diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7bf149
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# Contributing to electrs
+
+:+1::tada: First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! :tada::+1:
+
+The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to this project! These are
+mostly guidelines, not rules. Use your best judgment, and feel free to propose
+changes to this document in a pull request.
+
+## General
+
+Electrs project operates an open contributor model where anyone is
+welcome to contribute towards development in the form of peer review,
+documentation, testing and patches.
+
+Anyone is invited to contribute without regard to technical experience,
+"expertise", OSS experience, age, or other concern. However, the development of
+standards & reference implementations demands a high-level of rigor, adversarial
+thinking, thorough testing and risk-minimization. Any bug may cost users real
+money. That being said, we deeply welcome people contributing for the first time
+to an open source project or pick up Rust while contributing. Don't be shy,
+you'll learn.
+
+
+## Contribution workflow
+
+The codebase is maintained using the "contributor workflow" where everyone
+without exception contributes patch proposals using "pull requests". This
+facilitates social contribution, easy testing and peer review.
+
+To contribute a patch, the workflow is a as follows:
+
+1. Fork repository
+2. Create topic branch
+3. Commit patches
+
+Please keep commits should atomic and diffs easy to read. For this reason
+do not mix any formatting fixes or code moves with actual code changes.
+Further, each commit, individually, should compile and pass tests, in order to
+ensure git bisect and other automated tools function properly.
+
+Please cover every new feature with unit tests.
+
+When refactoring, structure your PR to make it easy to review and don't hesitate
+to split it into multiple small, focused PRs.
+
+To facilitate communication with other contributors, the project is making use
+of GitHub's "assignee" field. First check that no one is assigned and then
+comment suggesting that you're working on it. If someone is already assigned,
+don't hesitate to ask if the assigned party or previous commenters are still
+working on it if it has been awhile.
+
+
+## Preparing PRs
+
+The main library development happens in the `master` branch. This branch must
+always compile without errors (using GitHub CI). All external contributions are
+made within PRs into this branch.
+
+Prerequisites that a PR must satisfy for merging into the `master` branch:
+* final commit within the PR must compile and pass unit tests with no error
+* final commit of the PR must be properly formatted and linted
+* be based on the recent `master` tip from the original repository at
+  <https://github.com/romanz/electrs>.
+
+## Checking if the PR will pass the GitHub CI
+PR authors may also find it useful to run the following script locally in order
+to check that their code satisfies all the requirements of the GitHub workflows and doesn't fail
+automated build.
+
+You can run the following command from the root of the project: 
+```
+./contrib/testChanges.sh
+```
+
+
+### Peer review
+
+Anyone may participate in peer review which is expressed by comments in the pull
+request. Typically, reviewers will review the code for obvious errors, as well as
+test out the patch set and opine on the technical merits of the patch. Please,
+first review PR on the conceptual level before focusing on code style or
+grammar fixes.
+
+
+### Formatting
+
+The repository currently does use `rustfmt` for all the formatting needs. Running the automated
+script mentioned above would format all your code for you :)
+
+## Ending Notes
+Get cracking, have fun, and do ask for help when in doubt!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 29c5eb1..7b04893 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ You may be able to find a fork of electrs that does support them, look around or
 
 The database schema is described [here](doc/schema.md).
 
+## Contributing
+
+All contributions to this project are welcome. Please refer to the [Contributing Guildlines](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more details.
 
 ## Logo
 
diff --git a/contrib/testChanges.sh b/contrib/testChanges.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..80fd800
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/testChanges.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+cd `dirname $0`/..
+cargo build --locked --no-default-features --all
+cargo build --locked --no-default-features --all
+cargo build --locked --all
+cargo build --locked --features metrics_process --all
+cargo fmt
+cargo clippy -- -D warnings
+cargo test --locked --all