docs: make dev branch requirement more prominent for contributors (#8581)

Contributors frequently open PRs against master instead of dev.
Add prominent callouts and a root-level CONTRIBUTING.md so the
branch requirement is visible at every step of the contribution flow.

Made-with: Cursor

Co-authored-by: Cursor Agent <agent@cursor.com>

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 ### All Submissions:
 
-* [ ] Contributions should target the `dev` branch. Did you create your branch from `dev`?
-* [ ] Have you followed the guidelines in our Contributing document?
+> **⚠️ PRs must target the `dev` branch.** If your PR targets `master`, please change the base branch to `dev` before requesting a review.
+
+* [ ] My PR targets the `dev` branch (not `master`) and my branch was created from `dev`.
+* [ ] Have you followed the guidelines in our [Contributing document](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md)?
 * [ ] Have you checked to ensure there aren't other open [Pull Requests](../../../pulls) for the same update/change?
 
 <!-- You can erase any parts of this template not applicable to your Pull Request. -->

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Contributing to Qdrant
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> **All pull requests must target the `dev` branch, not `master`.**
+> The `master` branch is used for releases only.
+
+Please see our full [Contributing Guide](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md) for detailed instructions.

README.md

@@ -228,6 +228,13 @@ Examples and/or documentation of Qdrant integrations:
 - [OpenAI - ChatGPT retrieval plugin](https://github.com/openai/chatgpt-retrieval-plugin/blob/main/docs/providers/qdrant/setup.md) - Use Qdrant as a memory backend for ChatGPT
 - [Microsoft Semantic Kernel](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/semantic-kernel/the-power-of-persistent-memory-with-semantic-kernel-and-qdrant-vector-database/) - Use Qdrant as persistent memory with Semantic Kernel
 
+## Contributing
+
+We are happy to receive your contributions! Before opening a pull request, please read our [Contributing Guide](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> Our development branch is `dev`, not `master`. Please fork the repo, branch from `dev`, and open your pull request against `dev`. PRs targeting `master` will be asked to retarget.
+
 ## Contacts
 
 - Have questions? Join our [Discord channel](https://qdrant.to/discord) or mention [@qdrant_engine on Twitter](https://qdrant.to/twitter)

docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 # Contributing to Qdrant
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> **All pull requests must target the `dev` branch.** The `master` branch is used for releases only.
+> Fork the repo, create your branch from `dev`, and set `dev` as the base branch when opening your PR.
+> PRs opened against `master` will not be merged and you will be asked to retarget them.
+
 We love your input! We want to make contributing to this project as easy and transparent as possible, whether it's:
 
 - Reporting a bug