Ready, Spec, Ship Hackathon Rules

Everything you need to know to participate in the Ready, Spec, Ship Hackathon.

1. Host and Sponsor

The legal Host of the hackathon is Trivial Business Limited.

John Crickett acts as the representative of Trivial Business Limited.

The Official Sponsor is Kiro.

2. No Purchase Necessary

No purchase or payment is required to enter or win.

Making a purchase or payment will not improve a participant's chances of winning.

3. Important Dates

All dates and times are in Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC.

• Submissions Open: August 8, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
• Submission Deadline: August 23, 2026 at 23:59 UTC
• Judging Period: August 24 to September 5, 2026
• Winners Announced: By September 6, 2026 at 23:59 UTC

The period from August 8, 2026 at 00:00 UTC until August 23, 2026 at 23:59 UTC is referred to as the Competition Period.

4. Agreement to the Rules

By entering the hackathon, each participant agrees to be bound by:

• These Rules and Guidelines
• The separate Prizes page
• The separate Judging Criteria page
• The final decisions of the Host, Sponsor, and judges

If there is any inconsistency between these Rules and Guidelines and the Prizes or Judging Criteria pages, these Rules and Guidelines will control.

5. Eligibility

Age Requirement

Each participant must have reached the age of majority in the jurisdiction where they live at the time of entry.

Eligible Entrants

Submissions may be entered by:

• An individual participant
• A team of two or three participants

Organizations, companies, partnerships, charities, and other legal entities may not submit projects directly.

Geographic Eligibility

Participation is open worldwide except where prohibited by applicable law.

The hackathon is not open to:

• Individuals residing in a country, state, province, territory, or region where United States, United Kingdom, European Union, or local law prohibits participation or receipt of a prize in the Hackathon (including, but not limited to, Brazil, Quebec, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, or Syria).
• Individuals or entities subject to applicable United States, United Kingdom, or European Union sanctions.
• Any person whose participation or receipt of a prize would cause the Host or Sponsor to breach applicable sanctions, export controls, or other laws.

This includes restrictions administered under applicable United States, United Kingdom, and European Union sanctions regimes.

Ineligible Participants

Participation is open worldwide except where prohibited or restricted by applicable law.

The Hackathon is not open to:

• Individuals residing in a country, state, province, territory, or region where participation in the Hackathon, or the receipt or payment of a prize, would be unlawful or would require a licence, registration, authorization, or regulatory approval that the Host or Sponsor has not obtained.
• Residents of Brazil, Quebec, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, or Syria.
• Individuals subject to applicable United States, United Kingdom, or European Union sanctions.
• Any person whose participation or receipt of a prize would cause the Host or Sponsor to breach applicable sanctions, export controls, payment restrictions, or other laws.
• Employees of Trivial Business Limited, AWS, Kiro and their affiliates.

Eligibility will be determined using the sanctions laws and official sanctions lists applicable at the time of entry and prize distribution.

Team Eligibility

Every member of a team must satisfy all eligibility requirements.

If any team member is found to be ineligible, the entire team and its submission will be disqualified.

6. Teams

Team Representative

Each team must appoint one eligible member as its official representative.

The representative is authorized to:

• Submit the project on behalf of the team
• Receive hackathon communications
• Provide required documentation
• Receive any prize awarded to the team

By submitting a project, the representative confirms that all team members have authorized them to act on the team's behalf.

Team Membership

A participant may:

• Belong to more than one team
• Submit projects individually
• Participate in both individual and team submissions

Team membership becomes final at the submission deadline.

No team members may be added, removed, or replaced after August 23, 2026 at 23:59 UTC.

Team Contributions

Each team submission must:

• Identify every registered team member
• Briefly describe each team member's contribution to the project

7. Multiple Submissions

Participants may submit more than one project, either individually or as part of different teams.

Each submission must be unique and substantially different from every other submission involving the same participant.

8. Financial or Preferential Support

A submission must not have been developed, or derived from a project developed, using prior financial or preferential support from the Host, Sponsor, or their affiliates where that support would create an actual or apparent conflict of interest.

Relevant support may include:

• Funding or investment
• Paid development contracts
• Commercial licensing arrangements
• Commissioned work
• Preferential technical assistance
• Non-public access, resources, or benefits unavailable to other participants
• Other support that could provide an unfair competitive advantage

Participants must disclose any relevant prior relationship or support when requested.

