diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 206563718..68123c1d9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 .cache
 .ccls
 .coverage
+compile_commands.json
 MANIFEST
 _build
 _generate
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index d9024c6d7..a8362aa8f 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -32,14 +32,36 @@ with micromamba.
 
 To build libsemigroups (with the above environment active):
 
+First, clone and prepare the libsemigroups repository:
+
 .. code-block:: console
 
     git clone https://github.com/libsemigroups/libsemigroups
     cd libsemigroups
-    ./autogen.sh && ./configure --disable-hpcombi && make -j8
+    ./autogen.sh
+
+Then choose one of the following installation methods:
+
+**Option 1: System-wide installation**
+
+For a system-wide installation (requires sudo):
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    ./configure --disable-hpcombi
+    make -j8
     sudo make install
 
-where ``-j8`` instructs the compiler to use 8 threads.
+**Option 2: Install into conda/mamba environment**
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    ./configure --prefix=$CONDA_PREFIX --disable-hpcombi
+    make -j8
+    make install
+
+In both cases, ``-j8`` instructs the compiler to use 8 threads (adjust based on your
+system).
 
 To build the Python bindings (with CCache) inside the ``libsemigroups_pybind11``
 directory:
diff --git a/etc/make-dev-environment.sh b/etc/make-dev-environment.sh
index 221a4d636..7d5915024 100755
--- a/etc/make-dev-environment.sh
+++ b/etc/make-dev-environment.sh
@@ -49,7 +49,17 @@ fi
 
 echo Setting environment variables ...
 echo
-./etc/set-conda-environment-variables.sh -m $dev_env_pkg_manager
+
+# Use conda for environment variable setup if both mamba and conda are available
+# as mamba and conda CLIs are no longer equivalent for this operation
+env_var_pkg_manager=$dev_env_pkg_manager
+if [[ $dev_env_pkg_manager == "mamba" ]] && command -v conda >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "Using conda for environment variable setup (mamba CLI not compatible) ..."
+    env_var_pkg_manager=conda
+fi
+
+./etc/set-conda-environment-variables.sh -m $env_var_pkg_manager
+unset env_var_pkg_manager
 
 echo
 echo Reactivating environment ...