A hackathon challenge for builders to create customer-oriented MVPs powered by the GitHub Copilot SDK — the agentic runtime behind Copilot experiences.
Whether you're a startup founder or an enterprise developer, this hackathon is for you!
🏗️ Format · 💡 What to Build · 📦 Submit · 🏆 Prizes · 🚀 Get Started
A hackathon challenge for builders to create customer-oriented MVPs powered by the GitHub Copilot SDK — the agentic runtime behind Copilot experiences.
Theme: "Build an agent into any app" with the GitHub Copilot SDK
Use the SDK to build an agentic workflow, integration, or app that meaningfully improves how teams plan, build, test, ship, support, or operate software — or a business workflow adjacent to dev.
Guiding idea: Take Copilot beyond the IDE — into your app, your workflow, your tools — using the SDK's agentic core.
Here's what's at stake — and why you should build:
| Perk | Details |
|---|---|
| 🎟️ Web Summit Tickets | Up to 2 tickets per team (valued at $625 CAD each) to Web Summit Vancouver 2026 |
| 🎤 Pitch on the Microsoft Stage | Present a lightning talk in the Microsoft theater booth at Web Summit on May 13, 2026 — in front of investors, customers, and the tech community |
| 📣 Amplification | Your project gets visibility across Microsoft & GitHub social channels |
⚠️ Travel & expenses are not covered. Microsoft & GitHub provide the Web Summit tickets only. All travel, accommodation, and other expenses are the responsibility of the participants.
| Perk | Details |
|---|---|
| ☁️ Azure Credits | Up to 150K Azure credits for eligible startups/founders (provided by the global team). Individuals are not eligible — participants must be aligned to a company. |
| 📣 Social Media Feature | Featured project posts across Microsoft & GitHub social channels — massive reach |
| Perk | Details |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Azure Credits for Startups | Eligible founders and startups can get up to $5,000 in Azure Credits through the Azure Credits for Startups program. Qualifying startups receive an initial $1,000 credit; those that complete business verification can unlock up to $5,000 total. Individuals without a company affiliation are not eligible. See Eligibility & Fine Print below. |
| 🤖 GitHub Copilot Access | Access the Microsoft for Startups program — including GitHub Copilot Enterprise licenses for a year. Requires company/startup affiliation. |
| 🐙 GitHub Vibes | Join the builder community, connect with GitHub & Microsoft engineers, and earn serious dev cred |
- Founders, startup teams, and enterprise developers are welcome.
- Participants must be aligned to a company (startup, registered business, or employer) — individual participants without a company affiliation are not eligible for credits or the 150K prize.
- Enterprise and public-sector (PubSec) developers — you're invited! We'd love to have you join as a team or startup. You just can't represent your employer's organization in the hackathon.
- In other words: participate as your team or your startup — not on behalf of an enterprise or government entity.
Eligible founders and startups can access up to $5,000 in Azure Credits via the Azure Credits for Startups program (Learn more on Microsoft Learn). Individuals without a company affiliation are not eligible for this program.
To qualify for the initial $1,000 credit:
- You must be a new Azure customer with no prior Azure account
- You must sign in using a valid personal Microsoft Account (MSA)
- You must be in a country/region where this Azure offer is available
To unlock up to $5,000 in Azure credits:
- You must have redeemed the initial $1,000 startup credit
- Your startup must be a registered legal business entity
- Verification must be completed within 90 days of initial redemption
- You must develop and own a software-based product or service
- The software must not be licensed from another party
- You must not be a government agency, educational institution, consultancy, agency, development shop, personal blog, or crypto mining operation
💡 Can't complete business verification? No worries — you will still receive the $1,000 credit package.
- Travel and expenses are not covered by Microsoft or GitHub.
- Only the Web Summit ticket is provided for Top 10 finalists (up to 2 per team).
