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Banana Hacks

Code of Conduct & Rules

Everyone at Banana Hacks — participants, mentors, judges and organisers — is covered by this Code of Conduct. It applies in Discord, on Zoom, in submitted work, and anywhere else the event happens. Read it before you register.

Reporting a problem

If something happens that this document says should not, tell us. You can use the #help channel in Discord, or email the organisers directly. Reports are read only by the organising team.

Email team@bananahacks.tech

Who this applies to

Open to everyone, everywhere, at any age. Banana Hacks is built for students and first-time hackers, but there is no age, country, or school requirement to enter. If you are under 18, please read this page with a parent or guardian before registering. Banana Hacks is organised by Ishaan Cherukuri and a student-run team.

Code of Conduct

Banana Hacks is a virtual event, and conduct online is held to the same standard as an in-person one.

Online Hackathon Standards

  • Banana Hacks is a virtual event — your conduct online is held to the same standard as an in-person event. Screen-share content, Discord messages, project demos, video calls, and submitted work are all covered.
  • Do not record, screenshot, or share other participants' video feeds or private messages without explicit consent.
  • Do not attempt to disrupt the event infrastructure — submission platforms, judging portals, Discord bots, or organizer tooling.

Be Excellent to Each Other

  • We are committed to providing a harassment-free experience regardless of gender, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
  • Harassment includes offensive verbal comments, deliberate intimidation, unwanted attention, sustained disruption of others' work, and inappropriate online contact.
  • Sexualised language, imagery, or jokes are not acceptable in any event channel, DM, or submission.

Privacy & Safety Online

  • Do not share personal information about other participants (doxxing) in any form.
  • Phishing, social engineering, malware distribution, or any attack targeting participants or organizers is grounds for immediate removal.
  • If you discover a security vulnerability in event infrastructure, disclose it privately to the organizers — do not exploit or publicise it.

Academic Integrity

  • All code, designs, and content submitted must be your team's original work created during the hackathon window.
  • Properly attribute open-source libraries, datasets, and pre-trained models used in your project.
  • Using generative AI tools is permitted and encouraged — disclose which tools you used in your submission.

Enforcement

  • Violations may result in a warning, removal from the event, or disqualification from prizes at organizer discretion.
  • Report concerns to an organiser via the #help channel on Discord, or by emailing team@bananahacks.tech. Reports are read only by the organising team.
  • Banana Hacks also follows the MLH Code of Conduct (mlh.io/code-of-conduct). Banana Hacks is not an MLH member event.

Submission rules

What counts as an eligible project, and what you need to hand in.

Teams

  • Teams of 1–4 people. You may form a team with anyone — no school affiliation required.
  • Each person may only be on one team.
  • Team changes must be reported to organizers before hacking begins.

Hacking Window

  • Hacking begins at the opening ceremony and ends at the announced deadline (Sun Oct 11, 11:59 PM AoE).
  • Any work started before the opening ceremony is not eligible for judging.
  • Code must be in a public GitHub repository committed within the hacking window — commit timestamps are verified.

What You Can Build On

  • Open-source libraries, public APIs, and pre-trained models are all fair game — cite them in your README.
  • Theme and challenge details are revealed at the opening ceremony. Projects must address the theme.
  • Hardware is not required; all projects should be demonstrable via screen-share or a hosted link.

Submissions

  • Submit via the official submission portal before the deadline. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Required: project name, 1-paragraph description, GitHub link, and a short demo video (≤3 min).
  • Judges score on Creativity & Originality (30%), Technical Implementation (30%), Visual Quality / User Experience (20%), and Potential Impact (20%) — the same criteria listed on the Prizes page.

Prizes & Eligibility

  • Prize winners must be available for a short post-event demo call with sponsors.
  • Organizers and judges are not eligible to win prizes.
  • By submitting, you grant Banana Hacks permission to feature your project in promotional materials.

Ready?

Register for Banana Hacks, read about the event, or check the FAQ.