diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 7228fbed8..9ac7fcd02 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -4,17 +4,15 @@ Thanks for your interest in contributing to Fabro!
 
 ## How to contribute
 
-Fabro uses an **issue-based contribution model**. Instead of accepting outside pull requests, we accept bug reports and feature requests as GitHub Issues.
+Outside contributions are welcome! Whether it's a bug fix, a new feature, documentation, or a typo -- we'd love your help making Fabro better.
 
-1. **Open an issue** -- File an issue on [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/fabro-sh/fabro/issues) with a bug report or feature request. The more detail your issue contains, the easier it will be for us to address it quickly and successfully.
-2. **We build it** -- A Fabro maintainer will follow our software development process to create a patch, supervising AI coding agents and workflows.
-3. **You get credit** -- We will include you as a co-author on the commit which lands the change.
-
-See the [README](README.md#contributing-to-fabro) for more on why we use this model.
+- **Bug fixes and small improvements** -- Send a pull request directly. No need to open an issue first.
+- **Larger features or changes** -- Please open a [GitHub Issue](https://github.com/fabro-sh/fabro/issues) or start a [Discussion](https://github.com/fabro-sh/fabro/discussions) first so we can align on the approach before you invest significant time.
+- **Questions** -- Open a Discussion or email [bryan@qlty.sh](mailto:bryan@qlty.sh).
 
 ## Development setup
 
-If you are maintaining a fork, the instructions below will help you build and test locally.
+The instructions below will help you build and test Fabro locally.
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7cc53e30a..73a1e4ffc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -161,21 +161,13 @@ See the [deployment overview](https://docs.fabro.sh/administration/deployment) f
 
 ## Contributing to Fabro
 
-Fabro uses an **issue-based contribution model**. Instead of accepting outside pull requests, we accept bug reports and feature requests as GitHub Issues.
+Outside contributions are welcome! Whether it's a bug fix, a new feature, documentation, or a typo -- we'd love your help making Fabro better.
 
-AI can rapidly write or edit large amounts of plausible-looking code. Accepting these patches from external sources opens up risks to security and quality. To mitigate these risks, we are tightly controlling the inputs into the software development process.
+- **Bug fixes and small improvements** -- Send a pull request directly.
+- **Larger features or changes** -- Open a [GitHub Issue](https://github.com/fabro-sh/fabro/issues) or start a [Discussion](https://github.com/fabro-sh/fabro/discussions) first so we can align on the approach.
+- **Questions** -- Open a Discussion or email [bryan@qlty.sh](mailto:bryan@qlty.sh).
 
-Contributions follow these steps:
-
-1. **Open an issue** -- File an issue with a bug report or feature request. The more detail your issue contains, the easier it will be for us to address it quickly and successfully.
-
-2. **We build it** -- A Fabro maintainer will follow our software development process to create a patch, supervising AI coding agents and workflows.
-
-3. **You get credit** -- We will include you as a co-author on the commit which lands the change.
-
-As a result, you get the feature you need, without needing to keep a fork in sync.
-
-If you need a capability which is not in-scope for Fabro, you always have the option to maintain a fork of Fabro as it is distributed under the MIT license.
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for build instructions and development workflow.
 
 ---