Grab it from "Try it yourself" and hand it to your AI agent — it carries the whole method and the tracker page.
Run a hackathon without missing what wins points
I passed every test at a hackathon and still lost — I missed a required feature while polishing the UI.
▶ 4 min·Jun 2026·Project management · AI · NoCode Development·●●○ lvl 2·Free
01 · Story
Story behind
Yesterday I was at a hackathon: build a "company brain" that answers questions about company data.
It went well — too well.
I passed every test and felt sure I'd make the top 15.
With time to spare, I polished the UI for hours.
I never built the one thing the judges required: a knowledge map.
My project aced every test — and still didn't place.
So next time, how do I put the required work first and spend my time where it counts — so this doesn't happen again?
I built a hackathon skill. Hand it your event and it runs the sprint with you:
- it asks about your hackathon first — the rules, the scoring guide, the deadline
- it builds you a dashboard from a template, set up for the day
- you drop notes as you go, text or screenshots, and it turns each into a ticket, sorted by what matters
- it tracks every must-do and milestone, so your time goes where the points are
Now the scoring guide runs the build — not gut feel.
It keeps what's required in front of you and the clock honest,
so your next hackathon is protected: the last hour goes to points, not a prettier screen.
02 · Why
Why this helps you
You build to the score, not your gut — the AI keeps the scoring guide in front of you, so the thing that wins points gets built even when it feels unnecessary.
Nothing required slips — a running list flags anything you must do and haven't, before the deadline, not after.
One page for the whole sprint — the clock, your tasks, your notes, and what's missing, instead of five tabs and a scramble at the end.
An AI that argues back — it's built to defend your points, not to please you, so a bad cut gets challenged before it costs you.
Works for any judged event — a hackathon, a game jam, a pitch sprint: if there's a scoring guide and a deadline, it fits.
03 · Steps
How to
- Give it the event — the rules, the scoring guide, the deadline, and your time zone. (Nothing to connect — a hackathon has no account to plug in.)
- Tell it where to save — a folder for this event, so everything stays in one place.
- Walk it through the event — it asks for anything missing: how points are given, how many practice runs you get, how you hand it in.
- Let it sort — it marks what you must do versus what's optional, and agrees a few checkpoints with you.
- Open the page it builds — a countdown, your checkpoints, an inbox for notes, and a task board, all in one file.
- Drop notes as you go — type or paste anything, with screenshots; the AI turns each into a task and marks the must-dos.
- Push an idea past it — try to cut something the judges score and it pushes back with the cost in points.
- Decide on the record — keep it, or park it as "Won't do" with a reason. Nothing scored disappears quietly.
- Run the before-you-submit check — anything required and unfinished is flagged while there's still time to fix it.
- Hand it in — on time, with nothing the judges scored left on the table.
04 · Notes
Good to know
You still decide — the AI pushes back, but you can always override. It just makes you do it on purpose, with the cost in front of you.
Give it the real scoring guide — the method is only as good as what you feed it. No scoring guide, no edge.
The tracker lives in your browser — one file, nothing to install, but your notes save on that device. Keep the file.
Test your own score early — if the event lets you check, do it twice, not once at the end. The AI keeps reminding you.
Not for open-ended building — no score and no deadline means nothing to defend. This is for judged, timed events.
05 · Try it yourself
Copy the skill
Hackathon skill — the brain (SKILL.md)
Paste it to your agent as the first message.
Hackathon dashboard — the page (dashboard-template.html)
Paste it to your agent as the first message.
06 · Keep going
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