diff --git a/COMPOSITE_TODO b/COMPOSITE_TODO
index 144710336a..9d7a26b0d0 100644
--- a/COMPOSITE_TODO
+++ b/COMPOSITE_TODO
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 This file lists TODO items for the compositing code.
 
-See file HACKING for details on developing KWin.
+See file HACKING for details on developing KWin, including building
+    the kwin_composite branch.
 See effects/howto.* for a HOWTO on writting effects.
 See documentation in source (mainly in scene.cpp) for description
-of the design of the compositing framework.
+    of the design of the compositing framework.
 
 TODO
 =================================
diff --git a/HACKING b/HACKING
index 02f5c1ab93..91d4498a57 100644
--- a/HACKING
+++ b/HACKING
@@ -11,6 +11,23 @@ There are also two kcontrol components 'kcmkwindecoration' and 'kcmkwinoptions'
 to KWin's KControl modules.
 
 
+Using kwin_composite branch:
+============================
+
+See the KDE trunk HOWTO at http://developer.kde.org/build/trunk.html .
+
+The simplest way to build the kwin_composite branch is to switch the trunk version
+to the branch:
+
+$ cd kdebase/workspace/kwin
+$ svn info
+(prints the repository URL, for example https://svn.kde.org/home/kde/trunk/KDE/kdebase/workspace/kwin)
+$ svn switch https://svn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/work/kwin_composite
+(i.e. replace trunk/KDE/kdebase/workspace/kwin with branches/work/kwin_composite)
+$ make
+(i.e. build and use it as usually)
+
+
 KWin parts:
 ===========