DEV’s Big Summer Bug Smash is now LIVE! Share $5,000 in cash prizes, skateboards, and more across 20+ winners. 🐛🐞🪲

#bugsmash #devchallenge #performance #debugging

Marks National Be Nice to Bugs Day

Today is National Be Nice to Bugs Day in the U.S. and we’re thrilled to launch our Big Summer Bug Smash powered by Sentry. This smashing good time invites you to identify your biggest rockstar bugs and treat them to an epic grand finale.

Whether you’re optimizing the performance of your newest side project or reminiscing on an old #hugops story, we want to hear about it! There are prompts for both builders and writers and a $5,000 prize pool up for grabs, including exclusive Sentry skateboards!

Scroll for a preview of our prompts and prize categories.

Two Ways to Join

Clear the Lineup

Some bugs love the spotlight. Clear them off the stage by submitting a definitive bug fix or performance optimization in an existing codebase. We want to see the exact code changes you made so be sure to include your PR or code snippets. No new features, typos, or documentation fixes allowed!

Clear the Lineup Submission Template

Smash Stories

Share the legendary tale of a chaotic bug you caught or a clever performance optimization you previously pulled off. Dive into the technical details of how you made the software more resilient, and celebrate the wins that brought harmony back to your codebase.

Smash Stories Submission Template

Prize Categories

We'll have 20+ winners across five different prize categories for this challenge:

Clear the Lineup: Awarded to the most impactful and well executed bug fixes or optimizations in an existing codebase.
Smash Stories: Awarded to the best write-ups of a chaotic bug you caught or a clever performance optimization you pulled off.
Best Use of Sentry: Awarded to the best Clear the Lineup submissions that utilized Sentry to improve an application.
Best Use of Google AI: Awarded to the best Clear the Lineup submissions that utilized Google AI to improve an application.
Runner-Up: Awarded to outstanding submissions across all prompts that demonstrate exceptional impact and quality.

Winners will share from a $5,000 prize pool. In addition to cash prize, Best Use of Sentry winners will also receive a Limited Edition Sentry Skateboard!

Pro Tip: since prize category winners are drawn from a smaller pool of submissions, your odds of taking home a prize are meaningfully higher.

All participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge on their DEV profile.

How To Participate

Step 1: Pick Your Prompt

Choose between Clear the Lineup (submit a real bug fix or performance PR) or Smash Stories (write up a legendary debugging win). You're welcome to participate in both — each submission is judged independently.

Step 2: Publish Your Submission

Each prompt has a dedicated submission template prefilled with the required #bugsmash challenge tag — we recommend reviewing it before you start so you know exactly what to include.

If you're participating in a prize category, be sure to fill out the additional information required.