diff --git a/runtime/doc/starting.txt b/runtime/doc/starting.txt
index dd9f9ad0f3..34c4db4047 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/starting.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/starting.txt
@@ -358,6 +358,8 @@ argument.
 		instance a `nvim_get_api_info` call so that UI features can be
 		safely detected by the UI before attaching.
 
+		See |ui-startup| for more information about UI startup.
+
 		To embed nvim without using the UI protocol, `--headless` should
 		be supplied together with `--embed`. Then initialization is
 		performed without waiting for an UI. This is also equivalent
diff --git a/runtime/doc/ui.txt b/runtime/doc/ui.txt
index 42ce7a5edf..9d936b62be 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/ui.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/ui.txt
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@ RPC API. The UI model consists of a terminal-like grid with a single,
 monospace font size. Some elements (UI "widgets") can be drawn separately from
 the grid ("externalized").
 
+
 								  *ui-options*
-After connecting to Nvim (usually a spawned, embedded instance) use the
-|nvim_ui_attach()| API method to tell Nvim that your program wants to draw the
-Nvim screen grid with a size of width × height cells. `options` must be
+The |nvim_ui_attach()| API method is used to tell Nvim that your program wants to draw the
+Nvim screen grid with a size of width × height cells. This is typically done
+by  an embedder, see |ui-startup| below for details, but an UI can also
+connect to a running nvim instance and invoke this method. `options` must be
 a dictionary with these (optional) keys:
 	`rgb`			Decides the color format. *ui-rgb*
 				Set true (default) for 24-bit RGB colors.
@@ -68,6 +70,39 @@ Future versions of Nvim may add new update kinds and may append new parameters
 to existing update kinds. Clients must be prepared to ignore such extensions,
 for forward-compatibility. |api-contract|
 
+==============================================================================
+UI startup							   *ui-startup*
+
+Nvim defines a standard procedure for how an embedding UI should interact with
+the startup phase of Nvim. When spawning the nvim process, use the |--embed| flag
+but not the |--headless| flag. Nvim will now pause before loading startup
+files and reading buffers, and give the UI a chance to invoke requests to do
+early initialization. As soon as the UI invokes |nvim_ui_attach()|, the startup
+will continue.
+
+A simple UI only need to do a single |nvim_ui_attach()| request and then
+be prepared to handle any UI event. A more featureful UI, which might do
+additional configuration of the nvim process, should use the following startup
+procedure:
+
+1. Invoke |nvim_get_api_info()|, if this is needed to setup the client library
+   and/or to get the list of supported UI extensions.
+2. At this time, any configuration that should be happen before init.vim
+   loading should be done. Buffers and windows are not available at this
+   point, but this could be used to set |g:| variables visible to init.vim
+3. If the UI wants to do additional setup after the init.vim file was loaded
+   register an autocmd for VimEnter at this point: >
+
+    nvim_command("autocmd VimEnter * call rpcrequest(1, 'vimenter')")
+
+<4.  Now invoke |nvim_ui_attach()|. The UI will need to handle keyboard input
+    at this point, as sourcing init.vim and loading buffers might lead to
+    blocking prompts.
+5.  If step 3 was used, nvim will send a blocking "vimenter" request to the
+    UI. Inside this request handler, the UI can safely do any initialization
+    before entering normal mode, for instance reading variables set by
+    init.vim.
+
 ==============================================================================
 Global Events							    *ui-global*
 
@@ -144,15 +179,15 @@ Global Events							    *ui-global*
 	would conflict with other usages of the mouse. It is safe for a client
 	to ignore this and always send mouse events.
 
-["busy_on"]
-["busy_off"]
+["busy_start"]
+["busy_stop"]
 	Nvim started or stopped being busy, and possibly not responsive to
 	user input. This could be indicated to the user by hiding the cursor.
 
 ["suspend"]
-	|:suspend| command or |CTRL-Z| mapping is used. A terminal client (or other
-	client where it makes sense) could suspend itself.  Other clients can
-	safely ignore it.
+	|:suspend| command or |CTRL-Z| mapping is used. A terminal client (or
+	another client where it makes sense) could suspend itself.  Other
+	clients can safely ignore it.
 
 ["update_menu"]
 	The menu mappings changed.