cobraCmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+		return cmd.Run(cobraCmd.Context())
+	}
+
+	runCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "run-user-commands",
+		Short: "Executes lifecycle commands in a running workspace container",
+		RunE:  runE,
+	}
+
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		StringVar(
+			&cmd.WorkspaceFolder,
+			"workspace-folder",
+			"",
+			"Path to the workspace folder",
+		)
+	_ = runCmd.MarkFlagRequired("workspace-folder")
+	runCmd.Flags().
+		StringArrayVar(
+			&cmd.IDLabels,
+			"id-label",
+			[]string{},
+			"Override the default container identification labels (format: key=value, can be specified multiple times)",
+		)
+
+	return runCmd
+}
+
+// NewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias creates the hidden camelCase alias for devcontainer CLI compat.
+func NewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias(f *flags.GlobalFlags) *cobra.Command {
+	primary := NewRunUserCommandsCmd(f)
+	primary.Use = "runUserCommands"
+	primary.Hidden = true
+	return primary
+}
+
+type lifecycleExecParams struct {
+	ctx         context.Context
+	helper      *docker.DockerHelper
+	containerID string
+	envArgs     []string
+	workdir     string
+}
+
+// Run executes the run-user-commands logic.
+func (cmd *RunUserCommandsCmd) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
+	if err := devcconfig.ValidateIDLabels(cmd.IDLabels); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	params, result, err := cmd.resolveContainer(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := cmd.runLifecycleHooks(params, result); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	user := devcconfig.GetRemoteUser(result)
+	log.Infof("lifecycle commands completed for container %s", params.containerID)
+	_ = devcconfig.WriteResultJSON(os.Stderr, params.containerID, user, params.workdir)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (cmd *RunUserCommandsCmd) resolveContainer(
+	ctx context.Context,
+) (*lifecycleExecParams, *devcconfig.Result, error) {
+	devsyConfig, err := config.LoadConfig(cmd.Context, cmd.Provider)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	client, err := workspace2.Get(ctx, workspace2.GetOptions{
+		DevsyConfig: devsyConfig,
+		Args:        []string{cmd.WorkspaceFolder},
+		Owner:       cmd.Owner,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		_ = devcconfig.WriteErrorJSON(os.Stderr, err.Error())
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("resolve workspace: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	workspaceConfig := client.WorkspaceConfig()
+	dockerCommand := resolveDockerCommand(workspaceConfig)
+
+	containerDetails, err := findRunningContainer(
+		ctx, dockerCommand, devcontainer.GetRunnerIDFromWorkspace(workspaceConfig), cmd.IDLabels,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		_ = devcconfig.WriteErrorJSON(os.Stderr, err.Error())
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	result := loadExecResult(workspaceConfig, containerDetails)
+	if result == nil || result.MergedConfig == nil {
+		_ = devcconfig.WriteErrorJSON(
+			os.Stderr,
+			"no workspace result found; lifecycle commands unavailable",
+		)
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("no workspace result found; lifecycle commands unavailable")
+	}
+
+	params := &lifecycleExecParams{
+		ctx:         ctx,
+		helper:      &docker.DockerHelper{DockerCommand: dockerCommand},
+		containerID: containerDetails.ID,
+		envArgs:     buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result),
+		workdir:     resolveExecWorkdir(result, client.Workspace()),
+	}
+	return params, result, nil
+}
+
+func (cmd *RunUserCommandsCmd) runLifecycleHooks(
+	params *lifecycleExecParams,
+	result *devcconfig.Result,
+) error {
+	hooks := []struct {
+		name string
+		cmds []types.LifecycleHook
+	}{
+		{"postCreateCommand", result.MergedConfig.PostCreateCommands},
+		{"postStartCommand", result.MergedConfig.PostStartCommands},
+		{"postAttachCommand", result.MergedConfig.PostAttachCommands},
+	}
+
+	for _, hook := range hooks {
+		for _, h := range hook.cmds {
+			if err := execLifecycleHook(params, hook.name, h); err != nil {
+				_ = devcconfig.WriteErrorJSON(os.Stderr, err.Error())
+				return fmt.Errorf("lifecycle hooks: %s: %w", hook.name, err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func execLifecycleHook(params *lifecycleExecParams, name string, hook types.LifecycleHook) error {
+	if len(hook) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	for key, command := range hook {
+		if len(command) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		log.Infof("running %s: %s %v", name, key, command)
+
