Hacktoberfest 2026
Build. Experiment. Share.
Hacktoberfest 2026 is here. This October, ACM BIT Mesra invites students and developers to explore open source, experiment with AI and open-weight models, and build something meaningful.
Learn, build, experiment, and showcase what you create throughout the month.
More challenge details, rules, timelines, judging information, and prizes will be announced on this event page.
- Date
- Oct 1–31, 2026
- Time
- Month-long Celebration (October 2026)
- Venue
- Online & BIT Mesra Campus, Ranchi
- Organized by
- ACM BIT Mesra
About the event
Hacktoberfest 2026 is a month-long celebration of open source throughout October 2026. The official 2026 focus is on learning and building with open-source AI and open-weight models, through online and in-person activities.
Pull requests and merge requests are no longer used as the official Hacktoberfest reward metric in 2026. Instead, the season centers on exploring, creating, and experimenting with community-driven computing.
ACM BIT Mesra is proud to host a dedicated challenge during this season to empower campus developers, researchers, and creators to build impactful software together. You can contribute to the event's recommended open-source projects or choose any public project maintained by ACM BIT Mesra on https://github.com/acm-bitmesra/.
You don't need to wait for registrations to open. Start contributing now and focus on making meaningful contributions; you may register anytime.
What to expect
Explore open source
Discover impactful repositories, open tools, and community-driven computing practices.
Experiment with AI
Engage with open-weight models, local inference runtimes, and accessible intelligence.
Build meaningful projects
Move from passive learning to shipping practical software and prototypes.
Learn with the community
Collaborate alongside peers, mentors, and SIG leads across the chapter.
Showcase what you create
Present your work, share insights, and get peer feedback by the end of October.
ACM Hacktoberfest Challenge
ACM BIT Mesra will host a dedicated challenge during Hacktoberfest. Challenge rules, submission requirements, judging criteria, timeline, and other details will be announced soon.
More challenge details, rules, judging information, and submission procedures will be announced on this page.
Recommended Open Source Repositories
A handpicked selection of top open-source projects welcoming contributions this season. Explore beginner-friendly issues, build with open-weight AI architectures, or contribute to essential developer tooling. You can also contribute to any public repository maintained by ACM BIT Mesra, not just the projects listed below.
Contribute to ACM BIT Mesra projects for the OSS community
For internal repos, choose any repository from the ACM BIT Mesra GitHub organization. Pick a project you like, read its README and contribution guidelines, and check open issues before starting.
ACM BIT Mesra's lightweight, Linux-first system diagnostics and network troubleshooting CLI. Improve it through documentation, tests, developer experience, and carefully scoped features.
ACM BIT Mesra's local-first, read-only network exposure auditor for developer machines. It explains which services are listening, how they are bound, and what defensive checks are worth reviewing.
The foundational model-definition framework for state-of-the-art machine learning in text, vision, audio, and multimodal AI.
Open-source agentic AI data assistant combining multi-agent frameworks, local LLMs, and private RAG data engines.
Open-source platform to chat with project documentation, source code, and knowledge bases using local models and vector search.
Open-source AI tool for parsing resumes and comparing them against job descriptions locally with 100+ LLMs.
High-performance Python framework that turns data and AI algorithms into production-ready web apps without frontend overhead.
Virtual collaborative whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams and system architecture designs.
Robust locally-hosted web application that lets you perform PDF merging, splitting, OCR, and conversions with zero data tracking.
The modern, fast open-source CRM alternative designed from the ground up with native AI capabilities and extensible GraphQL.
Interactive visual editor and designer for Event-Driven APIs based on the open AsyncAPI specification.
The official ACM Student Chapter platform at BIT Mesra. Built with Next.js 15, Tailwind CSS, Neon PostgreSQL, and Cloudflare Workers.
Comprehensive collection of fundamental data structures, graph algorithms, and numerical methods implemented cleanly in Python.
The world-renowned hands-on project that guides complete beginners through making their very first GitHub pull request.
Open source community curriculum and codebase helping millions around the world learn to code for free.
- •Read CONTRIBUTING.md first: Always inspect setup steps, lint rules, and branch naming guidelines before pushing code.
- •Filter by beginner labels: Search GitHub using
is:issue is:open label:"good first issue"to find curated beginner tasks. - •Focus on quality: Thoughtful bugfixes, test suites, or documentation clarity are far more valuable than volume.
- •No spam PRs: Meaningless typo changes or automated PRs without context get marked as spam and disqualify accounts.
Timeline & milestones
- October 1 – 31, 2026
Challenge Month
ConfirmedMonth-long building, exploration, and community experimentation.
- To Be Announced
Challenge Rules & Submission Guidelines
UpcomingDetailed problem tracks, constraints, and submission criteria.
- To Be Announced
Workshops & Mentorship Check-Ins
UpcomingHands-on guidance from chapter leads and technical mentors.
- To Be Announced
Submissions & Peer Showcase
UpcomingProject review, project showcases, and community evaluations.
Prizes & recognition
Prize and recognition details will be announced by the organizing team.
To Be DecidedPrize and recognition details will be announced by the organizing team.
Explore more
Official Hacktoberfest Website
Visit the global home of Hacktoberfest to learn about the worldwide open-source initiative, themes, values, and community activities.
HF26 DEV Challenge Hub
Explore the official Hacktoberfest 2026 weekly prompts, open-weight AI challenges, and community showcases on DEV.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hacktoberfest?
A month-long celebration of open source throughout October. In 2026, its focus is on learning and building with open-source AI and open-weight models.
Do pull requests count toward Hacktoberfest rewards in 2026?
No. Pull requests and merge requests no longer count toward official Hacktoberfest rewards in 2026.
How do I register for the ACM BIT Mesra Hacktoberfest challenge?
Registrations are officially OPEN! Sign in with your university account, connect your GitHub profile, and click 'Register for Hacktoberfest 2026' to start tracking your open-source contributions and compete on the live rankings leaderboard.
What are the prizes?
To be decided. Details will be announced later.
Who can participate?
Participation eligibility will follow the official ACM BIT Mesra challenge guidelines once finalized. Specific criteria and team guidelines will be posted on this page.
Disclaimer: Hacktoberfest is a registered trademark. This event is an independent community challenge hosted by ACM BIT Mesra associated with the open-source season, and is not officially operated, sponsored, or endorsed by Hacktoberfest, DigitalOcean, MLH, or DEV.
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