Submission Guide

Submission gate

Deadline: Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 12:00 AM EDT
Meaning: midnight at the beginning of Saturday—the end of Friday night, August 7.
Official timezone: America/New_York

A complete submission requires a public repository, a frozen Git reference, and a timestamped issue in the event repository before the deadline.

1. Repository requirements

Your GitHub repository must be public at submission and contain:

your-project/
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── HACKATHON.md
├── source code
├── dependency manifests and lockfiles
├── tests or verification instructions
└── optional docs, examples, screenshots, or demo assets

README minimum sections

# Project Name

## What it does
## Problem
## Why OpenCoven
## How OpenCoven was used
## Architecture
## Prerequisites
## Installation
## Configuration
## Run
## Test or verify
## Demo
## Known limitations
## Security and privacy
## License

`HACKATHON.md`

Copy participant/HACKATHON_TEMPLATE.md into the project and complete every field.

MIT License

Copy participant/LICENSE_TEMPLATE.txt to LICENSE. Replace only the year and copyright holder. Do not add restrictions or exceptions.

2. Proving OpenCoven use

Show what happened rather than only stating that OpenCoven was installed.

Good evidence includes:

the OpenCoven commands or surfaces used;
a brief build workflow;
session identifiers or a sanitized session ledger;
screenshots with private content removed;
OpenCoven configuration relevant to the project;
code using an OpenCoven interface;
an architecture diagram;
a concise explanation of why OpenCoven mattered.

Do not commit:

provider API keys;
OAuth tokens;
.env files containing secrets;
private prompts or session logs;
personal data;
local runtime databases or sockets.

Recommended evidence section:

## OpenCoven use

Mode: development workflow + runtime integration

OpenCoven was used to:
1. create project-scoped sessions;
2. preserve decisions between implementation passes;
3. run a verification familiar against the frozen build;
4. expose the resulting workflow through [integration].

Evidence:
- `docs/opencoven-workflow.md`
- `docs/architecture.md`
- sanitized screenshots in `docs/images/`
- integration code in `src/...`

3. Demo

Provide one of:

a public video link, preferably five minutes or less;
a browser-accessible live demo;
a scripted terminal recording;
a deterministic local demo command;
another equivalent artifact clearly proving the core path.

The demo should show:

the problem;
the project starting;
the core workflow;
where OpenCoven is used;
the result;
one limitation or next step.

Do not require judges to purchase a service. When practical, include a mock provider, recorded fixture, sample data, or judge-supplied-key path.

4. Freeze the judged artifact

Run:

git status
git add -A
git commit -s -m "chore: freeze hackathon submission"
git push

git tag -a july-hackathon-2026-final -m "OpenCoven Beta Hackathon final submission"
git push origin july-hackathon-2026-final

git rev-list -n 1 july-hackathon-2026-final

Copy the full commit SHA into HACKATHON.md and the submission issue.

Judges review that tag. Continuing development after the deadline is allowed on another branch, but it does not alter the score.

5. Submit by GitHub issue

Open one OpenCoven Hackathon Submission issue in the event repository:

https://github.com/OpenCoven/opencoven-beta-july-hackathon-2026/issues/new/choose

Use the issue form or participant/SUBMISSION_MESSAGE_TEMPLATE.md.

Required fields:

project name;
one-sentence summary;
team members;
employer name, if an entrant chooses to provide it;
public repository;
final tag;
full commit SHA;
demo;
OpenCoven-use summary;
new-feature bonus claim;
upstream-adoption bonus evidence;
merged bug-fix PR claims;
greenfield/MIT declaration.

Do not edit the submission after the deadline except to repair a broken link without changing the underlying artifact. Record any correction transparently.

6. Bonus evidence

New OpenCoven capability

Include:

what did not exist before;
what now works;
where it is implemented;
how to demonstrate it;
why it is useful to OpenCoven users.

Planned upstream adoption

Link a public maintainer statement, approved plan, or PR review explicitly indicating intended upstream integration.

Merged reproducible-bug PRs

For each claimed PR, list:

target repository;
issue URL;
PR URL;
merge commit;
reproduction summary;
point band claimed: 1, 2, or 3;
why that band applies.

Judges make the final classification.

7. Submission timestamp

The event-repository issue timestamp and the frozen Git reference must establish that the full entry existed before the deadline. Discord availability does not affect submission validity.

8. Final preflight

# Confirm public clone works from a clean location
git clone https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git /tmp/hackathon-check
cd /tmp/hackathon-check
git checkout july-hackathon-2026-final

# Confirm the license exists
test -f LICENSE || test -f LICENSE.txt

# Search common secret patterns before submission
git grep -n -E \
  '(sk-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{12,}|AIza[0-9A-Za-z_-]{20,}|BEGIN (RSA|OPENSSH|EC) PRIVATE KEY)' \
  || true

Also verify:

README commands work;
links work without private access;
demo permissions are public;
lockfiles are included;
required environment variables are documented;
no local absolute path is required;
all team members are listed;
reused assets and code are attributed;
the repository shows the MIT License;
the final tag points to the intended commit.