This coding manual was created to assess collaborative natural resource management projects. It builds upon previous work done in our lab at Arizona State University (Carr Kelman et al. 2018; Carr Kelman, Brady & Schoon 2019) and on the workshop held at the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society Conference in Oaxaca in November 2017. It builds on the basic structure of ‘Context-Mechanisms-Outcomes’ (CMO) used in realist evaluation methodology (Pawson & Tilley 1997; Salter & Kothari, 2014). Based on this C-M-O configuration, realist evaluation proposes tools to develop an understanding of “What works, for whom, in what circumstances... and why?”, which appears useful in explaining the successes and failures of collaborative management and governance.