diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTE.md b/docs/CONTRIBUTE.md
index 978b87d27..579ba32bb 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTE.md
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTE.md
@@ -200,6 +200,16 @@ A short guide to how to write commit messages in the curl project.
     [whatever-else-by: credit all helpers, finders, doers]
     ---- stop ----
 
+The first line is a succinct description of the change:
+
+ - use the imperative, present tense: "change" not "changed" nor "changes"
+ - don't capitalize first letter
+ - no dot (.) at the end
+
+The `[area]` in the first line can be `http2`, `cookies`, `openssl` or
+similar. There's no fixed list to select from but using the same "area" as
+other related changes could make sense.
+
 Don't forget to use commit --author="" if you commit someone else's work, and
 make sure that you have your own user and email setup correctly in git before
 you commit