diff --git a/Documentation/Contributing/development-flow.md b/Documentation/Contributing/development-flow.md
index 679fd24dc..e92757c51 100644
--- a/Documentation/Contributing/development-flow.md
+++ b/Documentation/Contributing/development-flow.md
@@ -218,6 +218,30 @@ as much as possible before pushing
 (a behavior that is not required but highly encouraged),
 the unit tests and various linters can easily be run locally.
 
+### Checks that gate a pull request
+
+Each of the following checks runs against every PR and must pass before it can be merged.
+Every one of them can be run locally, and doing so before pushing saves a full CI round trip:
+
+| Check | Run it locally | Applies to |
+| ----- | -------------- | ---------- |
+| Unit tests | `make test` | Go changes under `cmd/` and `pkg/` |
+| Go linters | `make golangci-lint` | any Go change |
+| Generated client and deepcopy code | `make codegen` | any change under `pkg/apis` |
+| CRD manifests and reference docs | `make crds` | any change under `pkg/apis` |
+| Commit message format | `make lint.commits` | every commit |
+| Markdown formatting | `make lint.markdown` | any change under `Documentation/` |
+
+!!! tip
+    Build and test through `make` rather than invoking `go` directly. The `make` targets set the
+    build flags and tags that Rook needs, so an ad-hoc `go build` or `go test` may not match what CI
+    runs. Run `make help` to see all targets.
+
+!!! note
+    `make test` only runs the unit tests under `cmd/` and `pkg/` (the `GO_SUBDIRS`). Test files
+    elsewhere, such as under `tests/framework/`, are compiled by the linters but are never run by
+    the unit test CI.
+
 ## Unit Tests
 
 From the root of your local Rook repo execute the following to run all of the unit tests:
@@ -267,6 +291,30 @@ Refer to the respective project website for more installation instructions.
 !!! tip
     Run `make help` to see a list of all possible make targets
 
+## Generated Code and CRDs
+
+Several checked-in files are generated from the API types under `pkg/apis` and must be regenerated
+whenever those types change:
+
+```console
+# Regenerates the deepcopy functions and the typed client under pkg/client
+make codegen
+
+# Regenerates the CRD manifests and the CRD reference documentation
+make crds
+```
+
+Commit the regenerated files together with the change that required them, in the same commit. CI
+fails if regenerating produces any diff.
+
+A change to `pkg/apis` means more than adding or removing a field. Editing the godoc comment on an
+exported type or field also requires regeneration, because those comments are copied verbatim into
+the `description` fields of the CRDs. Reword a comment and the following files change:
+
+* `deploy/examples/crds.yaml`
+* `deploy/charts/rook-ceph/templates/resources.yaml`
+* `Documentation/CRDs/specification.md`
+
 ## Integration Tests
 
 Rook's upstream continuous integration (CI) tests will run integration tests against your changes
@@ -302,6 +350,28 @@ Then I'm explaining how I fixed it.
 Signed-off-by: FirstName LastName <email address>
 ```
 
+The commit prefix must be one of the types listed under `rules.type-enum` in
+[`.commitlintrc.json`](https://github.com/rook/rook/blob/master/.commitlintrc.json). Only those
+types are accepted, so pick the closest match rather than inventing one after the package being
+changed.
+
+Separate any trailer from the body with a blank line, or commitlint reports
+`footer-leading-blank`. Note that commitlint decides what a trailer is by looking at the text: a
+line that begins with a word followed by a colon, or one that closes an issue, is treated as a
+trailer even when it was meant as prose. Wrapping a sentence so that a line happens to begin with
+`anywhere:` is enough to trigger this. Rewrap the line to avoid it. Mentioning an issue in the
+middle of a sentence is fine.
+
+Check the commit messages on your branch before pushing:
+
+```console
+make lint.commits
+```
+
+This runs the same commitlint that CI runs, over your branch's commits. It compares against
+`origin/master` by default; if your Rook upstream is a different remote, point it there with
+`make lint.commits COMMITLINT_BASE=upstream/master`.
+
 ### Commit History
 
 To prepare your branch to open a PR, the minimal number of logical commits is preferred to maintain