Hacktoberfest Hack Day：團隊通宵開發開源貢獻去中心化信任網絡

An overnight journey of brainstorming, building, learning, snacks, last-minute changes and memories that we will probably talk about for a long time.

It was around 4:00 when our Hacktoberfest Hack Day began. There was excitement everywhere, and honestly, we were very thrilled. For most of us, this was a new experience. We were not just going to build a project; we were about to experience our first overnight hackathon together.

There were also many things we were exploring for the first time, especially how local AI models could be used while developing real projects. We had heard about these technologies, but getting to work with them ourselves was a different feeling.

And then the real work started.

he first challenge: deciding what to build

We began with brainstorming. First, we spent around 30 minutes exploring different problem statements and discussing what we could actually work on. After a lot of discussion, we finally selected Problem Statement 07: Decentralized Trust Network for Open-Source Contributions.

But selecting the problem was only the beginning.

We spent almost another hour understanding the problem, discussing possible solutions and sharing our individual thoughts. Everyone had something different in mind, and we tried to bring those ideas together into one direction.

By the time we were ready to start building, it was nearly 10:30.

To be honest, we felt we were already late. Looking around, it seemed like other teams had started much earlier and were already working on their projects. For a moment, we thought we were falling behind.

But we didn't want to lose hope. We had spent that time understanding the problem properly, and we believed that our research could help us make something meaningful.

So, we moved ahead.

From an idea to something we could actually show

Once we started working, our focus shifted towards finding what could make our solution different from the usual approaches.

We were working on the idea of a shared trust network where open-source projects could exchange information about contributors and suspicious activities. But we also wanted to develop something extra that could give our project its own identity.

That is where our trust-ranking idea came into the discussion.

We started exploring how contributor trust could be evaluated using mathematical calculations, previous records, reviews and feedback. The aim was not just to identify suspicious activity, but also to recognise genuine contributors and make sure new contributors were not judged simply because they had no history.

There was a lot of discussion around how this ranking should work and how we could explain it properly.

Alongside this, we started preparing the presentation. We worked on the PPT structure, researched how to explain the problem and solution, and started putting together the pitch. We wanted the presentation to tell a story instead of simply listing features.

The people behind the progress

One of the best parts of the night was seeing everyone take responsibility for different parts of the project.

Our backend and frontend leads, Yash and Rounak, spent a lot of time discussing the implementation and working on the dashboard. Watching the dashboard take shape was genuinely exciting. What had started as discussions and rough ideas was slowly becoming something we could actually show.

I was really impressed by the amount of effort they were putting in. There were continuous discussions, small changes and attempts to make things work better.

Vishnu was handling the PPT, and that itself became a separate task! He would share one updated version, we would point out some changes or mistakes, and then he would sort them out and send another version.

This happened again and again.

We also had our own discussions about the project, its technical approach and how we should present it. Sometimes even a small point would lead to a long conversation. But those discussions helped us get more clarity about what we were trying to build.

The little breaks that made the night better

Of course, it wasn't all work.

There were snacks, burgers, stickers and plenty of small conversations in between. We enjoyed the food, shared our hackathon experiences with friends and discussed what different teams were building.

Everyone seemed to have their own challenges. Some were stuck with technical issues, some were still figuring out their problem statements, and others were busy discussing their ideas.

These conversations made the environment even better. It was nice to see so many people working on different problems under the same roof.

We also got opportunities to talk to our mentors and discuss our project with them. Those interactions were valuable because sometimes explaining your idea to someone else makes you realise what is clear and what still needs work.

And yes, there were more refreshments later too—KurKure, Lay's, KitKat, Coke and burgers. Small things, but they really helped us get through the long hours.

The most hectic part: 5:30 to 6:30

If I had to choose the most hectic part of the night, it would definitely be the period between 5:30 and 6:30.

There were so many discussions happening at once. The PPT was still not finalised, and we kept finding things that needed to be added, shortened or corrected.

Vishnu was sending updated versions, and the rest of us were reviewing them, pointing out mistakes and suggesting changes. Then he would make the edits and share the next version.

We also had a few concerns regarding the dashboard and some basic parts of the project. For a while, it felt like there were too many things left to sort out.

But slowly, things started coming together.

We discussed the issues, worked through them and finally managed to resolve the concerns we had. The project files were uploaded to our GitHub repository, and seeing that upload was a satisfying moment.

The dashboard was ready to show, the PPT had taken shape, and our research and final discussions were mostly complete.

The only major thing still left to prepare was the final script.

Looking back, the night was not only about completing a project or preparing a presentation.

It was about experiencing how teamwork actually works when there is limited time. It was about listening to different opinions, making compromises, handling last-minute changes and trusting each other to complete different parts of the work.

There were moments when we felt late, moments when we were confused, and moments when everything seemed to be happening at once. But there were also moments of excitement when an idea finally made sense or something we had discussed actually appeared on the screen.

For me, one of the biggest takeaways was getting exposure to things I had never worked with before, especially local AI and the process of turning a problem statement into a working project.

I am sure there is still a lot for us to learn. Our pitch and final presentation are the next things we need to focus on, but the experience we have already had is something I will remember.

The food, the conversations, the last-minute PPT edits, the dashboard discussions, the mentors and, most importantly, the people I spent the night working with.

It was tiring, exciting, a little stressful and genuinely fun.

Maybe we came into this hackathon thinking only about the project we had to build. But we are taking back much more than that.