PatriotHacks Fall 2025 — Official Rules

1. Eligibility

  • Open to all currently enrolled college or university students worldwide (undergraduate, graduate, community college). News graduates (~12 month allowed). 

  • Students may compete solo or in teams of up to 4 members.

  • No age, major, or GPA restrictions.

  • Organizers, mentors, and judges may not compete.

2. Team Formation

  • Teams may form before or during the hackathon.

  • Max 4 people per team; no switching teams after submission.

  • Each participant may contribute to only one project.

3. Project Requirements

  • All work must be created during the build period:
    November 14 (9:00 a.m. ET) → November 16 (10:00 p.m. ET)

  • Pre-existing code, templates, or datasets are allowed, but must be clearly disclosed in the submission.

  • Projects must be submitted on time through the official portal (Devpost).

  • All submissions must include:

    • Project page with description

    • Demo video (2–4 minutes)

    • Public code repository

    • Any additional materials required for your track (Startup or AI)

4. Allowed Tools & Resources

You may use:

  • Public frameworks, APIs, AI tools, and open-source libraries

  • AI-generated content (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney) as long as it is disclosed

  • No proprietary or paid data that your team does not have permission to use

  • No sensitive personal data (PII, medical data without consent, etc.)

5. Prohibited Behavior

  • Plagiarism or submitting someone else’s work

  • Using code from previous personal or class projects without disclosure

  • Using tools or datasets you don’t legally have access to

  • Harassment, hate speech, discrimination, or disruptive behavior in any event spaces (Discord, email, streams)

  • Bribing judges, rigging judging, or impersonating others

  • Submitting malicious software or tools designed to exploit, damage, or breach systems

Any violation may result in disqualification.