Quick Reference

The Format

Teams: 3–5 people
Duration: <time_range?> (<duration?> of hacking)
Code freeze: <time?> sharp — no exceptions
Demos: From <time?> at <afterwork_location?> (5-min demo + 3-min Q&A)
AI tools: Fully encouraged — Copilot, Cursor, Claude, whatever you want

The brief is a real-world enterprise application challenge requiring auth, business logic, database, frontend, and operational discipline. Scoped for one day with sufficient depth for varied implementations.

Technical Non-Negotiables

These apply regardless of what the brief asks you to build:

Requirement	Detail
Version control	GitHub/GitLab repo, meaningful commits throughout the day
Docker	Must run with `docker compose up` — no manual setup
Database	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB — not JSON files or in-memory storage
Tests	At minimum: tests covering your core business logic
README	Clone to running in under 5 minutes, including architecture and decision log
Deployed	Live URL accessible during the demo

Judging (60 pts total)

Category	Points
Documentation	10
AI Agent Scan Results	10
Code Quality & Architecture	10
DevOps & Deployment	10
Testing & Reliability	10
Product & Demo	10

See Criteria & Scoring for the full breakdown of what each category covers.

AI Tools

Fully encouraged. Use whatever helps you ship.

You must explain every decision. Judges will ask. AI agents evaluate code quality regardless of origin.

Key Times

Time	Event
<time?>	Doors open
<time?>	Opening briefing
<time?>	Hacking begins — The Brief is live
<time?>	Lunch
<time?>	Optional stand-ups
<time?>	Last orders — wrap up, finalise docs
<time?>	⛔ CODE FREEZE
<time?>	Demos begin
<time?>	Awards

Code Freeze Checklist

Before <time?>, make sure you’ve:

Pushed all code to your repo
Verified docker compose up works from a clean clone
Updated your README with the live URL
Run your test suite — it should pass
Written your decision log and known issues section
Removed any hardcoded secrets or credentials
Made your repo accessible to the scan agents