Hackathon #2

Advancing Agentic Applications on Cortensor

Following the success of our first public hackathon, Cortensor is proud to launch Hackathon #2, focused on advancing agentic applications, public goods, and developer tooling built on decentralized inference.

This hackathon builds on the foundation of Hackathon #1, expanding into agent-based applications, app store ecosystems, and tooling packages for the Cortensor network.

Objective

Participants are invited to create proof-of-concept (PoC) applications, bots, or developer tools that leverage Cortensor’s decentralized inference protocol.

Focus areas include:

  • Agentic Applications – autonomous or semi-autonomous apps and assistants built on Cortensor.

  • App Stores & Catalogs – storefronts or dashboards showcasing community-built Cortensor apps.

  • Developer Tooling & SDKs – packages, CLIs, or wrappers to simplify Cortensor integration.

  • Public Goods / Free Inferencing – open-access bots and applications for the community.

Prize Pool (in $COR equivalent)

  • 1st Place: $700

  • 2nd Place: $400

  • 3rd Place: $250

  • 4th & 5th Places: $150 each

  • 6th & 7th Places: $100 each

  • 8th to 10th Places: $50 each

Top projects may also qualify for monthly $COR grants for continued maintenance and improvements, similar to support provided to core community tooling and infrastructure contributors.

Important Notice on Prize Payouts

To align incentives with Cortensor’s long-term growth:

Eligibility Condition If a prize-winning participant is not:

  • An existing node operator running more than 20 nodes, or

  • A holder of $500+ $COR prior to the start of the hackathon, or

  • A participant with active staked tokens,

then their prize will be split as follows:

  • 50% allocated directly to Staking Pool #1 under their address

  • 50% distributed upfront as liquid $COR

This ensures prize rewards not only support winners but also strengthen network security and staking participation.

Project Ideas

Here are suggested directions for Hackathon #2 — with a focus on agentic apps, public goods, and developer tooling — followed by ideas carried forward from Hackathon #1:

New Suggested Areas

  • Agentic Assistants (Expanded) Build autonomous or semi-autonomous applications powered by Cortensor inference. Examples:

    • Research Assistant – reads documents, summarizes findings, and provides citations.

    • DevOps Agent – monitors network status or GitHub repos, generating alerts or reports.

    • On-Chain Agent – interacts with smart contracts, validates data, or executes automated tasks.

    • Workflow Coordinator – orchestrates multiple tools (APIs, scripts, or external services) using Cortensor as the inference layer. These assistants should not just answer queries, but act, monitor, and execute, extending Cortensor beyond inference into real-world decision-making.

  • App Stores & Catalogs Create a community-facing app store or dashboard showcasing all Cortensor-powered apps. Features could include:

    • Search, tags, and filters for app discovery

    • Leaderboards for popular or high-traffic apps

    • One-click “try it now” demos for public inferencing apps

  • Developer Tooling & SDKs Build development packages, CLI tools, and wrappers to accelerate app creation on Cortensor. Examples:

    • SDK in Python, JS/TS, or Rust for session management and task routing

    • CLI for deploying, testing, and monitoring apps on Cortensor

    • Templates for common app types (bots, agents, oracles)

  • Collaborative Knowledge Tools Build shared knowledge layers on top of Cortensor. Examples:

    • Decentralized wiki with inference-based fact verification

    • Memory-as-a-service tools for AI agents

    • Public datasets with Cortensor-backed Q&A endpoints

  • Infra Observability Tools Build monitoring and visualization tools for node operators, miners, and community members:

    • Dashboards for inference traffic, session load, and latency

    • Node reputation and performance trackers

    • Analytics for model usage and inference demand

From Hackathon #1 (and Previous Internal Hackathons)

  • AI Oracle (Truth Machine – TaaS) Verified facts via multi-node consensus.

  • Cortensor Community Bot Chatbot with decentralized inference backend.

  • Basic AI Agent (with Function Calls) Agents performing simple but useful tasks (bookmarking, summarization).

  • Price & Sentiment Bot Multi-site scraping and LLM-based sentiment analysis.

See also: Previous Hackathon Project Ideas

Ongoing Support

  • Outstanding projects may receive monthly $COR grants for ongoing improvements.

  • Exceptional teams may be offered dedicated roles in the Cortensor developer community.

How to Participate

Timeline

  • Hackathon Duration: 4 Weeks

  • Kick-off: TBA

  • Submission Deadline: TBA

Evaluation Criteria

  • Working Demonstrations (Mandatory) Submissions must be fully working applications and demonstrable in public during the hackathon. It is the participant’s responsibility to present their project to Cortensor’s community (Discord/Telegram or other designated channels), where members can access, test, or view the demo directly. ➝ Projects not demonstrated during the hackathon will not be considered qualified, regardless of submission status.

  • No Auto-Generated Submissions Projects created solely by AI tools without actual implementation or functionality will not qualify.

  • Cortensor’s Full Discretion Cortensor reserves the full right to evaluate, rank, and award prizes based on criteria including:

    • Functionality and stability

    • Originality and innovation

    • Integration with the Cortensor network

    • Usability and demonstration quality as shown to community members

Hackathon #2 is about pushing into the agentic frontier — building applications that don’t just use inference, but act, coordinate, and serve as public goods for the community.

Let’s build the next wave of decentralized AI together!

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