From 09bb7ac85b757c47c3e924928562017f201042d5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Daniel Roy Greenfeld <pydanny@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 14:18:45 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Add instructions on proper versioning

---
 CONTRIBUTING.md           |  3 +++
 docs/xocto/development.md | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b87ea0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Contributing to xocto
+
+Please read our [development instructions](https://xocto.readthedocs.io/en/latest/xocto/development.html).
diff --git a/docs/xocto/development.md b/docs/xocto/development.md
index 2a80e46..f6caedf 100644
--- a/docs/xocto/development.md
+++ b/docs/xocto/development.md
@@ -46,13 +46,27 @@ docker run -v `pwd`:/opt/app xocto/black
 
 ## Publishing
 
-Release to PyPI by creating a pull request that:
+Before you begin, determine the release number. This follows the instructions specifiwed on [semver.org](https://semver.org/). Releases therefore use this pattern:
+
+```
+MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
+```
+
+Where: 
+
+- MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes
+- MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner
+- PATCH version when you make backward compatible bug fixes
+
+### Release to PyPI
+
+Create a pull request that:
 
 1. Adds release notes to `CHANGELOG.md`.
 
 2. Updates the `VERSION` constant in `setup.py`.
 
-3. Updates the `__version__` constant in `xocto/__init__.py`.
+3. Updates the `__version__` constant in `xocto/__init__.py`, following the [semver.org](https://semver.org/) specification.
 
 Commit these changes in a single commit with subject matching
 `Bump version to v...`.