diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7ff967
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Contributing to backport action
+
+I welcome contributions for feature requests and bug reports, as well as for docs and code changes.
+
+## Feature requests and bug reports
+
+If you would want to see something added or changed, or encountered a bug.
+Please open an [issue on GitHub](https://github.com/korthout/backport-action/issues).
+
+## Docs changes
+
+Saw a typo or want to make other changes to the [README](https://korthout.github.io/backport-action/blob/main/README.md)?
+Feel free to open a pull request with your changes.
+
+## Code changes
+
+I welcome code changes.
+If you're thinking of opening a large pull request, please consider opening an issue on GitHub first to discuss it.
+
+### Build from source
+
+Install the dependencies.
+
+```
+npm install
+```
+
+Apply the automatic formatting to the source code.
+
+```
+npm run format
+```
+
+Build and package the action for distribution.
+
+```
+npm run build && npm run package
+```
+
+### Testing
+
+Run all tests.
+
+```
+npm test
+```
+
+Run all tests with additional console output.
+
+```
+npm run test-verbose
+```
+
+Shorthand for format, build, package and test.
+
+```
+npm run all
+```
+
+This action can also be tested using [korthout/backport-action-test](https://github.com/korthout/backport-action-test).
+
+### Releases
+
+The distribution is hosted in this repository under `dist`.
+Simply build and package the distribution and commit the changes to publish a new snapshot version.
+
+To release a version, run the [Release](https://github.com/korthout/backport-action/actions/workflows/release.yml) workflow from the branch that should be released.
+This sets the release version and tags the release commit.
+It also creates/moves the major and minor tags (e.g. `v1` and `v1.2`) to the latest corresponding release as [officially recommended](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/master/docs/action-versioning.md).
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 794608a..893633a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -174,45 +174,3 @@ Output | Description
 -------|------------
 `was_successful` | Whether or not the changes could be backported successfully to all targets. Either `true` or `false`.
 `was_successful_by_target` | Whether or not the changes could be backported successfully to all targets - broken down by target. Follows the pattern `{{label}}=true\|false`.
-
-## Local compilation
-
-Install the dependencies
-
-```
-npm install
-```
-
-Build the typescript and package it for distribution
-
-```
-npm run format && npm run build && npm run package
-```
-
-## Testing
-
-Run all tests
-
-```
-npm test
-```
-
-Run all tests with additional console output
-
-```
-npm run test-verbose
-```
-
-Shorthand for format, build, package and test
-
-```
-npm run all
-```
-
-This action can also be tested using [korthout/backport-action-test](https://github.com/korthout/backport-action-test).
-
-## Releases
-
-The distribution is hosted in this repository under `dist`.
-Simply build and package the distribution and commit the changes to release a new version.
-Release commits should also be tagged (e.g. `v1.2.3`) and the major release tag (e.g. `v1`) should be moved as [officially recommended](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/master/docs/action-versioning.md).