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+# Contributing
+
+This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to
+agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to,
+and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit
+https://cla.microsoft.com.
+
+When you submit a pull request, a CLA-bot will automatically determine whether you need
+to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., label, comment). Simply follow the
+instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repositories using our CLA.
+
+This project has adopted the [Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/).
+For more information see the [Code of Conduct FAQ](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/faq/)
+or contact [opencode@microsoft.com](mailto:opencode@microsoft.com) with any additional questions or comments.
+
+## Development Environment Setup
+
+Before you can build and test this project, you'll need to have the following installed:
+
+* [Go](https://golang.org/dl/) (version 1.23 or higher, as specified in the `Dockerfile`)
+* [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/) (for building container images)
+* [Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/)
+* `controller-gen`, `golangci-lint`, `kustomize`, `setup-envtest` (these can often be installed via the Makefile, e.g., `make controller-gen golangci-lint`)
+
+## Build Instructions
+
+This project uses `make` to streamline common development tasks.
+
+### Common Makefile Targets
+
+* **`make all` or `make build`**: Builds the manager binary. This also runs code generation, formatting, and vetting.
+* **`make run`**: Runs the controller locally on your host.
+* **`make docker-build`**: Builds the Docker image for the manager.
+  * You can specify the image name and tag using the `IMG` variable: `make docker-build IMG=myregistry/mycontroller:latest`
+* **`make docker-push`**: Pushes the built Docker image to a container registry.
+  * Ensure `IMG` is set to the desired repository.
+* **`make manifests`**: Generates Kubernetes manifest files (CRDs, RBAC, Webhook configurations) using `controller-gen`.
+* **`make generate`**: Generates Go code, such as DeepCopy methods, using `controller-gen`.
+
+For a complete list of build targets and their descriptions, run `make help`.
+
+## Coding Conventions
+
+To maintain code quality and consistency, please adhere to the following conventions:
+
+### Formatting and Linting
+
+* **Go Formatting**: Run `make fmt` to format your Go code according to standard Go style.
+* **Go Vet**: Run `make vet` to catch suspicious constructs.
+* **Linting**: Run `make lint` to check for a wide range of issues using `golangci-lint`. The configuration for `golangci-lint` is located in `.golangci.yml`.
+  * Key linters enabled include `errcheck`, `gofmt`, `goimports`, `govet`, `staticcheck`, `unused`, and others. Please refer to `.golangci.yml` for the full list.
+  * You can attempt to automatically fix some linting issues with `make lint-fix`.
+
+### Code Generation
+
+* Ensure that any changes to API types (`api/**/*.go`) are followed by running `make generate` and `make manifests` to update generated code and Kubernetes manifests. Commit these generated files along with your changes.
+
+### Licensing
+
+* All Go source files must include the license header provided in `hack/boilerplate.go.txt`. This project uses the Apache License 2.0.
+
+### Testing
+
+* **Unit Tests**: Run `make test` to execute unit tests.
+* **Integration Tests**: Run `make test-integration` for integration tests.
+* **End-to-End (E2E) Tests**: Run `make test-e2e` for E2E tests. Ensure your Kind cluster is set up as per the project's requirements.
+
+Write new tests for new features and ensure existing tests pass before submitting a pull request.
+
+## Submitting Changes
+
+1. Fork the repository.
+2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
+3. Make your changes, adhering to the coding conventions and including tests.
+4. Ensure all tests pass (`make test test-integration test-e2e`).
+5. Ensure the code is formatted and linted (`make fmt lint`).
+6. Commit your changes with clear and concise commit messages.
+7. Push your branch to your fork.
+8. Open a pull request against the main repository.
+9. Ensure the CLA bot checks are addressed.