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+# Basic setup for development
+
+## Required tools/packages
+
+* [SSH](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ssh/README.html)
+* [Git](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/gitlab-basics/start-using-git.html)
+* [Docker](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/container_registry.html) & Docker-Compose
+* Node.js & NPM - be sure to install the current LTS version, might need a [PPA](https://github.com/nodesource/distributions/blob/master/README.md#installation-instructions)
+* [NVM](https://github.com/creationix/nvm#installation) - if you want to use multiple different versions of node
+
+```shell
+apt install ssh git docker docker-compose nodejs
+```
+
+## IDE - recommended choices
+
+* [Webstorm](https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/download/) - Free license for academic purposes
+* [VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/)
+
+## Optional helpful tools
+
+* Curl - for executing HTTP requests
+* Postman or Insomnia
+
+## Clone starter repositories
+
+* [Minimal deployment](https://gitlab.com/openstapps/minimal-deployment) - contains backend, database, minimal connector, copy (from api) and app
+* [Minimal connector](https://gitlab.com/openstapps/minimal-connector) - an example connector to learn the principles of connector development
+
+```shell
+git clone git@gitlab.com:openstapps/minimal-deployment.git
+git clone git@gitlab.com:openstapps/minimal-connector.git
+```