| # Build Small Hackathon — Complete Reference |
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| **Source:** https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/README/blob/main/README.md |
| **Organization:** https://huggingface.co/build-small-hackathon |
| **Discord:** https://discord.gg/YHECTft87Z |
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| ## 📅 Timeline |
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| | Phase | Date | Status | |
| |-------|------|--------| |
| | Registration | May 7 – June 3, 2026 | ✅ Closed | |
| | Hack Window | June 5 – June 15, 2026 | 🟢 **LIVE NOW** | |
| | Mid-window AMA | TBD | Upcoming | |
| | Submissions Close | June 15, 2026 | Deadline | |
| | Winners Announced | TBD | After judging | |
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| ## 🎯 Two Tracks — Pick One |
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| ### 🏡 Track 1: Backyard AI |
| **Solve a real problem for someone you actually know.** |
| - Pick a person: neighbor, parent, small-business owner |
| - Build something that makes their day measurably better |
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| **Judged on:** |
| - ✦ Problem is specific and real |
| - ✦ The person actually used it |
| - ✦ Honest fit between problem and small-model constraint |
| - ✦ Polish of the Gradio app |
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| ### 🍄 Track 2: An Adventure in Thousand Token Wood |
| **Build something delightful that wouldn't exist without AI.** |
| - A toy, tiny game, strange interactive story, art experiment |
| - The AI should be doing the fun thing — not just helping you build it |
| - Strange is good. Joyful is the bar. |
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| **Judged on:** |
| - ✦ Genuinely delightful (would you show a friend?) |
| - ✦ AI is load-bearing for the experience |
| - ✦ Originality of concept |
| - ✦ Polish of the Gradio app |
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| ## 📏 Three Hard Constraints |
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| | # | Rule | Details | |
| |---|------|---------| |
| | 1 | **Small Models Only** | Total parameters ≤ 32 billion. Must fit on a laptop. | |
| | 2 | **Built on Gradio** | Your app must be a Gradio app, hosted as a Hugging Face Space. | |
| | 3 | **Show, Don't Tell** | Short demo video + social media post required for submission. | |
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| ## 🏅 Bonus Quests (Merit Badges) — Extra Points |
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| | Badge | Name | Requirement | |
| |-------|------|-------------| |
| | 🔌 | **Off the Grid** | No cloud APIs. Entirely local-first. | |
| | 🎯 | **Well-Tuned** | Uses a fine-tuned model you've published on Hugging Face. | |
| | 🎨 | **Off-Brand** | Custom frontend pushing past default Gradio look (use `gr.Server`). | |
| | 🦙 | **Llama Champion** | Model runs through llama.cpp runtime. | |
| | 📡 | **Sharing is Caring** | Shared agent trace on the Hub for everyone to learn from. | |
| | 📓 | **Field Notes** | Wrote a blog post/report about what you built and learned. | |
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| ## 💰 Prize Pool: $48,000+ Cash & Physical Prizes |
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| ### Main Track Awards — $18,000 |
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| | Track | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| |-------|-----|-----|-----|-----| |
| | **Backyard AI** | $4,000 | $2,500 | $1,500 | $1,000 | |
| | **Thousand Token Wood** | $4,000 | $2,500 | $1,500 | $1,000 | |
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| ### Community Choice — $2,000 |
| - One winner, voted by the community |
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| ### Sponsor Awards |
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| | Sponsor | Prize | |
| |---------|-------| |
| | **OpenBMB** | $10,000 total — 3 prizes per track (1st: $2,500, 2nd: $1,500, 3rd: $1,000) | |
| | **OpenAI** | $10,000 total — 1st: $5,000, 2nd: $3,000, 3rd: $2,000 | |
| | **NVIDIA** | 2× RTX 5080 GPUs for standout Nemotron builds | |
| | **Modal** | $20,000 credits — 1st: $10k, 2nd: $7k, 3rd: $3k | |
| | **Cohere** | $5,000 cash to prize pool | |
| | **JetBrains** | $5,000 cash to prize pool | |
| | **Black Forest Labs** | $3,000 cash to prize pool | |
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| ### Special Awards — $8,000 |
