(Sad) Reflections of Hacktoberfest

Description and use

The author wanted another round of collaboration through code for their small side project during Hacktoberfest, but Hacktoberfest 2026 removed open-source code submissions in favor of AI-driven socialization, leaving the author without human contributors and unable to grow their project.

Problem

The author wanted another round of collaboration through code for their small side project during Hacktoberfest, but Hacktoberfest 2026 removed open-source code submissions in favor of AI-driven socialization, leaving the author without human contributors and unable to grow their project.

Outcome

The author replaced human contributors with an AI agent workflow using GitHub Skills and Haiku 5.5, enabling code generation via a slash command at a low credit cost, but reports feeling robbed of the collaborative spirit of previous Hacktoberfest editions.

Workflow

• Recognize that Hacktoberfest 2026 will no longer accept open-source code submissions, removing the primary mechanism for project growth through collaboration
• Forge a set of GitHub skills to replace human contributors
• Use the /demo-create <JEP_NUMBER> slash command with an agent to generate code
• Rely on Haiku 5.5 to produce consistent ready-to-merge results at less than 1 credit of GitHub Copilot subscription

Evidence

Last year, I was overwhelmed with joy of collaboration with strangers during 2025's Hacktoberfest.

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Then the reality hit me hard - Hacktoberfest 2026 will be different. No more open-source code submissions, folks.

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I wanted another round of collaboration through code. Again. Despite the danger of having to deal with a lot of impersonal AI slop, I wanted another month when my side project would grow in unexpected pace and perhaps taking unexpected turns.

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Now all I need to do is to type in /demo-create <JEP_NUMBER> and watch my agent doing the heavy lifting. Even Haiku 5.5 now produces consistent ready-to-merge results in a flash (at the cost of less than 1 credit of my GitHub Copilot subscription). It made me a better AI developer.

Source

My project is small and not recognized so I have the luxury to call for more activity.

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