The Host may disqualify a participant, team, or submission where awarding a prize would create an actual or apparent conflict of interest.

9. Original Work

All submitted projects must be original work created during the Competition Period.

Pre-existing projects and codebases are prohibited.

Participants may not submit:

• A project started before the Competition Period
• A pre-existing codebase with minor modifications
• A previously submitted or commercially released project
• Work created by someone outside the registered team

All substantive development, design, documentation, and submission work must be completed by the individual participant or registered team members.

Paid contractors and outside contributors may not create, develop, design, or otherwise contribute to a submission.

Open-Source Tools

Participants may use:

• Open-source libraries
• Frameworks
• Development tools
• Generic starter templates

Participants must comply with all applicable licences and attribution requirements.

Kiro-Generated Code

AI-generated code created through Kiro is permitted, encouraged, and expected.

Participants remain responsible for reviewing, testing, securing, and understanding all code included in their submission.

Human Direction and Responsibility

Use of Kiro and AI-generated code is encouraged and expected.

However, each submission must demonstrate meaningful human direction, judgement, creativity, and effort from the individual participant or registered team.

Participants remain responsible for:

• The project concept and product decisions
• Reviewing and understanding generated code
• Testing the project
• Correcting errors
• Protecting security and privacy
• Confirming compliance with licences and third-party rights
• Ensuring that the submission satisfies these Rules and Guidelines

A project that consists primarily of unreviewed or minimally directed AI-generated output may receive reduced judging scores or may be disqualified where meaningful participant contribution cannot be demonstrated.

10. Required Use of Kiro

Every submitted project must be built using Kiro.

Participants must clearly demonstrate meaningful use of Kiro in:

• The project README
• The demo video

A submission may be disqualified if its use of Kiro is superficial, incidental, or cannot be adequately demonstrated.

11. Third-Party APIs, Services, and Materials

Participants may use third-party APIs, SDKs, platforms, services, datasets, and other tools.

Participants must:

• Be authorized to use each third-party resource
• Comply with all applicable terms and licences
• Follow usage restrictions
• Provide required attribution
• Obtain all necessary rights, consents, and permissions

The README must document:

• Any costs or paid requirements
• Rate limits or usage restrictions
• Required setup and configuration
• Test credentials or testing instructions
• Third-party libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, and assets used

12. Intellectual Property and Third-Party Rights

Each participant represents and confirms that their submission:

• Is their original work
• Is owned by the participant or registered team
• Does not infringe another person's intellectual property rights
• Does not violate privacy, publicity, contractual, or other legal rights

Participants must have all necessary rights, licences, consents, and permissions for any:

• Code
• APIs
• Datasets
• Images
• Audio
• Video
• Fonts
• Trademarks
• Personal information
• Other third-party materials

13. Personal, Confidential, and Sensitive Data

Submissions must not include or use personal, confidential, proprietary, or sensitive data unless the participant has all necessary consent, permissions, and legal authorization.

Participants must not expose:

• Real passwords
• API keys
• Access tokens
• Private encryption keys
• Production credentials
• Confidential business information
• Other secrets

14. Prohibited Content and Software

Submissions must not contain:

• Malware
• Viruses
• Trojan horses
• Destructive code
• Credential-stealing functionality
• Spyware
• Hidden cryptocurrency mining
• Unauthorized tracking
• Other harmful or malicious software

Submissions must comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

15. Submission Requirements

Each submission must include all of the following:

• A short written project description
• A public source-code repository
• The project's .kiro directory at the repository root
• A complete README
• A working demo, deployed application, or test build
• A demo video
• Testing instructions
• Any required test credentials
• Identification of all team members and their contributions, where applicable

There are no separate submission categories.

Project Description

The written project description must explain:

• The problem being addressed
• The proposed solution
• The project's key features

Functionality and Accuracy of the Submission

The submitted project must be capable of being successfully installed or accessed and must run consistently on the platform for which it is intended.

The project must function substantially as:

• Shown in the demo video
• Described in the written project description
• Explained in the README
• Presented in any other submission materials

Participants must not misrepresent incomplete, simulated, hard-coded, or non-functional features as fully working functionality.

Minor defects may affect judging scores. Material differences between the submitted project and its description or demonstration may result in disqualification.

