What Is CONTRIBUTING.md?
The file that tells you how to contribute
You are looking at a project and there is a CONTRIBUTING.md sitting in it. It is a Markdown file that explains how to contribute to that project: how to set it up, how to run the tests, the branch and pull-request conventions, and how to report issues.
GitHub and GitLab surface it at the right moment, linking to it when someone opens a new issue or pull request, so contributors read the rules before they submit. Here is what goes inside one and where it lives.
What a CONTRIBUTING.md usually covers
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Getting set up | How to clone, install dependencies, and run the project locally |
| Running tests | The test command and what has to pass before a pull request |
| Branch & PR flow | Branch naming, how to open a pull request, what review to expect |
| Commit style | Commit message format, sign-off, or conventional-commit rules |
| Reporting issues | How and where to file a bug or a feature request |
| Conduct | A link to the CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, if the project has one |
Not every file has all of these, and the order varies. The point is consistent: give a new contributor everything they need to make a change the project will accept, without having to ask.
Where CONTRIBUTING.md goes
It lives at the root of the repository, or inside a .github/ folder. GitHub checks the root, .github/, and docs/ for it, and once it finds one, it links the file from the new-issue and new-pull-request pages. That is why you often see a "please read our contributing guidelines" prompt right when you are about to open a PR.
How it fits with the other repo Markdown files
A project usually has a small family of Markdown files, each with its own job:
| File | What it holds | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
README.md | What the project is and how to use it | Everyone |
CONTRIBUTING.md | How to contribute a change | Would-be contributors |
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | Expected community behavior | The community |
AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md | Rules for AI coding agents | AI coding tools |
For the human-facing overview file, see What is README.md? For the ones written for AI coding tools, see which AI rules file your tool reads and what AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md are.
Reading and editing a CONTRIBUTING.md with NoteLoom
A CONTRIBUTING.md is plain Markdown, the same as any other file in the repo. NoteLoom opens your project folder right in the browser and renders it in a clean reading view, so you can actually read the guidelines instead of scrolling raw text, and you can edit it in the source view when you are the one setting the rules for your own project. If you are writing one from scratch, how to write Markdown covers the syntax.
To be clear about the boundaries: NoteLoom has no AI and does not connect to GitHub or any git tooling. It opens, renders, and saves the Markdown file locally; submitting the actual contribution stays in your usual git workflow.
How you use it: open app.noteloom.cc in Chrome / Edge / Arc, mount the project folder, and open the CONTRIBUTING.md to read or edit it. Saved straight to your disk, no cloud, no account.
FAQ
What is a CONTRIBUTING.md file?
Where does CONTRIBUTING.md go?
What should a CONTRIBUTING.md include?
What is the difference between CONTRIBUTING.md and README.md?
Is CONTRIBUTING.md required?
Can I read and edit a CONTRIBUTING.md with NoteLoom on my phone or in Safari?
Read a repo’s CONTRIBUTING.md properly
Open NoteLoom in Chrome / Edge / Arc, mount the project folder, and read or edit its CONTRIBUTING.md in a clean view. Saved straight back to your disk, no software to install and no account to sign up for.