diff --git a/packages/canvas-rce/DEVELOPMENT.md b/packages/canvas-rce/DEVELOPMENT.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..81cf4f9c9ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/canvas-rce/DEVELOPMENT.md
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+# Canvas Rich Content Editor - Development Guide
+
+This guide is written for those planning to develop `canvas-rce` itself.  It will
+guide you to getting things set up in a way that allows you to get off the
+ground and get going quickly.
+
+## Canvas RCE API
+
+In order for all features of `canvas-rce` to work you'll also need a running copy
+of `canvas-rce-api`.  You can get it from [canvas-rce-api](https://github.com/instructure/canvas-rce-api).  You'll want to follow the setup instructions for it in that repository as
+they will be the most up to date.
+
+## Developing
+
+Here we'll talk about how to develop on `canvas-rce` without the use of Canvas.
+
+You can get the "demo" development environment up and running by executing:
+
+```shell
+
+yarn dev
+
+```
+
+Then navigate to http://localhost:8080/demo.html and you will see the `canvas-rce` editor.
+Any changes you make to files under `/src` will be reflected in this editor.
+
+### Developing inside Canvas
+
+Because this package lives in the Canvas packages workspace, you can make modifications to it without first needing to do a `yarn install` in Canvas.
+
+You can start up the watch mode of this package by running `yarn build:watch` inside the `canvas-rce` directory.  Then in Canvas proper, you can run `yarn build:js:watch` and things generally work out.  If for some reason you get errors with the watch modes, you can fallback to the regular builds `yarn build:canvas` inside of `canvas-rce` and `yarn build:js` inside of Canvas. 
+
+## Plugins
+
+Canvas RCE specific plugins require using the [Canvas RCE API](#Canvas-RCE-API) normally, however
+by default the demo environment provides a fake shim so that you can develop without actually
+needing to use `canvas-rce-api` or Canvas.
+
+There is a section available on the page that allows you to connect to a real `canvas-rce-api
+`instance and to a real Canvas instance.  You can put a URL pointing to a running
+`canvas-rce-api` instance as well as a JWT from Canvas.  You can get the JWT from Canvas by
+going to any page with an RCE instance and typing `ENV.JWT` into the JavaScript console.  If you do these things you will pull real data from Canvas into the RCE demo environment.
+
+### Adding New Plugins
+
+If you are creating a plugin that works with Canvas RCE , you should also put in the appropriate
+fake data which can be done in the [fake data store](./src/sidebar/sources/fake.js).
+
+Custom plugins live under the plugins [directory](./src/rce/plugins/).
+
+## Upgrading TinyMCE
+
+### Language Packs
+
+Translations for TinyMCE are not shipped with the `tinymce` npm package. When
+upgrading to a new version be sure to download the latest language packs. Visit
+https://www.tinymce.com/download/language-packages/ and select all languages. It
+is easier to just download all and only commit the changes to existing files
+than try to only select the locales currently used. Download the file and
+extract all of th `.js` files to `./src/rce/languages/`. After commiting the
+changed locale files you can run `git clean -f ./src/rce/languages/` to remove
+the untracked language files.
+
+## Adding Languages
+
+### TinyMCE Language Pack
+
+Download the new TinyMCE language pack by visiting
+https://www.tinymce.com/download/language-packages/ and select the language.
+Copy the JavaScript file to `./src/rce/languages/`.
+
+### Locale Code Mappings
+
+Since different projects have a hard time agreeing on locale code format, a file
+mapping Canvas locale codes to TinyMCE locale codes needs to be updated. This is
+found in `./src/rce/editorLanguage.js`.
+
+### Recognized Languages
+
+The `./src/rce/normalizeLocale.js` file includes a list of valid locales. The
+new locale should be added here.
+
+### Locale Module
+
+A locale module should be added for each new locale, with a name matching the
+Canvas locale code. This file adds the translations to the `canvas-rce`
+formatMessage namespace, and loads the TinyMCE translations.
+
+#### Example
+
+```js
+import formatMessage from "../format-message";
+import locale from "../../locales/locale-code.json";
+import "../rce/languages/tinymce_locale";
+formatMessage.addLocale({ "locale-code": locale });
+```
diff --git a/packages/canvas-rce/README.md b/packages/canvas-rce/README.md
index 98be599edae..95949621b9c 100644
--- a/packages/canvas-rce/README.md
+++ b/packages/canvas-rce/README.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ The first customer of the `canvas-rce` was the `canvas-lms` LMS so documentation
 and references throughout documentation might reflect and assume the use of
 `canvas-lms`.
 
-# Install and setup
+## Install and setup
 
 As a published npm module, you can add canvas-rce to your node project by doing
 the following:
@@ -39,51 +39,6 @@ canvas-rce:
 ```
 (See: https://polyfill.io/v2/docs/ for more info)
 
-# Development
+## Development
 
-## Upgrading TinyMCE
-
-### Language Packs
-
-Translations for TinyMCE are not shipped with the `tinymce` npm package. When
-upgrading to a new version be sure to download the latest language packs. Visit
-https://www.tinymce.com/download/language-packages/ and select all languages. It
-is easier to just download all and only commit the changes to existing files
-than try to only select the locales currently used. Download the file and
-extract all of th `.js` files to `./src/rce/languages/`. After commiting the
-changed locale files you can run `git clean -f ./src/rce/languages/` to remove
-the untracked language files.