Public Repository

Each submission must include a public source-code repository that judges can access throughout the judging period.

The repository must contain everything reasonably necessary for judges to install, run, understand, and evaluate the project. This includes, where applicable:

• All source code
• Required assets
• Dependency and package manifests
• Configuration examples
• Database schemas or migration files
• Build and deployment instructions
• Setup and installation instructions
• Testing instructions
• Any other files required for the project to function as submitted

Participants must not omit essential code or materials required to reproduce the submitted project.

Secrets, credentials, private keys, and other sensitive information must not be committed to the repository. Where configuration values are required, participants should provide safe examples and clear setup instructions.

An open-source licence is not required.

Kiro Project Files

Each submission repository must include the project's .kiro directory at the repository root.

Participants must not exclude the .kiro directory, or any of its contents, through .gitignore or similar repository settings.

The directory must contain the Kiro materials used during development, where applicable, including:

• Specs
• Hooks
• Steering files
• Configuration
• Other materials demonstrating how Kiro was used

Judges must be able to inspect these materials when evaluating the submission.

Failure to include the .kiro directory, or intentionally concealing relevant Kiro materials, may result in disqualification.

README

Each submission must include a README containing:

• Clear setup instructions
• Clear usage instructions
• An explanation of how Kiro was used
• Any required configuration
• API or service costs
• Rate limits and usage restrictions
• Testing instructions
• Test credentials, where required
• Attribution for third-party libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, and assets

16. Demo Video

Each submission must include a demo video that:

• Shows the project working
• Explains the problem and solution
• Demonstrates the project's key features
• Explains how Kiro was used
• Is no longer than three minutes
• Is accessible to judges without requesting permission

Judges are not required to watch beyond the three-minute limit.

The video must be hosted on a publicly accessible platform, such as:

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Loom
• A similar publicly accessible video platform

The video may be unlisted, provided that anyone with the link can view it without requesting access or signing into a restricted account.

Participants must have permission to use all music, trademarks, video clips, images, and other material included in the video.

17. Testing Access

Each submission must include a working demo, deployed application, or test build that judges can access free of charge throughout the judging period.

Where authentication is required, participants must provide:

• Working test credentials
• Clear login instructions
• Any necessary setup or configuration instructions

Participants must ensure that judges can reasonably evaluate the project without making a payment.

18. Language Requirements

All submission materials must be in English.

If any material is not in English, the participant must provide an English translation of:

• The demo video
• The project description
• The README
• Testing instructions
• All other submitted materials

19. Submission Receipt

Only submissions successfully received by the submission platform before the deadline will qualify.

Proof of an attempted upload, email, or other submission effort will not count as proof of receipt.

Participants are responsible for:

• Submitting their projects on time
• Confirming that the submission was successfully received
• Keeping backup copies of all submission materials

20. Technical Resubmission Requests

If a technical failure prevents a submission from being successfully received, the participant may request permission to resubmit.

The request must be made within 24 hours of the submission deadline, no later than:

August 24, 2026 at 23:59 UTC

The Host and Sponsor may approve or deny the request at their sole discretion.

Approval is not guaranteed.

Any approved resubmission must remain substantively the same as the original attempted submission.

21. Submission Modifications

After the submission deadline, submissions are locked.

Participants may not update:

• Source code
• Documentation
• The README
• The demo video
• Submission links
• Testing credentials
• The working application
• Team membership
• Other substantive submission materials

Until the judging period ends, the Host and Sponsor may permit limited changes solely to:

• Add, remove, or replace material that may infringe a third party's rights
• Remove personally identifiable information
• Remove or replace material that is inappropriate
• Correct an issue specifically authorized by the Host or Sponsor

Any approved modification must leave the submission substantively unchanged.

This limited modification permission expires when the judging period ends on September 5, 2026.

22. Judging Process

Submissions will be evaluated in two rounds, followed by a tie-break process where required.

Judges may evaluate projects using:

• The written project description
• The README
• The source-code repository
• The demo video
• The working application or test build
• Other submitted materials

Judges are not required to test every working application during every judging round.

Projects that advance may receive more detailed technical testing during the second round.

Round One: Eligibility and Viability Screening

Round One is a pass-or-fail review.

Each submission must:

• Meet all eligibility requirements
• Include all required submission materials
• Be functional enough to demonstrate its core purpose
• Use Kiro in a meaningful way
• Comply with these Rules and Guidelines

Only submissions that pass Round One will advance to Round Two.

