diff --git a/sdk/src/browser.ts b/sdk/src/browser.ts
index 42e8c1b34..82a5fbe3e 100644
--- a/sdk/src/browser.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/browser.ts
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ export {
     VerifyingKey,
     ViewKey,
     initThreadPool,
+    initDevMode,
+    maybeInitDevMode,
     getOrInitConsensusVersionTestHeights,
     verifyFunctionExecution,
 } from "./wasm.js";
diff --git a/sdk/src/wasm.ts b/sdk/src/wasm.ts
index 2762cf701..ef2e6c21c 100644
--- a/sdk/src/wasm.ts
+++ b/sdk/src/wasm.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+import {
+    initDevMode as initDevModeWasm,
+} from "@provablehq/wasm/%%NETWORK%%.js";
+
 export {
     Address,
     Authorization,
@@ -51,3 +55,50 @@ export {
     getOrInitConsensusVersionTestHeights,
     verifyFunctionExecution,
 } from "@provablehq/wasm/%%NETWORK%%.js";
+
+/**
+ * Initialize development mode by setting consensus version heights to [0..ConsensusVersion::latest()].
+ * 
+ * This function automatically sets up development consensus heights without requiring
+ * manual specification of the number of consensus versions. It should be called before
+ * initializing the thread pool when working with a local development network.
+ * 
+ * @returns An array of block heights at which each consensus version applies.
+ * 
+ * @example
+ * import { initDevMode, initThreadPool } from "@provablehq/sdk";
+ * 
+ * // Initialize dev mode before the thread pool
+ * initDevMode();
+ * await initThreadPool();
+ */
+export function initDevMode(): number[] {
+    return initDevModeWasm();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if the ALEO_NETWORK environment variable is set to "local" and if so,
+ * automatically call initDevMode() to set up development consensus heights.
+ * 
+ * This function is useful for Node.js applications that want to automatically
+ * detect when running against a local development network.
+ * 
+ * @returns An array of block heights if dev mode was initialized, undefined otherwise.
+ * 
+ * @example
+ * import { maybeInitDevMode, initThreadPool } from "@provablehq/sdk";
+ * 
+ * // Automatically initialize dev mode if ALEO_NETWORK=local
+ * maybeInitDevMode();
+ * await initThreadPool();
+ */
+export function maybeInitDevMode(): number[] | undefined {
+    try {
+        if (typeof process !== 'undefined' && process.env?.ALEO_NETWORK === 'local') {
+            return initDevModeWasm();
+        }
+    } catch {
+        // Ignore errors when process is not available (e.g., in browsers)
+    }
+    return undefined;
+}
diff --git a/wasm/src/utilities/mod.rs b/wasm/src/utilities/mod.rs
index e10322a32..fa6db205c 100644
--- a/wasm/src/utilities/mod.rs
+++ b/wasm/src/utilities/mod.rs
@@ -53,6 +53,34 @@ pub fn get_or_init_consensus_version_heights(heights: Option<String>) -> js_sys:
     pairs.iter().map(|(_, height)| wasm_bindgen::JsValue::from_f64(*height as f64)).collect::<js_sys::Array>()
 }
 
+/// Initialize development mode by setting consensus version heights to [0..ConsensusVersion::latest()].
+///
+/// This function automatically sets up development consensus heights without requiring
+/// manual specification of the number of consensus versions. It should be called before
+/// initializing the thread pool when working with a local development network.
+///
+/// @returns {Array} An array of block heights at which each consensus version applies.
+///
+/// @example
+/// import { initDevMode, initThreadPool } from "@provablehq/sdk";
+///
+/// // Initialize dev mode before the thread pool
+/// initDevMode();
+/// await initThreadPool();
+/// // Rest of the code...
+#[wasm_bindgen::prelude::wasm_bindgen(js_name = initDevMode)]
+pub fn init_dev_mode() -> js_sys::Array {
+    // Get the latest consensus version index
+    let latest = snarkvm_console::network::ConsensusVersion::latest();
+    let num_versions = latest as u32 + 1;
+
+    // Create a comma-separated string of heights from 0 to num_versions-1
+    let heights: String = (0..num_versions).map(|i| i.to_string()).collect::<Vec<_>>().join(",");
+
+    // Initialize the consensus version heights
+    get_or_init_consensus_version_heights(Some(heights))
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;