declarative.space
hackathon.
Build something that gives users real ownership of their computing. And make it usable.
Submit your hack →The computing we depend on daily is controlled by others—cloud providers, platform vendors, black-box firmware. This hackathon challenges you to build tools and systems that shift that balance back toward the user.
Sovereign computing means users own their data, control their infrastructure, and can verify what their machines are running. Think reproducible builds, local-first software, peer-to-peer services, transparent hardware, and self-hosted alternatives that people actually want to use.
When & where
March 5–6, 2026 at PlanetNix @ Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101.
Teams
1–4 people. Form a team on-site or come solo and find one. All skill levels welcome.
Format
Build, then demo. Each team gets a short live demo slot. Show working software, not slides.
Teams form, hacking begins
Show up at PlanetNix on March 5. Find your team, pick a problem, start building.
Demos at 4 pm, prizes after
Hacking continues through the day. At 4 pm, teams demo their projects. Jury deliberates, prizes awarded.
A NixOS appliance your parents could run as their home server
What if nix build could prove a binary matches its source—and a non-developer could verify it?
A mesh cache that shares Nix store paths over the local network at a conference
What if your phone could cryptographically attest that its OS was built from a public config?
A declarative personal cloud: email, files, calendar, contacts, all defined in one flake
Peer-to-peer secret sharing for teams—no third-party vault service
These are sparks, not boundaries. Build whatever you want. The only test: does it give a real person more control over their own computing?
All prizes are per team unless noted otherwise.
| Place | Prize | Specs | Qty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | MNT Reform | i.MX8MQ processor | 1x |
| 64 GB DDR5 SODIMM RAM | 32 GB Crucial 5600 MHz | 2x | |
| 32 GB DDR5 SODIMM RAM | 16 GB Crucial 5600 MHz | 2x | |
| 2nd | 128 GB DDR5 SODIMM RAM | 32 GB Crucial 5600 MHz | 4x |
| YubiKey | NFC USB-C | 4x | |
| 3rd | 64 GB DDR5 SODIMM RAM | 16 GB Crucial 5600 MHz | 4x |
| YubiKey | NFC USB-C | 4x | |
| 4th | iFixit Pro Kit | 64x S2 steel bits & more | 4x |
| YubiKey | NFC USB-C | 4x | |
| Newegg Gift Card | $100 | 1x | |
| 5th | iFixit Pro Kit | 64x S2 steel bits & more | 4x |
Ready to hack?
Show up at PlanetNix on March 5. After your demo on March 6, submit your project so we have a record of every hack.
Submit your hack →