diff --git a/ci/scripts/format b/ci/scripts/format
index 670e5e299e..bacea6779a 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/format
+++ b/ci/scripts/format
@@ -52,6 +52,20 @@ print_help() {
   echo "  -s, --only-staged        Only format staged files"
   echo "  -v, --verbose            Enable verbose output"
   echo "  -h, --help               Show this help message"
+  echo ""
+  echo "Uses the following clang-format style:"
+  echo "  { $(echo "${clang_style}" | sed 's/[{}]//g; s/, */;\n  /g')" }
+  echo ""
+  echo "Formats files with the following extensions: ${extensions_to_style_check}"
+  echo "in the following directories:"
+  echo "  ${dirs_to_style_check}" | fold -s -w 80 | sed '2,$s/^/  /'
+  echo ""
+  echo "Examples:"
+  echo "  Format changes against upstream/main (useful before opening a PR to upstream/main):"
+  echo "  $0 -b upstream/main"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  Check format for staged changes against HEAD (useful for a pre-commit hook):"
+  echo "  $0 --dry-run --only-staged --compare-base $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
 }
 
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
diff --git a/docs/pages/overview/contrib.md b/docs/pages/overview/contrib.md
index 57801d851b..17d9a5c522 100644
--- a/docs/pages/overview/contrib.md
+++ b/docs/pages/overview/contrib.md
@@ -10,13 +10,9 @@ Please submit a pull request!  We welcome code and idea contributions.
 
 ### Indentation, etc.
 
-Comdb2 contains code from multiple open source libraries.   If editing existing code for, for example, BerkeleyDB and
-SQLite, please stick to existing conventions for those code bases.  For Comdb2 code, it's highly recommended that
-before you creating a pull request, please format your code with `clang` via the following:
-
-```
-clang-format -style="{BasedOnStyle: llvm, IndentWidth: 4, UseTab: Never, BreakBeforeBraces: Linux, SortIncludes: false, IndentCaseLabels: false, AlwaysBreakTemplateDeclarations: true, AllowShortFunctionsOnASingleLine: false, AllowShortCaseLabelsOnASingleLine: true, AllowShortIfStatementsOnASingleLine: true}"
-```
+Comdb2 contains code from multiple open source libraries. If editing existing code for, for example, BerkeleyDB and
+SQLite, please stick to existing conventions for those code bases. For Comdb2 code, you can check your formatting
+using the `ci/scripts/format` script. Run `./ci/scripts/format -h` for details.
 
 ### Producing trace