diff --git a/docs/docs/contributing.md b/docs/docs/contributing.md
index 4b3b7d65d..33734586a 100644
--- a/docs/docs/contributing.md
+++ b/docs/docs/contributing.md
@@ -27,16 +27,25 @@ cd icechunk-python
 
 === "uv (Recommended)"
 
-    The easiest way to get started is with [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/), which handles virtual environments, dependencies, and building automatically:
+    The easiest way to get started is with [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/), which handles virtual environments and dependencies:
 
     ```bash
     # Install all development dependencies (includes test dependencies, mypy, ruff, maturin)
     uv sync
 
-    # Activate the virtual environment
-    source .venv/bin/activate
+    # Configure maturin-import-hook for fast incremental Rust compilation
+    uv run -m maturin_import_hook site install
+
+    # Build the Rust extension
+    maturin develop --uv
+    ```
+
+    **Why these steps?** Icechunk is a mixed Python/Rust project. The `maturin-import-hook` enables incremental Rust compilation (7-20 seconds) instead of full rebuilds (5+ minutes) every time you run tests or import the module. This makes development significantly faster.
 
-    # Run tests
+    Now you can run tests and other commands:
+
+    ```bash
+    # Run tests (Rust changes will automatically trigger incremental rebuild)
     uv run pytest
 
     # Run type checking
@@ -45,6 +54,7 @@ cd icechunk-python
     # Run linting
     uv run ruff check python
     ```
+
 === "Venv"
 
     ```bash
@@ -57,6 +67,7 @@ cd icechunk-python
 
     # Build the Rust extension
     maturin develop
+    ```
 
 === "Conda / Mamba"
 
diff --git a/icechunk-python/pyproject.toml b/icechunk-python/pyproject.toml
index 59cf35081..638af876d 100644
--- a/icechunk-python/pyproject.toml
+++ b/icechunk-python/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,7 +24,13 @@ authors = [{ name = "Earthmover", email = "info@earthmover.io" }]
 dependencies = ["zarr>=3,!=3.0.3"]
 
 [dependency-groups]
-dev = [{ include-group = "test" }, "mypy", "ruff", "maturin>=1.7,<2.0"]
+dev = [
+    { include-group = "test" },
+    "mypy",
+    "ruff",
+    "maturin>=1.7,<2.0",
+    "maturin-import-hook>=0.3.0",
+]
 test = [
   "boto3",
   "coverage",
@@ -97,14 +103,8 @@ python-source = "python"
 exclude = ["README.md"]
 
 [tool.uv]
-# Rebuild package when any Rust files change
-cache-keys = [
-  { file = "pyproject.toml" },
-  { file = "Cargo.toml" },
-  { file = "src/**/*.rs" },
-  { file = "../icechunk/Cargo.toml" },
-  { file = "../icechunk/src/**/*.rs" },
-]
+# Disable automatic package building - we use maturin-import-hook for faster dev cycles
+package = false
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 asyncio_mode = "auto"