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FirstCommit’s Beginner’s Paradise is designed to be fair, welcoming, and beginner-friendly. These rules exist to protect the integrity of the competition and to make sure every participant has a great experience.

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Eligibility

  • You must be between the ages of 13 and 21 at the time of submission.
  • You must reside in a country supported by Devpost.
  • You may compete as a solo hacker or as part of a team.

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Teams

  • Teams may have up to 6 members total.
  • Every team member must make a meaningful contribution to the project.
  • All team members must be listed on the Devpost submission.

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Project Requirements

  • Your project must be created during the hackathon period that runs from August 21, 2026 through the submission deadline.
  • You may use any frameworks, libraries, templates, or APIs, as long as they are publicly available and properly credited.
  • Pre-existing projects or codebases started before August 21, 2026 are not allowed.
  • Submissions must be made through the official Devpost page for Beginner’s Paradise.

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GitHub Requirements

  • Every submission must include a public GitHub repository.
  • Your repository must contain multiple meaningful commits.
Submissions with only a single commit will be disqualified. This rule exists to encourage an authentic development process and to help you track your own progress.

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AI Usage

  • AI tools are allowed and encouraged as coding assistants.
  • You must disclose any AI assistance in your README.
  • You must understand your own code and be able to explain how it works. Copy-pasting responses without comprehension will not earn points.
  • Organizers reserve the right to request AI chat history or screenshots to verify transparency.

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Open Source and Attribution

  • All external assets, libraries, APIs, and media used in your project must be properly credited in your README.
  • Respect open source licenses and intellectual property rights.
  • Do not submit content that violates copyright or licensing agreements.

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Required Submission Materials

  • Public GitHub repository with meaningful commit history
  • Complete README including project overview, technologies used, setup instructions, credits, and AI disclosure
  • Demo presentation (3 to 5 minutes) covering what your project does, how it works, the technologies used, challenges faced, and what you learned
  • Optional but recommended: live deployment URL, screenshots, and a tech stack list

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Code of Conduct

  • Treat all participants, judges, and organizers with respect.
  • Harassment, hate speech, and discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated.
  • Violations may result in disqualification and removal from the event.

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Disqualification Criteria

  • Submitting a single-commit repository
  • Including pre-existing work started before the hackathon begins
  • Failing to disclose AI assistance
  • Violating the code of conduct
  • Plagiarism or failure to credit external resources