docs: add contributing guideline (#35)

* Add contribution guide

* docs: add contributing md

* docs: add contributing guidelines

Author: jedrazb

README.md

@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ The Elasticsearch MCP Server supports configuration options to connect to your E
    🔍 MCP Inspector is up and running at http://localhost:5173 🚀
    ```
 
+## Contributing
+
+We welcome contributions from the community! For details on how to contribute, please see [Contributing Guidelines](/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
 ## Example Questions
 
 > [!TIP]

docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# Contributing
+
+[fork]: https://github.com/elastic/mcp-server-elasticsearch/fork
+[pr]: https://github.com/elastic/mcp-server-elasticsearch/compare
+[code-of-conduct]: https://www.elastic.co/community/codeofconduct
+
+Elasticsearch MCP Server client is open source and we love to receive contributions from our community — you!
+
+There are many ways to contribute, from writing tutorials or blog posts, improving the documentation, submitting bug reports and feature requests or writing code.
+
+
+Contributions are [released](https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service/#6-contributions-under-repository-license) under the [project's license](../LICENSE).
+
+Please note that this project follows the [Elastic's Open Source Community Code of Conduct][code-of-conduct].
+
+## Setup
+
+1. Install Node.js 18+ (using [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) is recommended)
+   ```bash
+   nvm use
+   ```
+2. Install dependencies
+   ```bash
+   npm install
+   ```
+3. Build the project
+   ```bash
+   npm run build
+   ```
+
+## Start Elasticsearch
+
+You can use either:
+
+1. **Elastic Cloud** - Use an existing Elasticsearch deployment and your API key
+2. **Local Elasticsearch** - Run Elasticsearch locally using the [start-local](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/run-elasticsearch-locally.html) script:
+   ```bash
+   curl -fsSL https://elastic.co/start-local | sh
+   ```
+
+   This starts Elasticsearch and Kibana with Docker:
+   - Elasticsearch: http://localhost:9200
+   - Kibana: http://localhost:5601
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> The `start-local` setup is for development only. It uses basic authentication and disables HTTPS.
+
+## Development Workflow
+
+1. [Fork][fork] and clone the repository
+2. Create a new branch: `git checkout -b my-branch-name`
+3. Make your changes
+4. Test locally with the MCP Inspector:
+   ```bash
+   ES_URL=your-elasticsearch-url ES_API_KEY=your-api-key npm run inspector
+   ```
+5. [Test with MCP Client](../README.md#developing-locally)
+6. Push to your fork and [submit a pull request][pr]
+
+## Best Practices
+
+- Follow existing code style and patterns
+- Write [conventional commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/)
+- Include tests for your changes
+- Keep PRs focused on a single concern
+- Update documentation as needed
+- Use TypeScript with proper typing
+- Add JSDoc comments to new functions
+
+## Getting Help
+
+- Open an issue in the repository
+- Ask questions on [discuss.elastic.co](https://discuss.elastic.co/)
+
+## Resources
+
+- [How to Contribute to Open Source](https://opensource.guide/how-to-contribute/)
+- [Using Pull Requests](https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/)
+- [Elastic Code of Conduct][code-of-conduct]