Round Two: Scored Evaluation

Submissions that pass Round One will be scored using the 100-point judging rubric.

The separate Judging Criteria page forms part of these hackathon terms.

23. Tie-Breaking

If two or more submissions receive the same total score, ties will be resolved by comparing category scores in this order:

1. Application Quality
2. Kiro Usage
3. Documentation
4. Innovation and Potential
5. Presentation

If a tie remains after all category scores have been compared, the judging panel will vote to determine the higher-ranked submission.

24. Judges' Decisions

All judging decisions are final and binding, subject to applicable law.

This includes decisions concerning:

• Eligibility
• Compliance
• Scoring
• Ranking
• Tie-breaking
• Disqualification
• Prize selection

25. Code of Conduct

Participants must act professionally and respectfully.

The following conduct is prohibited:

• Plagiarism
• Submission of another person's work
• Harassment
• Threatening or abusive conduct
• Discrimination
• Fraud or deception
• Interference with other participants
• Interference with the submission or judging process
• Violation of applicable laws or regulations

26. Disqualification and Enforcement

The Host and Sponsor may disqualify a participant, team, or submission for:

• Violating eligibility requirements
• Plagiarism
• Intellectual property infringement
• Providing false or misleading information
• Submitting incomplete or non-functional work
• Failing to provide required documentation
• Failing to demonstrate meaningful use of Kiro
• Submitting after the deadline
• Violating the Code of Conduct
• Violating applicable laws
• Fraud, deception, or misrepresentation
• Tampering with the submission or judging process
• Attempting to influence or interfere with judges
• Compromising the fairness, security, or integrity of the hackathon
• Any other material violation of these Rules and Guidelines

27. Verification

The Host and Sponsor may request reasonable evidence to verify:

• Participant eligibility
• Identity
• Authorship
• Ownership of the submission
• Team membership
• Each team member's contribution
• Compliance with these Rules and Guidelines
• Rights and permissions for third-party materials
• The accuracy of information provided

Failure to provide requested evidence within a reasonable period may result in disqualification.

28. Intellectual Property Ownership

Participants retain ownership of their submissions.

Nothing in these Rules transfers ownership of a submission to the Host or Sponsor.

29. Promotional Licence

By submitting a project, each participant grants the Host and Sponsor a:

• Worldwide
• Non-exclusive
• Royalty-free

licence for two years from the submission date.

The licence permits the Host and Sponsor to:

• Showcase the project
• Reproduce submission materials
• Display submission materials
• Promote the project and hackathon
• Create winner announcements
• Create blog posts or case studies
• Share the project on websites and social media
• Include the project in hackathon-related promotional materials

The Host and Sponsor may edit, crop, excerpt, or adapt submission materials for these purposes, provided that they do not materially misrepresent the project.

Participants also authorize the Host and Sponsor to use their:

• Names
• Likenesses
• Voices
• Biographies
• Team names

for the same purposes and two-year period.

The Host and Sponsor will credit the participant or team where reasonably practical.

30. Prizes

Prize names, values, quantities, and eligibility requirements will be listed on a separate Prizes page.

The Prizes page forms part of these hackathon terms.

Multiple Prize Eligibility

Each submission may win no more than one prize.

A participant may receive prizes through multiple winning submissions, including submissions entered:

• Individually
• As part of different teams

Prize Availability

The Host and Sponsor may decline to award a prize if no eligible submission meets the required standard.

Prize Substitution

If a prize becomes unavailable, the Host and Sponsor may substitute it with a prize of equal or greater value.

Non-Transferability

Prizes are non-transferable.

A prize may only be awarded to the winning individual or to the designated representative of a winning team.

This does not prevent a team representative from distributing a team prize among registered team members.

31. Winner Documentation and Prize Distribution

Winners may be announced before completing identity, eligibility, tax, or prize documentation.

Prizes will be distributed within 60 days of the winner announcement, provided the winner has supplied all required documentation.

Prizes will only be distributed to winners who provide all required:

• Identity documentation
• Eligibility documentation
• Tax documentation
• Prize acceptance documentation
• Payment information

If a winner fails to provide the required documentation, the winner will forfeit the prize.

The Host and Sponsor may then offer the prize to the next highest-ranked eligible submission.

