Improve developer onboarding: Missing structured guidance for setting up Rocket.Chat development environment

Hi, team.

While exploring the Rocket. While working on the chat repository and setting up the project locally, I noticed that the onboarding experience for new contributors could be smoother.

I encountered a few challenges along the way, despite following the available documentation, which could also impact others starting out.

What I found challenging
The setup involves multiple tools (Meteor, Node.js, MongoDB, Yarn), but there isn’t a single clear, step-by-step guide that brings everything together
Some common issues (like dependency errors or native module failures) aren’t documented in one place
It’s not very obvious how to confirm if the setup has been done correctly
Troubleshooting information is spread across different docs/pages
Why this matters

Rocket.Chat has a powerful but fairly complex codebase. For someone new, even getting the app running locally can take a significant amount of time.

Improving this flow could:

Help new contributors get started faster
Reduce repeated setup-related questions/issues
Make onboarding smoother for GSoC participants and first-time contributors
Suggested improvement

It might help to add a simple “Quick Start for Contributors” section in the README or docs that includes:

Recommended versions (Node, Meteor, etc.)
A clean, copy-paste-friendly setup flow
A small troubleshooting section for common issues
A quick way to verify everything is working (e.g., expected output or URL)

If this sounds useful, I’d be happy to help draft or contribute to this section

Thanks!

Review the existing README and setup documentation to map the current Rocket.Chat development environment instructions for Meteor, Node.js, MongoDB, and Yarn. Consolidate the relevant steps into a contributor quick-start with recommended versions, common troubleshooting guidance, and a clear verification step showing when setup is complete.