-
-## Adding Languages
-
-### TinyMCE Language Pack
-
-Download the new TinyMCE language pack by visiting
-https://www.tinymce.com/download/language-packages/ and select the language.
-Copy the JavaScript file to `./src/rce/languages/`.
-
-### Locale Code Mappings
-
-Since different projects have a hard time agreeing on locale code format, a file
-mapping Canvas locale codes to TinyMCE locale codes needs to be updated. This is
-found in `./src/rce/editorLanguage.js`.
-
-### Recognized Languages
-
-The `./src/rce/normalizeLocale.js` file includes a list of valid locales. The
-new locale should be added here.
-
-### Locale Module
-
-A locale module should be added for each new locale, with a name matching the
-Canvas locale code. This file adds the translations to the `canvas-rce`
-formatMessage namespace, and loads the TinyMCE translations.
-
-#### Example
-
-```js
-import formatMessage from "../format-message";
-import locale from "../../locales/locale-code.json";
-import "../rce/languages/tinymce_locale";
-formatMessage.addLocale({ "locale-code": locale });
-```
+See [DEVELOPMENT.md](./DEVELOPMENT.md)
diff --git a/packages/canvas-rce/doc/development.md b/packages/canvas-rce/doc/development.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 62044f369ed..00000000000
--- a/packages/canvas-rce/doc/development.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,74 +0,0 @@
-# Development
-
-NOTE: The `RichContentService` and `canvas-rce-api` are the same project. It
-started out as `RichContentService` and was later renamed `canvas-rce-api`.
-
-`git clone` the code and do the following:
-```bash
-cd canvas-rce
-npm
-```
-
-There is a built-in demo application to the `canvas-rce` that allows you to
-develop locally without having to setup an instance of `canvas-rce-api`
-this works for many things you might want to develop against, but not all
-things.
-
-## Debugging the module
-
-### debug using the demo app
-
-There is a demo app included in the `canvas-rce` that will allow you to see
-many of the changes that You make. you can run this demo app by executing
-`npm run dev` and then browsing to http://localhost:8080/demo.html
-
-This demo app loads up with some fake data that makes interaction between
-the sidebar and the editors not work out well. You can, however, load up the
-demo app with real data by doing the following
-
-1. Start the demo app (`npm run dev`) and open it up in a browser:
-   http://localhost:8080/demo.html
-2. In a separate window, start your `canvas-lms` instance. This instance should
-   be configured to hit the RCS (so you need to have RCS running as well).
-3. Go to a page in `canvas-lms` that has the RCE loaded through the RCS
-4. Open the developer console and on the commandline enter `ENV.JWT`. This will
-   display the JWT token. copy this token into your buffer.
-5. Go back to the RCE Demo app and below the sidebar, click on the
-   "Show Options" button
-6. In the "Canvas JWT" field, paste your JWT token.
-7. In the "API Host" field, enter `http://rce.docker` to hit your local RCS.
-8. Make sure the "Context Type" field is selected for whatever context you
-   pulled the ENV.JWT from (usually "course").
-9. Make sure the "Context ID" field contains the ID for whatever context you
-   pulled the ENV.JWT from (if "course" above, then this is the course id).
-10. Select "Update" and you'll be able to use the Demo app for real data.
-
-### debug in canvas-lms
-
-If you need/want to see these changes in Canvas, you need to get a
-local version of canvas-lms to use a new module. Follow these steps to get your
-local version of canvas to use the newly changed npm module.
-
-1. Make sure you have a running copy of `canvas-lms` configured to hit a
-   running copy of `canvas-rce-api`.
-2. Perform a "local publish" of the npm module by executing the
-   `scripts/npm_localpublish.sh` script from the root `canvas-rce` directory.
-   The script handles both local file system copy and docker-machine copy.
-   example1: `scripts/npm_localpublish.sh -t /tmp/canvas-rce`
-   example2: `scripts/npm_localpublish.sh -t /tmp/canvas-rce -d dinghy`
-3. Modify your local `canvas-lms`'s `package.json` file to change the
-   `"devDependencies"` entry for `canvas-rce` from: `"canvas-rce": "x.y.z",` to:
-   `"canvas-rce": "file:/tmp/canvas-rce",`.
-4. Run `yarn install` in your `canvas-lms` root directory to install the
-   the `canvas-rce` version you are working on.
-   example1: `yarn install`
-   example2: `docker-compose run --rm web yarn install`
-
-When you have the module loaded into `canvas-lms`, you can test out the module
-by seeing what changes were made to the `canvas-lms` environment. It's also
-useful to to debug the npm module while it's loaded into `canvas-lms`. The
-non-obvious part is figuring out where the module is in the webpack build. In
-chrome, just open the 'developer tools', then select the 'sources' tab. In the
-'sources' tree, browse to 'webpack://' > '.' > '~' > 'canvas-rce' > 'lib' and
-you'll be able to see all the canvas-rce src files under there. Set your
-breakpoints as needed and troubleshoot for what you need.
\ No newline at end of file