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| | Award | Prize | |
| |-------|-------| |
| | **Bonus Quest Champion** | $2,000 — Most merit badges on a single submission | |
| | **Off-Brand Award** | $1,500 — Best custom UI past default Gradio | |
| | **Tiny Titan** | $1,000 — Best app on ≤4B parameter model | |
| | **Best Demo** | $1,500 — Full package: great video + social post | |
| | **Community Favorite** | $2,000 — Voted by participants | |
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| ## 🛠 Tools & Resources for the Trail |
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| | Resource | Link | |
| |----------|------| |
| | ML Intern (starter kit) | https://github.com/huggingface/ml-intern | |
| | Gradio Guides | https://www.gradio.app/guides/quickstart | |
| | Gradio `gr.Server` (custom UI) | https://huggingface.co/blog/introducing-gradio-server | |
| | Llama.cpp Getting Started | https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp | |
| | Hackathon Org (submit Spaces here) | https://huggingface.co/build-small-hackathon | |
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| ## 📋 Submission Checklist (Due June 15) |
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| - [ ] Gradio app hosted as a **Hugging Face Space** under the `build-small-hackathon` org |
| - [ ] Model ≤ 32B parameters (verify in Space config) |
| - [ ] **Demo video** (short, shows the app working) |
| - [ ] **Social media post** (tweet, LinkedIn, etc. — link in submission) |
| - [ ] Space link submitted via the org |
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| ## 🔑 Per-Participant Credits (Just for Registering) |
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| | Provider | Credit | |
| |----------|--------| |
| | OpenAI Codex | $100 (first 1,000 participants) | |
| | Modal | $250 | |
| | Hugging Face | $20 | |
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| ## 💡 Project Ideas Brainstorming |
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| ### Backyard AI Track Ideas |
| - **Local recipe organizer** for a parent who prints recipes from websites |
| - **Inventory tracker** for a neighbor's small craft business |
| - **Medication reminder** with voice for an elderly relative |
| - **Garden planting calendar** customized to local climate zone |
| - **Homework helper** for a specific subject a kid struggles with |
| - **Accessibility tool** for someone with specific needs (voice-to-text, high contrast, etc.) |
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| ### Thousand Token Wood Track Ideas |
| - **Interactive micro-fiction** where the model co-writes a strange story |
| - **Tiny text adventure** with AI-generated rooms/NPCs |
| - **AI art collaborator** — you draw a blob, it completes it into something weird |
| - **Dream interpreter** that generates surreal illustrations |
| - **Procedural poem generator** with strange constraints |
| - **AI dungeon master** for a 5-minute solo RPG session |
| - **Glitch poetry** — model corrupts/transforms text in artistic ways |
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| ## ⚡ Quick Start Commands |
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| ```bash |
| # Clone the hackathon org (for reference) |
| git clone https://huggingface.co/build-small-hackathon |
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| # Create a new Gradio Space locally |
| # Then push to: https://huggingface.co/build-small-hackathon/your-space-name |
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| # Test model size (example) |
| python -c " |
| from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM |
| model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained('model-name') |
| print(f'Parameters: {sum(p.numel() for p in model.parameters()) / 1e9:.2f}B') |
| " |
| ``` |
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| ## 📝 Notes for Our Team |
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| - **We're in the hack window (June 5-15)** — build time is NOW |
| - **Two weekends** to build, ship, and demo |
| - **Gradio Space must be under the org** — not personal account |
| - **Model size is HARD constraint** — verify before submitting |
| - **Bonus quests stack** — aim for multiple badges for extra points |
| - **Demo video + social post are mandatory** — don't leave for last minute |
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| *Last updated: 2026-06-07 | Source: Hugging Face Spaces README* |