- All travel, accommodation, meals, and other expenses are the participant's responsibility.
| Startup Builders | Enterprise Devs | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Ship a demo-able product workflow fast | Build "enterprise-ready" internal tools & integrations |
| Strength | Validate a real user pain, tell a crisp story | Governance, repeatability, clarity |
| Examples | Customer support agent, onboarding workflow, AI-powered analytics | Internal dev portal integration, compliance agent, CI/CD workflow automation |
Async Build → Async Judging → Top 10 Pitch → Winner Announced
📅 Apr 13 📝 Apr 26 ⚖️ Apr 26-29 📬 Apr 30 🎤 May 13 🏆 May 13
Hackathon Submissions Async Judging Top 10 Top 10 Pitch Winners
Opens Due (PST) Period Notified at Web Summit Announced
- Async build period — Teams build on their own time, anywhere in the world
- Async judging period — Entries are reviewed and scored asynchronously
- Top 10 selection — Top 10 teams are notified 2 weeks in advance and invited to pitch
- Finals — Top 10 pitch in the Microsoft booth theater (lightning talk format) at Web Summit
- Winner announcement — Announced during the event (same day as pitches)
Your submission must be powered by the GitHub Copilot SDK. Choose one:
| Track | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 🤖 Agentic Workflow | Automated planning → implementation → validation → reporting | A code review agent that plans changes, implements them, validates tests, and generates a summary report |
| 🔌 Integration | Plug an agent into an existing app, tool, or service | Adding Copilot-powered assistance to your internal dev portal or service workflow |
| 🌐 End-to-End Scenario | A small product that uses an agent loop to deliver value | A full product that takes a user request, plans the solution, builds it, and deploys it |
Your entry must include all of the following:
| # | Requirement | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 📝 Short Summary | Max 150 words describing your project |
| 2 | 🎬 Demo Video | Max 3 minutes — upload your video and share the video link in the submission form. Must demo the working solution end-to-end. |
| 3 | 💻 Working Solution | In a GitHub repo — including README, architecture diagram, and setup instructions |
| 4 | 📊 Slide Deck | 1–2 slides: business value proposition + architecture diagram + repo link |
- Max 3 minutes — keep it focused and crisp
- Show the working solution in action (not just slides)
- Upload your video to YouTube, Loom, OneDrive, or any accessible platform
- Share the video link in the submission form
💡 Tip: A great demo tells a story — show the problem, the agent in action, and the outcome.
📌 Include your startup or company name in the submission form so we can identify your entry.
Recommended structure for your submission repo:
your-project/
├── /src or /app # Working code
├── /docs
│ └── README.md # Problem → Solution, prereqs, setup, deployment,
│ # architecture diagram, RAI notes
├── /presentations
│ └── YourSolutionName.pptx # Or a link to your deck
├── AGENTS.md # Custom agent instructions
├── apm.yml # APM manifest (optional — for bonus points!)
└── mcp.json # MCP server configuration (if applicable)
📌 Dedicated hackathon repo (coming soon):
microsofthackathons/vancouver-websummit-2026-github-copilot-sdk-hackathon
Solutions will be scored on 100 base points + up to 35 bonus points. Fair across startup & enterprise submissions.
| Criteria | Points | What Judges Look For |
|---|---|---|
| 🎯 Customer / Business Value | 30 | Clear problem, clear outcome, clear user benefit. Who is this for and why do they care? |
| ⚙️ Technical Execution | 25 | Working demo, sound architecture, setup clarity, quality of implementation |
| 🧠 SDK Leverage | 25 | Meaningful use of the GitHub Copilot SDK to create an agentic experience — not just a wrapper around an API |
| 🎙️ Storytelling & Pitch Readiness | 20 | Can you explain it crisply in 3 minutes + 1–2 slides? Is it "amplification ready"? |
| Bonus | Points | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 🔗 Integration with Azure / Microsoft solutions | +10 | Uses Azure services, Microsoft 365, or other Microsoft platform capabilities alongside the SDK |
| 🧠 Use of Work IQ / Foundry IQ | +10 | Leverages Work IQ, Foundry IQ, or Fabric IQ for enterprise data access |
| 🤝 Validated with a customer | +5 | Evidence of real customer/user feedback or validation |
| 📦 Use APM + Leave Feedback | +10 | Use APM (apm.yml) in your project AND leave feedback — submit a .md file to the /feedback folder via PR, or open an issue on microsoft/apm with a screenshot or link as proof |
💡 Note: Smaller or experimental projects are absolutely valid — judges value creativity and potential, not only fully production-ready solutions.
