diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e61db308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# ignore IDE files
+.vscode
+
+# ignore caches under any path
+**/__pycache__
+
+# ignore virtual environments
+venv*/*
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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index 00000000..736ec881
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# neofs-testlib
+This library provides building blocks and utilities to facilitate development of automated tests for NeoFS system.
+
+## Repository structure
+TODO
+
+## Installation
+TODO
+
+## Contributing
+Any contributions to the library should conform to the [contribution guideline](https://github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-node/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+### Development Environment
+To setup development environment for `neofs-testlib`, please, take the following steps:
+1. Prepare virtualenv
+
+```
+$ virtualenv --python=python3.9 venv
+$ source venv/bin/activate
+```
+
+2. Install all dependencies:
+
+```
+$ pip install -r requirements.txt
+```
+
+### Unit Tests
+Before submitting any changes to the library, please, make sure that all unit tests are passing. To run the tests, please, use the following command:
+```
+python -m unittest discover --start-directory tests
+```
+
+To enable tests that interact with SSH server, please, setup SSH server and set the following environment variables before running the tests:
+```
+SSH_SHELL_HOST = <address of the server>
+SSH_SHELL_LOGIN = <login that has permissions to run python3 on the server>
+SSH_SHELL_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH = <path to SSH private key on your machine>
+SSH_SHELL_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSPHRASE = <passphrase for the SSH private key>
+```
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