32. Team Prize Distribution

For a winning team, the prize will be paid to the team's designated representative.

The representative may divide the prize among registered team members at their discretion.

The Host and Sponsor are not responsible for:

• Deciding how a team prize should be divided
• Distributing separate payments to team members
• Resolving disputes between team members
• Enforcing private agreements between team members

33. Fees and Taxes

Winners, including all members of a winning team, are responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a prize.

This includes:

• Bank transfer fees
• Wiring fees
• Currency-conversion fees
• Payment-processing fees
• Other related charges

Winners are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction, including any:

• Federal taxes
• State taxes
• Provincial taxes
• Territorial taxes
• Local taxes
• Other applicable taxes

Winners may be required to provide information and complete tax or other forms needed for:

• Prize payment
• Tax withholding
• Tax reporting
• Legal compliance

34. Privacy

Personal information will be used only for:

• Hackathon administration
• Eligibility verification
• Judging
• Communications
• Prize distribution
• Tax and payment processing
• Winner announcements

Personal information may be shared with:

• Judges
• Service providers
• Payment processors
• Tax-processing partners
• Other parties where reasonably necessary for these purposes

Personal information will be retained only for as long as necessary to:

• Administer the hackathon
• Distribute prizes
• Meet legal obligations
• Meet tax and accounting obligations
• Maintain required records

Participants may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal information, subject to applicable legal and record-retention requirements.

Personal information will be handled in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR and CCPA where applicable.

35. Technical Issues

The Host and Sponsor are not responsible for:

• Technical failures
• Service outages
• Interrupted internet access
• Data loss
• Corrupted files
• Failed uploads
• Lost submissions
• Misdirected submissions
• Platform errors
• Hardware or software failures
• Problems outside their reasonable control

Participants are responsible for maintaining backup copies of all submission materials.

36. Changes to the Hackathon

The Host and Sponsor may cancel, suspend, postpone, or modify the hackathon, in whole or in part, where reasonably necessary because of:

• Technical failures
• Fraud
• Security incidents
• Legal requirements
• Events outside their reasonable control
• Other circumstances that compromise the fair or safe operation of the hackathon

The Host and Sponsor may adjust:

• Dates
• Submission procedures
• Judging arrangements
• Prizes
• Other administrative requirements

Material changes will be communicated to participants.

37. Changes to the Rules

The Host and Sponsor may update these Rules and Guidelines where reasonably necessary.

Material changes will:

• Be communicated to participants
• Apply prospectively
• Not unfairly disadvantage work already completed or submitted

38. Assumption of Risk

Participants accept responsibility for risks arising from:

• Participation in the hackathon
• Creation and submission of a project
• Use of third-party services
• Acceptance or use of any prize

This provision applies except where applicable law provides otherwise.

No compensation will be provided for participation beyond any prizes awarded.

39. Release of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, participants release the Host, Sponsor, judges, affiliates, service providers, and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, representatives, and agents from claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, or expenses arising from or connected with:

• Participation in the hackathon
• Creation or submission of a project
• Evaluation or judging of a project
• Promotion of a project
• Acceptance, receipt, use, or misuse of a prize
• Technical failures
• Circumstances outside their reasonable control

This release does not apply where liability cannot legally be excluded or limited.

40. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, participants agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Host, Sponsor, judges, affiliates, service providers, and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, representatives, and agents from third-party claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs, and reasonable legal fees arising from:

• The participant's submission
• The participant's conduct
• A breach of these Rules and Guidelines
• Intellectual property infringement
• Violation of privacy or publicity rights
• Violation of contractual or other third-party rights
• Unlawful or unauthorized use of data, APIs, services, software, or other materials

41. Informal Dispute Resolution

Before starting court proceedings, the participant and the Host or Sponsor must first make a reasonable, good-faith effort to resolve the dispute informally.

The informal resolution period will last 30 days from the date written notice of the dispute is received.

Court proceedings may begin after that period if the dispute remains unresolved.

42. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Rules and Guidelines, and any dispute arising from or connected with the hackathon, will be governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over any such dispute.

43. Severability

If any provision of these Rules and Guidelines is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed only to the extent necessary.

The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

44. No Waiver

A failure or delay by the Host or Sponsor in enforcing any provision of these Rules and Guidelines will not waive that provision or prevent its later enforcement.