Build AI Coding Loops and Win $5,000 — TestSprite Season 3 Hackathon

Suzy Su — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:47:14 +0000

Hey everyone! 👋
We've got something exciting lined up, and if you've been building with AI coding agents, this one's going to be right up your alley.
TestSprite is running its Season 3 Hackathon, themed around Loop Engineering — and it's all about trying the part of the AI coding workflow most people skip: the verification loop.

🔁 The Concept
Here's the core idea: your coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, whatever you're working with) writes the code. The open-source TestSprite CLI acts as a real user who is running real tests against your live app and returning verdicts. Then your agent reads the failure bundle, fixes the root cause, and reruns. Passes bank. The loop continues.
Write → Verify → Fix → Verify Again → repeat

💰 $5,000 Prize Pool — Two Ways to Win
Project Awards — $3,000 split across 5 winners. More details at event page: testsprite.com/hackathon-s3.
CLI Improvement Bonus — a separate $2,000 standing bounty for merged PRs that enhance the CLI. This one has no deadline and doesn't affect your Project Award score.

🛠 What You Need
TestSprite CLI installed (Node ≥ 20, free credits)
A deployed public URL — the CLI tests in the cloud, no localhost
A public GitHub repo with commit history as proof the loop ran
An agent-written LOOP.md — one plain-English line per iteration, written by the agent as it runs
No hand-writing the log. The agent writes it. Judges read it first.

📋 How to Submit
Two steps:
Push your repo with LOOP.md + README with your app's live URL
Submit your live URL, repo link, and TestSprite account on a Google Form in Discord #hackathon-s3-submissions
Demo video is optional but encouraged — it boosts your ranking.

🏆 Judging Breakdown
40 pts — Project Quality: does the live app actually work well?
40 pts — Loop Quality: did a real loop run and catch real failures?
20 pts + 5 bonus — Innovation: creative project or loop design, +5 for wiring the checker into CI/CD
More Bonus engagement pts

📅 Timeline
Jun 30 · 5PM PDT — Launch & setup
Jun 30 – Jul 7 — Build & loop
Jul 7 · 4:59PM PDT — Submissions close
Jul 13 — Winners announced on X & Discord

👉 How to Join
Follow @TestSprite on X — winner reveals go out there first
Join the Discord: discord.com/invite/GXWFjCe4an — rules, Q&A, and submissions all live here
Install the CLI: github.com/TestSprite/testsprite-cli
Full details at testsprite.com/hackathon-s3.

Questions? Drop them in the comments or in Discord — we'll be around. Let's see what you build! 🚀

DEV Community: Suzy Su

Build AI Coding Loops and Win $5,000 — TestSprite Season 3 Hackathon