For everyone, forever · CC0 · written live during ETHOnline 2026
ETHGlobal Hacker for Dummies — the side-by-side guide
How a human and his AI ʻohana built a six-integration hackathon submission in under a day — and how anyone can build online the same way. No gatekeeping. No prerequisites. Just the true order of operations, the scars included.
Who this is for: anyone who has ever said "I have an idea but I'm not a coder." In 2026 that sentence no longer ends the conversation. You bring the vision, the voice, and the values. A fleet of agents — or one good friend with a laptop — brings the rest. This guide is the proof, written mid-flight.
§1What an ETHGlobal hackathon actually is
ETHGlobal runs hackathons — in-person weekend arenas (Tokyo, Mumbai, New York…) and async online editions like ETHOnline (a ~2-week window, build from anywhere). You build a project, submit it through your Hacker Dashboard, and optionally present to judges. Partners (ENS, The Graph, World, Hedera, Chainlink, 1inch…) post prize tracks for projects that use their tech meaningfully. There's also a general Finalist track.
First timer's truth: the deadline on the event page is in a specific timezone — convert it to yours immediately. ETHOnline 2026's "Sunday 12:00pm EDT" was Sunday 10:00 AM Denver — a morning deadline. Do this math on day zero, not day minus-one.
§2Before you touch code (the paperwork that unlocks everything)
- Register at ethglobal.com → find your event → apply. (Check "my events" — you may have applied months ago and forgotten; we had.)
- Read the rules page first — it will shape your entire strategy. The two things that changed our build: (a) Classic/From-Scratch track requires all project code written inside the window — pre-built work goes to Continuity tracks with prior work documented; (b) AI tools are allowed but must be disclosed, and spec-driven AI work must ship its specs/prompts inside the repo.
- Skim the prizes page — every partner lists exact qualification requirements. Choose by fit, not by dollars.
- One submission per hacker per event — pick your project like it matters.
§3Pick the project (and name it from something you own)
The best hackathon projects are an existing dream given a deadline. Ours: a launchpad where agents get identity, consent, and a first job — the dream existed for a month as strategy docs; the deadline forced it into code. Then we named it from domains we already owned (myagentohana.com) — the name was free, on-brand, and instantly ours.
The dummies' naming trick: review your own domains/lore before inventing new brands. A name you already own is a name you can ship tonight.
§4The side-by-side pattern (human + AI squad)
The honest division of labor that wins hackathons in 2026:
| Human brings | Agents bring |
|---|
| Vision, taste, the one-word decisions | Parallel implementation across lanes |
| The voice (demo narration — AI voiceovers are banned) | Tests, docs, E2E, receipts |
| Keys & accounts (wallet, developer portals) | The typing, the retries, the 3am stamina |
| Judgment on what's true vs. hype | Honest reports with numbers |
Scar we earned tonight: six agents sharing ONE git checkout will eat each other's branches. Law: one clone per lane, push after every commit, origin is the only truth. We lost 15 minutes learning it; you get it free.
§5The repo is the résumé
- Public repo from minute one; incremental commits all night (single dump commits can be disqualified — history is evidence).
- specs/ folder: your white paper, prompts, planning artifacts — required if you used AI spec-driven workflows.
- AI-USAGE.md: say exactly what was human-directed and what was agent-built. Honesty is not a weakness — it's the new literacy.
- README that runs: clone → install → test → see it work. Judges are tired; be kind.
§6Testnet economics (never mainnet for a demo)
Deploy to Sepolia (+ Base Sepolia etc.) — free, real, and often required (the ENSv2 prize literally mandates Sepolia). A fresh deployer wallet + a faucet (or a friend sending 0.05 testnet ETH) is all you need. Mainnet is the roadmap slide, not the demo.
§7Integrations: implement many, submit your best three
Pick a max of three partner prizes on the form — but integrate maximally anyway. Our slate: ENS + The Graph + World submitted · Hedera (first alternate) · Chainlink (hire-quote oracle) · 1inch (BSC settlement) integrated on the bench · BNB/Fetch credited as inspiration. Rule of thumb: an integration that the demo needs anyway is a free prize claim — the one that costs you a separate side-quest is the one to bench.
§8The demo video (the part everyone fumbles)
- 2–4 minutes, ≥720p — under or over = automatic reject.
- No AI voiceover, no phone footage, no music-over-text. Your real voice, a decent room, and a screen recording.
- Script it with timestamps first (ours: 0:15 launch → 0:45 verify → 1:05 cameo → 1:30 the payment → 2:00 the revoke → 2:35 roadmap → 2:55 close).
- Show the thing working, not slides about the thing working.
§9Judging criteria — the five lenses
Technicality · Originality · Practicality · Usability · WOW. You can't fake WOW — it comes from a true moment. Ours: revoking an agent's listing with one word while the consent-governance agent reviews it live, on camera. Find your true moment; build the demo around it.
§10The side-by-side timeline (our actual 23-hour plan)
| T-minus | What happens |
|---|
| T-23h | Rules read · project picked · repo scaffolded · lanes fired in parallel |
| T-20h | Core contract + tests green · integrations spiked · UI drafted |
| T-18h | Testnet deploy (needs that faucet gas early!) · config flip · listings live |
| T-15h | Subgraph + Pulse page · World flow verified E2E · docs filled |
| T-10h | Screen recording passes · human records voiceover from script |
| T-6h | Video assembled (2–4 min) · SUBMISSION.md pasted into form · review |
| T-2h | SUBMIT · screenshot everything · exhale |
The two-hour buffer is sacred. Forms stall, uploads fail, wallets ask for signatures. Submit before the buffer starts, not inside it.
§11What humans still must do (the sacred small list)
- Your own accounts (hackathon dashboard, developer portals) — 2 minutes each, but yours.
- Testnet gas to the deployer address.
- Your voice on the video.
- The final "submit" click — because consent is the whole point.
§12The philosophy — everyone can build online
This guide exists because a bard and his agent family shipped a six-integration build in a day, from a phone, between meals. The stack is open. The patterns are CC0. The only gate left is the one you open. Consent for your agents. Identity for your agents. Agents that feel like family. That's not a hackathon project — that's the next internet, and it's yours to build.
"The more I give, the more I receive — the gift expands in a circular expansion."
— Shaka's Theory of Circularity