diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6cd68930114
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Contributing
+
+[hasura/graphql-engine](https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine) is a mono-repo consisting of 3 components. Each have their own contributing guides:
+
+1. [Server (Haskell)](server/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+2. [CLI (Go)](cli/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+3. [Console (JavaScript)](console/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+
+All of the three components have a single version, denoted by either the git tag or a combination of branch name and git commit sha.
+
+## Common guidelines
+
+- Please make sure there is an issue associated with the work the work you're doing.
+- If you're working on an issue, please comment that you are doing so to prevent duplicate work by others also.
+- Squash your commits and refer to the issue using `fix #<issue-no>` or `close #<issue-no>` in the commit message.
+- Commit messages:
+  - Please keep the it under 100 characters. This allows the message to be easier to read on github as well as in various git tools and produces a nice, neat commit log
+  - Use the imperative present tense: "change" not "changed" nor "changes"
+  - Don't capitalize the first letter
+  - Do not add a dot (.) at the end
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diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cc72c3ea849..302e7aaeafd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
 # Hasura GraphQL Engine
 
+[![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/hasura/graphql-engine.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/hasura/graphql-engine)
+
 Source code for Hasura's GraphQL Engine, including CLI, API Console and Server.
+
+## Getting started
+
+[![Deploy](https://www.herokucdn.com/deploy/button.svg)](https://heroku.com/deploy?template=https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine-heroku)
+
+Follow the [official docs](https://docs.hasura.io/1.0/graphql/manual/getting-started/index.html).
+
+## Contributing
+
+Checkout our [contributing guide](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more details.
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diff --git a/cli/CONTRIBUTING.md b/cli/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 8c5ed343d9a..606917b94bc 100644
--- a/cli/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/cli/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,17 +1,27 @@
 # Contributing
 
+Thanks for you interest in Hasura GraphQL Engine CLI.
+
+## Pre-requisites
+
+- [Go 1.10](https://golang.org/doc/install)
+- [GNU Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/)
+
+
 You can follow your existing Golang workflow to fork, work on a branch and
 submit PR. If you're new to forking and working on Golang repositories, please
-follow the instructions below to make sure the import paths are correct.
+follow the instructions below to make sure the import paths are correct:
 
-- Fork the repo
+- Fork the repo on GitHub
 - `mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/hasura`
 - `cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/hasura`
 - `git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/graphql-engine`
 - `cd graphql-engine`
 - `git remote add upstream https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine`
 - `git checkout -b <branch-name>`
+- `make deps`
 - Work on the feature/fix
+- If you modify files in `assets/`, run `make assets`
 - Add tests and ensure all tests are passing (`make test`)
 - Commit, push and submit PR
 
@@ -32,3 +42,24 @@ workflow. The `.realize.yaml` config is already included in the repo.
 `realize` watches the directory for changes and rebuilds the cli whenever a new
 change happens. The cli is installed to `$GOPATH/bin/hasura`, which should
 already be in your `PATH`. The config is located at `.realize/realize.yaml`.
+
+## Tests
+
+When you're adding a new feature, it is encouraged to add integration tests (unit tests also if possible) for the functions/api. You should run all the test and make sure everything passes before submitting the PR.
+
+The tests expect a GraphQL Engine server instance to be running. You can point the tests to any GraphQL Engine server but please note that **the database should be empty**. The easiest way to do this is to run an Postgres and GraphQL Engine using [Docker Compose](https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine-install-manifests). Once the server is running, you can run the tests by executing the make command:
+
+```bash
+HASURA_GRAPHQL_TEST_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:8080 make test
+```
+
+## Builds
+
+To build a binary, execute the following command:
+
+```bash
+# make deps to install all go packages
+make build
+```
+
+This will output cross-platform binaries to `_output` directory.
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diff --git a/server/CONTRIBUTING.md b/server/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e28ebda276
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Contributing
+
+TODO
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