Hackathon Rules

1. Quick reference

2. Eligibility

1. Each participant must be at least 18 years old and must reside in India.
2. Participants may enter individually or in a team of no more than five people.
3. Every listed team member must satisfy the eligibility requirements and must have contributed to the project.
4. Each competitive award is associated with one project submission. Award fulfillment for team submissions is governed by the Terms & Conditions.
5. SerpApi employees, contractors, their affiliates, and their immediate family or household members are not eligible for awards.
6. Participants may be asked to provide identity, age, residency, tax, and payment information before receiving an award.

3. Project rules

Meaningful SerpApi usage

SerpApi must make a material contribution to the submitted project's functionality. Adding an isolated or cosmetic API call solely to meet eligibility requirements is insufficient. Whether a project reflects material SerpApi usage will be determined by SerpApi in its sole discretion.

Programming languages and frameworks

There are no programming language restrictions. Participants may use any language, framework, or tech stack, provided the submitted project makes meaningful use of SerpApi.

New and existing projects

Projects do not need to begin during the hackathon. Existing projects are accepted when the submitted version demonstrates meaningful SerpApi usage and the relevant work can be identified and reviewed. Participants must disclose that the project existed before the hackathon.

Tracks

Each project must select one track: AI Agents, Open-Source Integrations, Travel & Local Discovery, Commerce & Market Intelligence, Knowledge & Public Interest, or Open Innovation. SerpApi may move a project to a more appropriate track before judging.

Rights and permissions

Participants must have the right to submit every component of their project. Projects may use open-source software, third-party APIs, datasets, assets, and AI-generated material when their licenses and applicable terms permit the submitted use. An open-source license for the participant's own code is encouraged but not required.

4. Submission requirements

A complete submission must be received before October 5, 2026 at 23:59 IST. Links that cannot be accessed by judges may cause the submission to be treated as incomplete.

1. Sign in through the Hackathon website using a GitHub account and complete the submission form.
2. Provide a public GitHub repository containing the submitted project, documentation, and sufficient setup or usage instructions.
3. Explain which SerpApi products, APIs, SDKs, search engines, MCP features, or tools the project uses and why that usage matters.
4. Provide the lead participant's name, email address, mobile number, occupation, and years of professional experience. Occupation and experience are collected for internal analytics only. For a team entry, list the name and email address of each additional team member. A project may include no more than four additional team members.
5. Select one track, state whether the project existed before the Hackathon, and indicate how the participant learned about the event.
6. Provide a publicly accessible demonstration video. An unlisted YouTube video, shareable Google Drive link, or comparable link is acceptable when it opens in an incognito or private window without requesting access.
7. List any AI development or content-generation tools used. Omit this field if no AI tools were used.
8. Accept these Rules and the Terms & Conditions.

Submission limit and changes

Each authenticated account may keep up to three active projects, including drafts and submitted entries. Deleting a project frees space for another. Drafts are not submitted automatically and must be completed and submitted before the deadline to qualify.

A draft requires a project name, description, and community source. Participants may edit saved drafts at any time, including before final submissions open. A draft does not qualify as an entry until the participant completes the required fields, accepts the Rules and Terms & Conditions, and selects “Submit project” before the deadline.

The website records the time each project is first submitted. Editing a project does not replace or reset that initial submission time.

Demo-video standard

The demo must be a screen recording under three minutes that shows the project running locally and its core functionality working. The link must open in an incognito or private window. Narration is optional, and the recording may be sped up to stay within the time limit.

Recording quality, editing, visual polish, and production value do not affect judging as long as the functionality is clear enough to review.

Valid submission

A valid submission is timely, complete, accessible, eligible, non-deceptive, and demonstrates meaningful SerpApi usage. Unfinished, spam, copied, inaccessible, or materially non-functional entries may be rejected.

5. Use of AI tools

AI-assisted development is allowed. Participants may use coding assistants, generative models, agents, and other AI tools to design, write, test, document, or demonstrate their project.

Participants remain responsible for the accuracy, security, licensing, originality, and rule compliance of everything they submit. AI use does not excuse plagiarism, infringement, misrepresentation, or the inclusion of secrets and personal information.

Participants must briefly name any AI tools used and describe how they contributed. This disclosure may be omitted when no AI tools were used. AI use does not affect judging. SerpApi collects this information for internal reporting only.

6. Judging

Eligible projects will be considered using the following criteria without fixed percentage weights:

• Idea strength: the clarity and quality of the underlying project insight.
• Originality: the distinctiveness of the approach or combination of ideas.
• Technical complexity: the engineering effort, implementation depth, and quality of the technical solution.
• Usefulness: the practical value the project offers its intended users.
• Meaningful SerpApi usage: how materially and appropriately SerpApi contributes to the project's functionality.

Judges may review the submitted materials, repository history, code, documentation, demonstration, submission record, and other publicly available project information. They may request clarification or a functionality check. SerpApi retains final discretion over eligibility, interpretation of the criteria, rankings, ties, and winner selection. SerpApi’s decisions on these matters are final and not subject to appeal.

7. Awards

With the four announced partner communities, the competitive prize pool includes ₹2,00,000 in cash and 115,000 SerpApi credits (US$1,150 usage value), plus 1,000 credits for every valid submission. Credit values use 100 credits per US dollar of usage and are not cash equivalents.

One competitive award per project

A project may receive only one competitive award. Overall first, second, and third places are assigned first. Best-in-track awards and then community awards are assigned to the next highest-ranked eligible projects. The 1,000 valid-submission credits are a participation benefit and may be received in addition to a competitive award.

Verification and fulfillment

Awards are subject to eligibility verification, applicable taxes and withholding, successful completion of required payment or account documentation, and compliance with these Rules and the Terms & Conditions. SerpApi may withhold, reduce, substitute, reassign, or decline an award when verification fails or circumstances reasonably require it. The Hackathon is a skill-based competition; awards are not, and must not be construed as, a lottery, sweepstakes, or game of chance.

8. Fair participation and conduct

Participants must engage honestly and respectfully. In addition to other remedies available at law or in equity, SerpApi may disqualify a project or participant for conduct including:

• False eligibility, authorship, team, community, or functionality claims.
• Plagiarism, infringement, unauthorized reuse, or failure to provide required attribution.
• Manipulating submission, repository, community, or judging signals.
• Harassment, discrimination, threats, or disruptive behavior toward participants, communities, organizers, or judges.
• Malware, credential theft, abuse of SerpApi services, or violation of applicable law.
• Exposure of API keys, personal data, or other secrets in public materials.

9. Administration and changes

SerpApi administers the hackathon and has full discretion to interpret these Rules, determine validity and eligibility, select winners, resolve disputes, and make decisions necessary to operate the event. These determinations are final and binding on all Hackathon participants.

SerpApi may modify the schedule, tracks, submission process, rules, judging process, awards, or other aspects of the hackathon. SerpApi may suspend, shorten, extend, postpone, or cancel the hackathon in whole or in part when circumstances warrant. Material updates will be published on the hackathon website when reasonably practicable.

Participation is also subject to the Hackathon Terms & Conditions and relevant provisions of SerpApi's legal terms. If these Rules conflict with the Hackathon Terms & Conditions, the Hackathon Terms & Conditions control. The Terms & Conditions include additional provisions on limitation of liability, indemnification, governing law, and dispute resolution that apply to all participants.