diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2141a51ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Contributing
+
+Use [Discussions](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/discussions) to propose and discuss product and/or technical **requirements**.
+
+Use [Issues](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/issues) to track **well-scoped technical work** that the community agrees should be done at some point.
+
+Open [Pull Requests](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/pulls) when you want to **contribute work towards an Issue**, or you feel confident that your contribution is desireable and small enough to forego community discussion at the requirements and planning levels.
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diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 139fea197..4d2c2d333 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -228,3 +228,7 @@ You can specify specific endpoints to test:
 ## License
 
 See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
+
+## Contributing
+
+See the [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md) file for details.
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