HackProof: catch missing pieces in your hackathon write-up
This is a submission for the MLH × DEV Writing Challenge . What I Built A hackathon project can be almost finished and still be difficult to share. The demo link may be missing, a template placeholder may still be in the draft, or a paragraph may describe a claim without pointing to anything that supports it. I built HackProof , a small offline command-line tool to catch some of those gaps before…
This is a submission for the MLH × DEV Writing Challenge, titled "HackProof: Catch Missing Pieces in Your Hackathon Write-Up." The author built a small offline command-line tool called HackProof to identify gaps in hackathon project write-ups before publishing. It checks for essential elements like a title, the mlhacks tag, four sections from the official challenge template, a demo URL, and draft markers.
The tool can generate a text summary, JSON output, or a standalone HTML report. It doesn't require an API key, account, network connection, or extra Python packages.
The HackProof project explores a boundary for evidence, allowing the creation of an optional SHA-256 receipt for a local file. This receipt helps track changes to files, such as demo logs or test results, by maintaining a claim label, relative path, and digest. However, it cannot prove the claim's truth or confirm the project meets competition rules; those decisions still rely on the event organizer's discretion.
The HackProof tool was developed during the November 6–12 MLH Global Hack Week: Builders Week. It uses Python's standard library and is MIT licensed. While the project was developed individually with AI coding assistance, it is not an official MLH or DEV product. The code and setup instructions are available on GitHub, along with test output and a sample report. The tool can be run using Python commands, with options for text, JSON, and HTML formatting. Eight automated tests ensure its reliability.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
