Add initial developer guide (#845)

Author: danbarr

.gitattributes

@@ -3,3 +3,6 @@
 # https://github.com/github/linguist.
 
 docs/cli/thv*.md linguist-generated=true
+docs/operator/crd-api.md linguist-generated=true
+docs/server/docs.go linguist-generated=true
+docs/server/swagger.* linguist-generated=true

README.md

@@ -72,7 +72,9 @@ setup, no security headaches, no runtime hassles.
 We welcome contributions and feedback from the community!
 
 - 🐛 [Report issues](https://github.com/stacklok/toolhive/issues)
+- 💬 [Join our Discord](https://discord.gg/stacklok)
 - 🤝 [Contributing guide](./CONTRIBUTING.md)
+- 📖 [Developer guide](./docs/README.md)
 
 If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to get involved, check out our
 contributing guide or open an issue. Join us in making ToolHive even better!

docs/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# ToolHive developer guide <!-- omit in toc -->
+
+The ToolHive development documentation provides guidelines and resources for
+developers working on the ToolHive project. It includes information on setting
+up the development environment, contributing to the codebase, and understanding
+the architecture of the project.
+
+For user-facing documentation, please refer to the
+[ToolHive docs website](https://docs.stacklok.com/toolhive/).
+
+## Contents <!-- omit in toc -->
+
+- [Getting started](#getting-started)
+  - [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
+  - [Building ToolHive](#building-toolhive)
+  - [Running tests](#running-tests)
+  - [Other development tasks](#other-development-tasks)
+- [Contributing](#contributing)
+
+Explore the contents of this directory to find more detailed information on
+specific topics related to ToolHive development including architectural details
+and [design proposals](./proposals).
+
+For information on the ToolHive Operator, see the
+[ToolHive Operator README](../cmd/thv-operator/README.md) and
+[DESIGN doc](../cmd/thv-operator/DESIGN.md).
+
+## Getting started
+
+ToolHive is developed in Go. To get started with development, you need to
+install Go and set up your development environment.
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- **Go**: ToolHive requires Go 1.24. You can download and install Go from the
+  [official Go website](https://go.dev/doc/install).
+
+- **Task** (Recommended): Install the [Task](https://taskfile.dev/) tool to run
+  automated development tasks. You can install it using Homebrew on macOS:
+
+  ```bash
+  brew install go-task
+  ```
+
+### Building ToolHive
+
+To build the ToolHive CLI (`thv`), follow these steps:
+
+1. **Clone the repository**: Clone the ToolHive repository to your local machine
+   using Git:
+
+   ```bash
+   git clone https://github.com/stacklok/toolhive.git
+   cd toolhive
+   ```
+
+2. **Build the project**: Use the `task` command to build the binary:
+
+   ```bash
+   task build
+   ```
+
+3. **Run ToolHive**: The build task creates the `thv` binary in the `./bin/`
+   directory. You can run it directly from there:
+
+   ```bash
+   ./bin/thv
+   ```
+
+4. Optionally, install the `thv` binary in your `GOPATH/bin` directory:
+
+   ```bash
+   task install
+   ```
+
+### Running tests
+
+To run the linting and unit tests for ToolHive, run:
+
+```bash
+task lint
+task test
+```
+
+ToolHive also includes comprehensive end-to-end tests that can be run using:
+
+```bash
+task test-e2e
+```
+
+### Other development tasks
+
+To see a list of all available development tasks, run:
+
+```bash
+task --list
+```
+
+## Contributing
+
+We welcome contributions to ToolHive! If you want to contribute, please review
+the [contributing guide](./CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+Contributions to the user-facing documentation are also welcome. If you have
+suggestions or improvements, please open an issue or submit a pull request in
+the [docs-website repository](https://github.com/stacklok/docs-website).