diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c91c3277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Contributors' Guide
+
+This guide will help familiarize contributors to the `containerd/containerd` repository.
+
+## Prerequisite
+
+First read the containerd project's [general guidelines around contribution](https://github.com/containerd/project/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+which apply to all containerd projects.
+
+## Getting started
+
+See [`BUILDING.md`](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/main/BUILDING.md) for instructions for setting up a development environment.
+
+If you are also a new user to containerd, you can first check out the [_Getting started with containerd_](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/main/docs/getting-started.md) guide.
+
+## Setting up your local environment
+
+At a minimum, the dev tools from `script/setup/install-dev-tools` should be installed.
+Run `make install-deps` to install dependencies used for running and developing the CRI plugin.
+Other install scripts under `script/setup` may need to be run depending on your environment and your preference for installing libraries and dependencies.
+The versions used by `containerd/containerd` CI can be found in `script/setup` and referred to if installing manually.
+
+```
+$ script/setup/install-dev-tools
+$ make install-deps
+```
+
+## Code style
+
+- Go files adhere to standard Go formatting and styling
+- Protobuf files use tabs for indentation
+- Other files must not contain trailing whitespace and should end with a single new line character
+
+Use the `check` command in the makefile to verify your code matches the expected style.
+
+```
+make check
+```
+
+## Updating protobuf files
+
+Ensure protoc and dev tools have been installed, then run `make protos`
+
+> **Note**
+> When running `make protos`, the current working directory should be found under the `GOPATH` environment
+> variable to ensure protoc can properly resolve the paths of protofiles in the project.
+
+## Naming packages
+
+Package names should be short and simple. Avoid using `_` and repeating words from parent directories.
+
+### Where to put packages
+
+Try to put a new package under the appropriate root directories. The root directory is reserved for
+configuration and build files, no source files will be accepted in root since containerd v2.0.
+
+- `api` - All protobuf service definitions and types used by services
+- `bin` - Autogenerated during build, do not check in file here
+- `client` - All Go files for the containerd client (formerly in `containerd/containerd` root in 1.x)
+- `cmd` - All Go main packages and the packages used only for that main package
+- `contrib` - Files, configurations, and packages related to external tools or libraries
+- `docs` - All containerd technical documentation using markdown
+- `man`- All containerd reference manuals used for the `man` command
+- `pkg` - All Go packages shared and used by other containerd packages.
+- `plugins` - All included containerd plugins which are registered via init
+- `releases` - All release note files
+- `script` - All scripts used for testing, development, and CI
+- `test` - Test scripts used for external end to end testing of containerd, do not add new files here
+- `vendor` - Autogenerated vendor files from `make vendor` command, do not manually edit files here
+- `version` - Version package with the current containerd version
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 76d084594..7641626f4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ See our documentation on [containerd.io](https://containerd.io):
 * [namespaces](docs/namespaces.md)
 * [client options](docs/client-opts.md)
 
-See how to build containerd from source at [BUILDING](BUILDING.md).
+To get started contributing to containerd, see [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md).
 
 If you are interested in trying out containerd see our example at [Getting Started](docs/getting-started.md).