diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 7c9a5bbd..bf8faa12 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -41,11 +41,20 @@ Full walkthrough: [profiling guide](https://abdess.github.io/retrobios/wiki/prof
 
 ## Before opening a PR
 
+The checks CI runs on a pull request (Python 3.12 or newer):
+
 ```bash
+pip install pyyaml "jsonschema[format-nongpl]"
+python scripts/validate_pr.py --changed          # the BIOS files the branch adds
+python scripts/validate_schemas.py --source-only # profiles and platform files
 python -m unittest discover -s tests -t .
-python scripts/pipeline.py --offline
 ```
 
+The full pipeline is not needed for a contribution: it rebuilds every pack
+(about 35 GB in `dist/`) and needs the data directories fetched first
+(`python scripts/refresh_data_dirs.py`), which is why maintainers run it
+before a release.
+
 ## PR validation
 
 CI computes SHA1/MD5/CRC32 for every new file, checks them against the platform
diff --git a/scripts/generate_readme.py b/scripts/generate_readme.py
index 1944866c..c7f1bc91 100644
--- a/scripts/generate_readme.py
+++ b/scripts/generate_readme.py
@@ -721,11 +721,20 @@ Full walkthrough: [profiling guide]({link("wiki/profiling")}).
 
 ## Before opening a PR
 
+The checks CI runs on a pull request (Python 3.12 or newer):
+
 ```bash
+pip install pyyaml "jsonschema[format-nongpl]"
+python scripts/validate_pr.py --changed          # the BIOS files the branch adds
+python scripts/validate_schemas.py --source-only # profiles and platform files
 python -m unittest discover -s tests -t .
-python scripts/pipeline.py --offline
 ```
 
+The full pipeline is not needed for a contribution: it rebuilds every pack
+(about 35 GB in `dist/`) and needs the data directories fetched first
+(`python scripts/refresh_data_dirs.py`), which is why maintainers run it
+before a release.
+
 ## PR validation
 
 CI computes SHA1/MD5/CRC32 for every new file, checks them against the platform
diff --git a/tests/test_contributing_text.py b/tests/test_contributing_text.py
index e4b80660..dda3c7a0 100644
--- a/tests/test_contributing_text.py
+++ b/tests/test_contributing_text.py
@@ -51,5 +51,25 @@ class CoverageReadsTheGivenProfiles(unittest.TestCase):
             )
         self.assertEqual(seen, ["elsewhere"])
 
+
+class BeforeOpeningAPullRequest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """The section asked for the full pipeline: on a fresh fork, without
+    data/, it rebuilt 35 GB of packs and then failed on the data
+    directories, while CI asks for three checks."""
+
+    def test_it_lists_the_checks_ci_runs_and_not_the_pipeline(self):
+        import re as _re
+
+        text = (REPO_ROOT / "CONTRIBUTING.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        section = text.split("## Before opening a PR", 1)[1].split("\n## ", 1)[0]
+        block = _re.search(r"```bash\n(.*?)```", section, _re.S).group(1)
+        for command in ("validate_pr.py --changed", "validate_schemas.py --source-only",
+                        "unittest discover"):
+            self.assertIn(command, block)
+        self.assertNotIn("pipeline.py", block)
+        workflow = (REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "validate.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        self.assertIn("validate_schemas.py --source-only", workflow)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()