diff --git a/docs/contributing/index.rst b/docs/contributing/index.rst
index f47e935b0..2b1e6650c 100644
--- a/docs/contributing/index.rst
+++ b/docs/contributing/index.rst
@@ -47,6 +47,20 @@ SPRAS contributions:
    or `10 minutes to pandas
    <https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/user_guide/10min.html>`__
 
+Before getting started, verify your environment is ready with these
+checks:
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+   docker --version
+   docker run hello-world
+   docker login
+   conda --version
+   git --version
+   python -c "import spras; print('SPRAS import successful')"
+
+If the commands above run without errors, your environment is ready.
+
 *************************************************
  Step 0: Fork the repository and create a branch
 *************************************************
@@ -202,8 +216,9 @@ and explore the nodes and interactome.
 .. code:: python
 
    > from spras.dataset import Dataset
-   > dataset_dict = {'label': 'data0', 'node_files': ['node-prizes.txt', 'sources.txt', 'targets.txt'], 'edge_files': ['network.txt'], 'other_files': [], 'data_dir': 'input'}
-   > data = Dataset(dataset_dict)
+   > from spras.config.dataset import DatasetSchema
+   > dataset_schema = DatasetSchema(label='data0', node_files=['node-prizes.txt', 'sources.txt', 'targets.txt'], edge_files=['network.txt'], other_files=[], data_dir='input')
+   > data = Dataset(dataset_schema)
    > data.node_table.head()
      NODEID  prize active sources targets
    0      C    5.7   True     NaN    True
@@ -331,6 +346,13 @@ its contents before rerunning the Snakemake command.
  Step 5: Add Local Neighborhood to the tests
 *********************************************
 
+.. note::
+
+   These tests modify files in ``.github/workflows/``. If you push over
+   HTTPS using a Personal Access Token, make sure the token has
+   permission to modify GitHub Actions workflows. Otherwise, GitHub may
+   reject the push. SSH push works without this restriction.
+
 Add test functions to the test file ``test/test_ln.py``. This file
 already has existing tests to test the correctness of the Local
 Neighborhood implementation that was added to the Docker image. The new