About the challenge

Context is everything. The GitLab Transcend Hackathon is a two-week, fully virtual event celebrating the future of AI-native software development, built on top of GitLab Orbit. The structured, queryable representation of your codebase that gives AI the context it needs to actually understand your project.

Whether you want to ship code that powers GitLab Orbit itself, or build agents, flows, and skills that put it to work, there's a track for you. Beginners, seasoned contributors, and AI tinkerers are all welcome.

Two tracks, one mission: make AI smarter by giving it real context.

  • Contribute Track: Pick up an issue specifically designed for this hackathon and ship a merge request to GitLab Orbit and surrounding tooling.
  • Showcase Track: Build an agent, flow, or skill on the GitLab Duo Agent Platform that uses GitLab Orbit to solve a real developer problem. Publish to the AI Catalog and tell the world about it.

Get started

  1. Register here on Devpost.
  2. Head to the GitLab Contributors Platform transcend hackathon page and choose your track.
  3. Find more resources
  4. Build, ship, and submit your project on Devpost by June 24, 2026 (2:00 pm Eastern Time).

Requirements

What to Build

Pick one or both tracks:

Contribute Track

Merge requests to the GitLab Orbit codebase labeled orbit::hackathon. Bug fixes, features, docs, tests, performance work. Everything counts, as long as the MR is merged before June 24, 2026 at 2:00 pm ET. Maximum 5 MRs per person are eligible for prizes.

Showcase Track

A working agent, flow, or skill on the GitLab Duo Agent Platform that meaningfully uses GitLab Orbit via its API, CLI, or skill interface. The agent must perform a specific action or workflow automation (not just a text-based chat).

Your submission should tell a story:

  • What's the developer pain point?
  • How does your agent / flow / skill fix it?
  • What changes for the developer who uses it?

At least one agent or flow must be published to the AI Catalog.

What to Submit

  • Description covering the problem, the solution, how you built it, and what's next.
  • Decide for Contribute Track, Showcase Track, or both.
    • Contribute Track: Link(s) to your merged MR(s) with the orbit::hackathon label.
    • Showcase Track: Link to your provisioned open source (MIT Licensed) GitLab project and your published artifacts. Optionally include a blog or social post.

Both tracks require a Devpost submission.

Demo

A demonstration video (≤ 3 minutes) uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and set to public is required for the Showcase Track. It must show the project functioning and must not include copyrighted music or third-party trademarks without permission. Note that judges are not required to watch beyond 3 minutes.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$20,000 in prizes
Contribute Track: A qualified Merged Merge Request
$200 in cash
40 winners

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Technological Implementation, First Place
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Technological Implementation, Second Place
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Design and Usability, First Place
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Design and Usability, Second Place
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Potential Impact, First Place
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Potential Impact, Second Place
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Quality of the idea, First Place
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Showcase Track: Quality of the idea, Second Place
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

40 GitLab swag credits

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Arianna Haradon

Arianna Haradon
Sr Fullstack Engineer, GitLab

Raimund Hook

Raimund Hook
Staff Fullstack Engineer, GitLab

Lee Tickett
Principal Fullstack Engineer, GitLab

Mattias Michaux

Mattias Michaux
Fullstack Engineer, GitLab

Dennis Meister

Dennis Meister
Fullstack Engineer, GitLab

Nick Veenhof
Director, Developer Relations - Engineering & Programs

Judging Criteria

  • Contribute Track Judging
    Rewards go to the first 40 qualifying MRs merged before June 24, 2026 (2:00 pm ET) carrying the orbit::hackathon label. Max 5 MRs per person. GitLab Swag Credits go to all qualifying contributors.
  • Showcase Track Judging
    Stage 1: Pass/fail: does the project reasonably fit the theme and use GitLab Orbit? Stage 2: All Stage 1 submissions are evaluated on the following equally weighted criteria:
  • Technological Implementation
    Does the project demonstrate quality software development? Does the project meaningfully use GitLab Orbit via its API, CLI, or skill interface? How is the quality of the code? Does the artifact work as described?
  • Design and Usability
    Is the user experience well thought out? Is the agent or skill easy to install, configure, and interact with? Does the workflow make sense for the intended use case?
  • Potential Impact
    How big of an impact could the project have on the target community? Does it solve a real problem in the software development lifecycle? Does it demonstrate a use case other developers would want to replicate?
  • Quality of the idea
    How creative and unique is the project? Does it reveal a new capability or use case for GitLab Orbit that was not obvious before?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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