This is a submission for Weekend Challenge: Passion Edition
What I Built
As a student developer, I constantly found myself searching across multiple platforms to discover hackathons, coding competitions, workshops, open-source programs, fellowships, and developer events.
Then I stumbled upon the way Google Maps work. Then I realized- the problem wasn't a lack of opportunities — it was discoverability.
Important opportunities are scattered across different websites, communities, and social platforms, making it difficult for students to know:
- What opportunities are available right now?
- Which ones are relevant to one's skills?
- Which deadlines are approaching?
HackFinder.ai is a centralized opportunity discovery platform built to solve this problem.
It helps students and developers discover relevant tech opportunities in one place through a clean, searchable dashboard.
Users can:
- Explore curated hackathons, events, workshops, and programs
- Filter opportunities by category, mode, and tags
- Track upcoming deadlines
- Bookmark opportunities for later
- Get AI-powered explanations on why an opportunity matches their profile
The goal is simple:
Make finding the next opportunity as easy as finding a place on Google Maps.
Demo
Code
React + Vite
This template provides a minimal setup to get React working in Vite with HMR and some Oxlint rules.
Currently, two official plugins are available:
- @vitejs/plugin-react uses Oxc
- @vitejs/plugin-react-swc uses SWC
React Compiler
The React Compiler is not enabled on this template because of its impact on dev & build performances. To add it, see this documentation.
Expanding the Oxlint configuration
If you are developing a production application, we recommend using TypeScript with type-aware lint rules enabled. Check out the TS template for information on how to integrate TypeScript and Oxlint's TypeScript related rules in your project.
How I Built It
The Story Behind HackFinder.ai
The idea came from my own experience as a student developer.
While exploring hackathons, open-source programs, workshops, and developer events, I noticed that opportunities were everywhere — but discovering them was difficult. They were scattered across websites, communities, and social platforms.
I realized many students don't miss opportunities because they lack skills, but because they never find the right opportunities at the right time.
That became the motivation behind HackFinder.ai — a platform to bring tech opportunities into one searchable space.
Building the Product
I started by defining a simple MVP:
"Help students discover relevant opportunities in seconds."
I focused on building the core experience:
- Search and filter opportunities
- View detailed opportunity information
- Bookmark interesting opportunities
- Get AI-powered explanations about why an opportunity matches their profile
For the frontend, I built a responsive dashboard experience using:
- React.js
- Vite
- Tailwind CSS
- Lucide React
- Local Storage
The biggest UI challenge was keeping the experience simple while handling many categories of opportunities.
Backend & AI
I built the backend using:
- Node.js
- Express.js
- MongoDB Atlas
The backend manages opportunity data and creates a foundation for future features like user profiles and personalized recommendations.
For AI, I focused on making it useful rather than adding AI just as a feature. HackFinder.ai helps users understand why an opportunity could be relevant to them and how it connects with their skills.
Challenges & Learnings
Building this project taught me how important product decisions are during development.
The biggest challenges were:
- Prioritizing features for an MVP
- Connecting frontend and backend smoothly
- Making AI add real value
- Building a polished experience within a limited timeframe
This project helped me improve my full-stack development skills and taught me how to turn a personal problem into a usable product.
What's Next
Future improvements I would love to add:
- User authentication and personalized profiles
- Email alerts for upcoming deadlines
- More automated opportunity discovery
- Better AI recommendations based on user goals and skills
Prize Categories
Best use of Google AI✨
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