Project Submission Guidelines

Online round submissions close on 10 November 2026 at 10:00 PM IST. Late submissions are not judged. The form stops accepting changes the moment the window closes, so don't leave it to the final minutes.

The online round opens on 7 November at 10:00 AM IST. You can save drafts before final submission opens. The dashboard always shows the exact open and close times for your event.

The submission form on your team dashboard usually has these fields. Organisers can change the form per event and add their own questions, so the form on your dashboard is always the final word on what is required (fields marked *).

• Project name (required). Up to 200 characters.
• GitHub repository (required). A public github.com link with the full source code.
• Pitch deck link (required). A Google Drive, Google Slides or Canva link that anyone can view.
• Live website / demo link. Your deployed project. If it can't be hosted, put run instructions in the README instead. Once results are released, this link is shown on the public leaderboard.
• Demo video link. A video of 3 minutes or less, for example on YouTube or Google Drive.
• Write-up or documentation. A Google Doc or Notion page on how you built it and the challenges you solved.
• Short description. Up to 1,000 characters on what it does, how you built it and the hardest problem you solved.

By default the form only insists on the first three, but judges expect a demo video and either a live link or clear run steps. A project without them is hard to score.

1. Log in to your team dashboard. Only the team leader's account can submit.
2. Choose your problem statement. Press Choose this problem statement on one of the briefs. This locks your track, and the project form unlocks after you choose.
3. Make the repository public, push your latest code, and upload your demo video.
4. Fill in the form and press Save draft. You can edit and save as many times as you like.
5. When everything is final, press Submit project and type SUBMIT to confirm.

After you press Submit project, your links are locked and sent to the judges. You cannot edit them again. Until then, a saved draft is just a draft. Check every link in a private browser window before you submit. If you submitted something broken by mistake, email [email protected] before the deadline.

• Public by the deadline, and public until judging is over.
• The commit history must show the work happening between 7 and 10 November. Code written before the round starts means disqualification. Ideas, research and design sketches are fine.
• No secrets or API keys in the code. Use environment variables and commit a .env.example file.
• Starter templates, open-source libraries, public APIs and AI coding assistants are allowed. Disclose them in the README.

1. Project name and a one-line description
2. Problem
3. Solution
4. Demo links and a screenshot
5. Tech stack
6. Architecture
7. Setup and run steps
8. Disclosures (libraries, templates, AI tools)
9. Track

• 3 minutes maximum.
• Show the project working, not slides. Use real or realistic data.
• Open with the problem in one or two sentences, then go straight to the demo.
• Make sure the audio is clear. The link must open without a login.

• A deployed link is best. Keep it running until the results are out.
• If it can't be hosted, write run steps in the README that work on a clean machine, with a test account or sample data.
• Does it need paid keys or special hardware? Say so in the README and show it working in the video.

Pick one. Your project is judged inside that problem statement. The choice is final once you lock it on the dashboard, and only the organisers can change it after that. Not sure which one fits? Ask a mentor on Discord before you choose.

Shortlisted teams submit their offline round project on the MLH portal, not on the team dashboard. Submission closes at 7:00 PM on the day, and late work is not evaluated. The rest of the offline day is in the participant handbook.

Ask on the official Discord server or email [email protected]. Judging and shortlisting are covered in the participant handbook.