diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b57a455..afaf24f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,55 @@
 
 The GUI allows you to start operating a node with just a few mouse clicks. Shardeum is one of the first L1 networks to enable a user-friendly GUI feature for node validators.
 
+## Getting Started with Local Development
+
+Before running Shardus CLI, it's essential to set up the [Shardeum server](https://github.com/shardeum/shardeum), [JSON RPC server](https://github.com/shardeum/json-rpc-server) and configure [CLI](https://github.com/shardeum/validator-cli) with updated node details.
+
+```bash
+git clone git@github.com:shardeum/validator-gui.git
+cd validator-gui
+```
+
+### Install Dependencies
+
+```bash
+npm install
+```
+
+### Set Environment Variables & Link to Operator CLI
+
+1. Create a `.env` file in the root directory and configure necessary environment variables as required. If running the RPC locally, set the NEXT_PUBLIC_RPC_URL variable.
+
+```bash
+export NEXT_PUBLIC_RPC_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8081
+```
+
+Adjust the port (8081 in this example) as needed.
+
+2. Link to the Operator CLI and set the environment to development:
+
+```bash
+npm link operator-cli
+export NODE_ENV=development
+```
+
+### Build and Start the Development Server
+
+```bash
+npm run build
+npm run start
+```
+
 ## Contributing
 
-Contributions are very welcome! Everyone interacting in our codebases, issue trackers, and any other form of communication, including chat rooms and mailing lists, is expected to follow our [code of conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) so we can all enjoy the effort we put into this project.
\ No newline at end of file
+Contributions are very welcome! Everyone interacting in our codebases, issue trackers, and any other form of communication, including chat rooms and mailing lists, is expected to follow our [code of conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) so we can all enjoy the effort we put into this project.
+
+## Community
+
+For help, discussion about code, or any other conversation that would benefit from being searchable:
+
+[Discuss Shardeum on GitHub](https://github.com/shardeum/shardeum/discussions)
+
+For chatting with others using Shardeum:
+
+[Join the Shardeum Discord Server](https://discord.com/invite/shardeum)