Hackathon Guidelines

Practical Notes for Teams on the Day

Rules set the boundaries, but most of what makes a hackathon go well happens in the first hour. Teams that agree early on a narrow, demonstrable goal usually finish stronger than teams chasing a sprawling idea. Before writing any code, sketch the one workflow you want judges to see working, and treat everything else as optional.

Starting from a clean slate

Because projects must be built during the event, keep a clear record of what was created on site. A fresh repository with frequent, descriptive commits is the simplest way to show this. Open-source libraries, public APIs and frameworks are normally fine to use, but list them in your README so judges can tell what your team built and what you pulled in. If you plan to reuse a personal template or boilerplate, ask the organisers first rather than assuming it is allowed.

Networking and infrastructure tips

Shared venue Wi-Fi can become congested once dozens of laptops start pulling packages and container images. A few habits help:

• Download large dependencies, SDKs and datasets before kickoff where the rules permit.
• Have a fallback, such as a phone hotspot, for your demo.
• Run services locally when possible so a network drop does not stall the whole team.
• Never commit API keys or passwords; use environment variables and rotate any secret that leaks.

If your project involves network design or topology, the material on our Network page offers useful context for framing the problem.

Preparing the five-minute presentation

Five minutes passes quickly. Spend roughly one minute on the problem, two on the live demo and the rest on how it works and what you would build next. Rehearse at least once with a timer, and record a short backup video of the demo in case something fails live. Judges weigh clarity alongside technical depth, so plain language and a working feature beat an ambitious slide deck.

Conduct and collaboration

Respect other teams, mentors and venue staff, share tables and power outlets fairly, and keep noise reasonable late in the event. Take breaks, eat and drink water; tired teams make avoidable mistakes. For questions about upcoming sessions, see Events or reach out via Contact.