Everything you need to start building:
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| 📘 GitHub Copilot SDK | github.com/github/copilot-sdk — the agentic runtime you'll build with |
| 🍳 Awesome Copilot | github.com/github/awesome-copilot — cookbooks, skills, agents, hooks, workflows, and plugins |
| 🌐 Awesome Copilot Website | awesome-copilot.github.com — full-text search across hundreds of resources, Learning Hub, and Tools |
| 🔌 Work IQ | github.com/microsoft/work-iq — MCP servers for Microsoft 365 data (emails, meetings, files, Teams). Great for enterprise scenarios! |
| 📦 APM | github.com/microsoft/apm — dependency manager for AI agents. Declare skills, plugins, prompts & MCP servers in one apm.yml — portable, reproducible, and security-scanned |
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| 🛠️ Building Agents with the Copilot SDK (Practical Guide) | Microsoft Community Hub |
| 💻 Copilot CLI Quick Guide | GitHub Copilot in the CLI |
| 📖 Awesome Copilot Learning Hub | Guides & Tutorials — from core concepts to hands-on agent building |
# Install a plugin from the Awesome Copilot marketplace
copilot plugin install <plugin-name>@awesome-copilot
# Install Work IQ for M365 data access
npm install -g @microsoft/workiq
# or use npx (no install needed)
npx -y @microsoft/workiq mcp| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| April 13, 2026 | 🎉 Hackathon opens — promotions begin |
| April 26, 2026 | 📝 Submissions due (PST Midnight) |
| April 26–29, 2026 | ⚖️ Async judging period |
| April 30, 2026 | 📬 Top 10 teams notified about Final Pitch |
| May 12–14, 2026 | 🌐 Web Summit Vancouver expo days |
| May 13, 2026 | 🎤 Top 10 pitch at Microsoft theater + 🏆 Winners announced |
- Build your project using the GitHub Copilot SDK
- Record a demo video (max 3 minutes) and upload it to an accessible platform
- Push your code to a public GitHub repo with the recommended structure
- Prepare a 1–2 slide deck with your value proposition and architecture
⏰ Deadline: April 26, 2026 — PST Midnight
What are the Azure Credits for Startups?
Eligible founders and startups can get up to $5,000 in Azure Credits through Microsoft's startup credit program. You start with a $1,000 credit as a new Azure customer, and can unlock up to $5,000 by completing business verification for your startup. Individuals without a company affiliation are not eligible. Learn more →
Who is eligible to participate?
Founders, startup teams, and enterprise developers. Participants must be aligned to a company — individuals without a company affiliation are not eligible for credits or the 150K prize. Enterprise and PubSec developers are absolutely welcome — we'd love to have you! Just participate as your team or your startup rather than representing your employer's organization.
Are travel and expenses covered?
No. Microsoft and GitHub provide Web Summit tickets only (up to 2 per team for Top 10 finalists). All travel, accommodation, meals, and other expenses are your responsibility.
What if I can't complete business verification for Azure Credits?
You will still receive the $1,000 credit package. The additional credits (up to $5,000 total) require your startup to be a registered legal business entity with verification completed within 90 days.
When do the Top 10 finalists pitch?
May 13, 2026 — at the Microsoft theater booth during Web Summit Vancouver. Top 10 teams are notified by April 30 to prepare.
Can I participate if I work at a large company?
Absolutely — we'd love to have you! Enterprise and PubSec developers are very welcome. Just participate as your team or your startup rather than representing your employer's organization. Note that participants must be aligned to a company to be eligible for credits and the 150K prize.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Hackathon Technical Lead | Ve Sharma |
| Program / Logistics | Michelle Tam, Paula Gamble |
|
Ve Sharma Solution Engineer, Cloud & AI, Dev Tools & GitHub @ Microsoft
|
Ray Kao Principal Global Black Belt, Dev Tools & Platform Engineering
|
Venkat Gowrishankar Sr. Cloud + AI Specialist — Public Sector |
Built with ❤️ by Microsoft & GitHub for Web Summit Vancouver 2026