+		args := buildDockerExecArgs(params.containerID, params.envArgs, params.workdir, command)
+		if err := params.helper.Run(params.ctx, args, os.Stdin, os.Stdout, os.Stderr); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("command %q failed: %w", key, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result *devcconfig.Result) []string {
+	if result == nil || result.MergedConfig == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	env := result.MergedConfig.RemoteEnv
+	if len(env) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	keys := make([]string, 0, len(env))
+	for k, v := range env {
+		if v != nil {
+			keys = append(keys, k)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(keys)
+
+	args := make([]string, 0, len(keys)*2)
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		args = append(args, "-e", k+"="+*env[k])
+	}
+	return args
+}
diff --git a/cmd/runusercommands_test.go b/cmd/runusercommands_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba6e7d6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/runusercommands_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/devsy-org/devsy/cmd/flags"
+	devcconfig "github.com/devsy-org/devsy/pkg/devcontainer/config"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestNewRunUserCommandsCmd_CommandName(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := NewRunUserCommandsCmd(&flags.GlobalFlags{})
+	assert.Equal(t, "run-user-commands", cmd.Use)
+}
+
+func TestNewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias_IsHidden(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := NewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias(&flags.GlobalFlags{})
+	assert.Equal(t, "runUserCommands", cmd.Use)
+	assert.True(t, cmd.Hidden, "camelCase alias should be hidden")
+}
+
+func TestNewRunUserCommandsCmdAlias_RegisteredInRoot(t *testing.T) {
+	rootCmd := BuildRoot()
+	found := false
+	for _, sub := range rootCmd.Commands() {
+		if sub.Use == "runUserCommands" {
+			found = true
+			assert.True(t, sub.Hidden)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	assert.True(t, found, "runUserCommands alias should be registered in root")
+}
+
+func TestNewRunUserCommandsCmd_WorkspaceFolderRequired(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := NewRunUserCommandsCmd(&flags.GlobalFlags{})
+	cmd.SetArgs([]string{})
+	err := cmd.Execute()
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "required flag")
+}
+
+func TestNewRunUserCommandsCmd_IDLabelFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := NewRunUserCommandsCmd(&flags.GlobalFlags{})
+	f := cmd.Flags().Lookup("id-label")
+	require.NotNil(t, f)
+	assert.Equal(t, "stringArray", f.Value.Type())
+}
+
+func TestBuildLifecycleEnvArgs_Nil(t *testing.T) {
+	args := buildLifecycleEnvArgs(nil)
+	assert.Nil(t, args)
+}
+
+func TestBuildLifecycleEnvArgs_NilMergedConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	result := &devcconfig.Result{}
+	args := buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result)
+	assert.Nil(t, args)
+}
+
+func TestBuildLifecycleEnvArgs_EmptyEnv(t *testing.T) {
+	result := &devcconfig.Result{
+		MergedConfig: &devcconfig.MergedDevContainerConfig{
+			DevContainerConfigBase: devcconfig.DevContainerConfigBase{
+				RemoteEnv: map[string]*string{},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	args := buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result)
+	assert.Nil(t, args)
+}
+
+func TestBuildLifecycleEnvArgs_WithValues(t *testing.T) {
+	val := "bar"
+	result := &devcconfig.Result{
+		MergedConfig: &devcconfig.MergedDevContainerConfig{
+			DevContainerConfigBase: devcconfig.DevContainerConfigBase{
+				RemoteEnv: map[string]*string{
+					"FOO": &val,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	args := buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result)
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"-e", "FOO=bar"}, args)
+}
+
+func TestBuildLifecycleEnvArgs_NilValueSkipped(t *testing.T) {
+	val := "keep"
+	result := &devcconfig.Result{
+		MergedConfig: &devcconfig.MergedDevContainerConfig{
+			DevContainerConfigBase: devcconfig.DevContainerConfigBase{
+				RemoteEnv: map[string]*string{
+					"KEEP":   &val,
+					"REMOVE": nil,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	args := buildLifecycleEnvArgs(result)
+	assert.Contains(t, args, "-e")
+	assert.Contains(t, args, "KEEP=keep")
+	assert.NotContains(t, args, "REMOVE")
+}
+
+func TestRunUserCommandsCmd_RegisteredInRoot(t *testing.T) {
+	rootCmd := BuildRoot()
+	found := false
+	for _, sub := range rootCmd.Commands() {
+		if sub.Use == "run-user-commands" {
+			found = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	assert.True(t, found, "run-user-commands should be registered in root")
+}