diff --git a/api/Makefile b/api/Makefile
index 534a0e99c88b..461250b52740 100644
--- a/api/Makefile
+++ b/api/Makefile
@@ -36,11 +36,16 @@ clean-go:
 	rm -rf v2alpha1/go
 	rm -f v2alpha1/google/rpc/status.proto
 
-# Generate Python package.
+# Build and locally install Python package.
 .PHONY: python
 python: v2alpha1/pipeline_spec.proto v2alpha1/google/rpc/status.proto
 	python3 v2alpha1/python/generate_proto.py && cd v2alpha1/python && python3 setup.py bdist_wheel
 
+# Build and locally install Python package using editable mode for development.
+.PHONY: python-dev
+python-dev: v2alpha1/pipeline_spec.proto v2alpha1/google/rpc/status.proto
+	python3 v2alpha1/python/generate_proto.py && cd v2alpha1/python && pip install -e .
+
 # Delete all generated Python packages
 .PHONY: clean-python
 clean-python:
diff --git a/kubernetes_platform/Makefile b/kubernetes_platform/Makefile
index 4aa791039d93..c84a6400f93f 100644
--- a/kubernetes_platform/Makefile
+++ b/kubernetes_platform/Makefile
@@ -35,11 +35,16 @@ clean-go:
 	rm -rf kubernetes_platform/go
 
 
-# Generate Python package.
+# Build and locally install Python package.
 .PHONY: python
 python: proto/kubernetes_executor_config.proto
 	python3 python/generate_proto.py && cd python && python3 setup.py bdist_wheel
 
+# Build and locally install Python package using editable mode for development.
+.PHONY: python-dev
+python-dev: proto/kubernetes_executor_config.proto
+	python3 python/generate_proto.py && cd python && pip install -e .[dev]
+
 # Delete all generated Python packages
 .PHONY: clean-python
 clean-python:
diff --git a/sdk/CONTRIBUTING.md b/sdk/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 116c7d79f267..d57bcbf0d557 100644
--- a/sdk/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/sdk/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,12 +1,74 @@
 ## Contributing to the `kfp` SDK
-KFP v2 for SDK is under development on the `master` branch.
 
-To contribute to v1, please go to [sdk/release-1.8 branch](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/tree/sdk/release-1.8) to submit your change.
+For developing KFP v2 SDK, use the `master` branch.
+
+For developing KFP v1 SDK, use the [sdk/release-1.8 branch](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/tree/sdk/release-1.8).
 
 For general contribution guidelines including pull request conventions, see [pipelines/CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
 
-### Requirements
-All development requirement versions are pinned in [requirements-dev.txt](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/master/sdk/python/requirements-dev.txt).
+### Pre-requisites 
+
+Clone the repo: 
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines.git && cd pipelines
+```
+
+We suggest using a tool like [virtual env](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html) or something similar for isolating 
+your environment and/or packages for you development environment. For this setup we'll stick with `virtual env`. 
+
+For supported python versions, see the sdk [setup.py](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/master/sdk/python/setup.py). 
+It's suggested that you pick a version close to the highest in that list.
+
+```bash
+# optional, replace with your tool of choice
+python -m venv env && source ./env/bin/activate
+```
+
+As with any Python package development, first ensure [wheels and setuptools](https://realpython.com/python-wheels/) are installed:
+
+```bash
+python -m pip install -U pip wheel setuptools
+```
+
+All sdk development requirement versions are pinned in [requirements-dev.txt](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/master/sdk/python/requirements-dev.txt).
+
+```bash
+pip install -r sdk/python/requirements-dev.txt
+```
+
+Install the SDK in development mode using the `--editable` or `-e` flag. This will allow you to implement and test changes iteratively.
+Read more about it [here](https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/development_mode.html).
+
+```bash
+pip install -e sdk/python
+```
+
+The SDK also relies on a couple other python packages also found within KFP.
+These consists of the [api proto package](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/tree/master/api) and the kfp [kubernetes_platform](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/tree/master/kubernetes_platform) package.
+
+For the proto code, we need protobuf-compiler to generate the python code. Find instructions for your system for your package manager [here](https://grpc.io/docs/protoc-installation/).
+For Linux, using apt or apt-get, for example:
+```bash
+apt-get install -y protobuf-compiler
+protoc --version 
+```
+
+You can install both packages either in development mode if you are planning to do active development on these, or simply do a regular install.
+
+To install the proto package:
+```bash
+pushd api
+make generate python-dev # omit -dev for regular install
+popd
+```
+
+To install the kubernetes_platform package:
+```bash
+pushd kubernetes_platform
+make python-dev # omit -dev for regular install
+popd
+```
 
 ### Testing
 We suggest running unit tests using [`pytest`](https://docs.pytest.org/en/7.1.x/). From the project root, the following runs all KFP SDK unit tests: