Public gallery
Every submission showcased in a permanent, searchable gallery with repo, demo and video.
Browse projectsSample Hack 2026 · submissions close 1 Mar 18:00 UTC · 41 projects in
Sample Hack 2026
Run hackathons that ship real platforms
DOGFOOD 2026 is the hackathon where the product is the hackathon platform itself. Submissions, balanced judging and community voting in one self-hostable app — fast.
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- Projects
- 41
- Tracks
- 8
- Judges
- 30
Developer toolsData and analyticsAccessibilitySecurityClimateHealthEducationOpen hardware
One platform, every job
The right format for every builder
Participants, judges and organizers each get a dedicated surface — connected by one backend.
Judging console
Scoped assignments, draft reviews and normalized scoring — judges see only their queue.
Open judgingOrganizer OS
Events, judges, balanced assignment rounds, audit trail and CSV exports in one place.
Run an eventCommunity vote
One-person-one-vote or quadratic ballots, hidden until organizers publish results.
Cast a voteTwo workspaces
Built for teams and organizers
The easiest way to launch and judge your next hackathon.
Participants
Ship your best build
Form a team, open a draft and submit before the deadline. Your work lives in a permanent gallery with repo, demo and video attached.
- Private drafts until you submit
- One-click team formation from your dashboard
- Certificates and results receipts for every entry
- Community ballots alongside the judges
Organizers
Judging you can defend
Balanced assignment, per-judge normalization and a full audit trail — run a fair event without spreadsheets.
- Every project gets 3 independent reviews
- Conflicts and self-reviews excluded by the server
- Frozen rubrics, CSV exports at every stage
- Self-hostable with Docker Compose and MIT license
“The organizers will fork the winning project and run their own events on it. Build the platform that will judge you.”
DOGFOOD 2026 rulebook
The grand prize is distribution
Guides
Everything you need to win
Practical paths for first-timers and returning builders.
Getting started
Ship your first submission in an afternoon
Create an account, join a team, open a draft and submit before the deadline.
Create an accountJudging handbook
How balanced reviews and normalization work
Three independent reviews per project, calibrated before ranking. No black boxes.
See live eventsSelf-host kit
Run the whole platform with one command
Postgres, API and web app via Docker Compose. MIT licensed, demo data included.
Explore the galleryDOGFOOD Blog
Build logs from the team
Setup guides, judging math and self-host notes — same format as docker.com/blog.
Oct 3, 2026 · 9 min read
Run the whole platform with one command: setup guide (main branch)
Clone main, docker compose up, seed fixtures, test accounts, and the 7/7 acceptance checker — everything to go from zero to judging in minutes.
Read now
Oct 3, 2026 · 11 min read
Build the platform that will judge you: how we built DOGFOOD 2026
FastAPI + Next.js + Postgres with backend-enforced judge isolation, z-score calibration and one-command Docker — our Write-Up Quest build log.
Read now
Sep 28, 2026 · 8 min read
Fair ranking is not an average: z-scores, Bradley-Terry and Borda
Raw averages reward lucky judge draws. How per-judge calibration plus two extra ranking views produce a ROBUST/FRAGILE verdict organizers can defend.
Read nowBefore you ask
Questions, answered
The essentials. Anything else — ask an organizer in the event channel.
Register nowWhat do we actually build?
A complete, self-hostable hackathon platform: authentication, events, teams, project submissions, judging with balanced assignment and normalized scoring, community voting, certificates and a REST API with webhooks. The organizers fork the winning build and run real events on it.
How does judging stay fair?
Every project receives the same number of independent reviews. Workloads stay within one review of each other, conflicts of interest and self-reviews are excluded, and harsh or generous scoring is corrected with per-judge normalization before ranking.
What are the key dates?
Submissions for Sample Hack 2026 close on 1 March 2026 at 18:00 UTC. Judging opens after the deadline and community voting runs alongside the judges.
Who owns the code?
You do. Everything is open source under the MIT License — which is exactly why the organizers can fork and self-host the winner.