Apps & Agents for Good Hackathon

The Databricks Apps & Agents for Good Hackathon 2026 is a multi-day competition hosted in partnership with OpenAI, bringing developers together to drive meaningful change.

About

This year's hackathon challenges teams to build powerful agentic data apps for social impact using Lakebase, Agent Bricks, and Databricks Apps.

The event culminates in live judging, a showcase of standout projects, and cash prizes for the most impactful and imaginative solutions. The hackathon is part of Data + AI Summit 2026 — you and every teammate must be registered for the summit to participate.

Resources

[Checklist]

Quick start checklist

Follow the step-by-step checklist to get set up and start coding.

[Challenge]

The challenge

Read the full challenge prompt, dataset overview, and the four tracks you can pick from.

[Setup guide]

Set up Free Edition

Create a Databricks Free Edition workspace and get your whole team ready to build and demo.

[Dataset]

Hackathon dataset

Add the hackathon dataset to your Databricks workspace to start building with it.

[Template]

Hackathon starter template

Scaffold a Databricks App backed by Lakebase with the hackathon dataset automatically synced in.

[Discord community]

Ask questions

Stuck on something during the build? Join our hackathon Discord server to ask questions anytime.

[PDF]

Official rules

Read the eligibility, team requirements, IP terms, and judging rules before you start building anything.

[Docs]

Read the Docs

Read the docs to learn how to set up your coding environment and start building your app. We highly suggest reading the following pages before you start hacking:

Start herePlatform overviewDatabricks CLIAgent skillsWhat are templates?

Timeline

May 31, 2026
11:59pm PT		Applications closeApply on MLH in teams of 2–4.
June 15, 2026
8:00am–4:00pm PT		Opening + hacking beginsA full day of hacking, kicking off with the opening ceremony at Marriott Marquis, San Francisco.
June 16, 2026
11:00am–5:00pm PT		Hacker's Corner (optional)Open collaboration space with mentors on hand to help.
June 16, 2026
6:00pm–9:00pm PT		Judging + awardsLive judging, followed by the awards ceremony.

Submission

Submit a Git repo and project description. Be ready to give a three-minute demo.

Submit your project

Judging

Submissions will be judged on four dimensions:
  1. Product judgment — Is the user clear? Are the workflow and tradeoffs thoughtful?
  2. Evidence and uncertainty — Are outputs grounded in citations? Is uncertainty handled honestly?
  3. Technical execution — Does the app work reliably in a live demo? Are Databricks capabilities used well?
  4. Ambition — Did the team go beyond the minimum workflow in a meaningful way?

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The hackathon is part of Data + AI Summit 2026, and every participant — including all teammates — must be registered for the summit to take part.

Databricks Developer Hub

Ready to ship your next agentic app in minutes?

Read docs