Our 2023 Hackathon was the most successful Urbit Hackathon we've had. The teams worked 8 weeks up to a premiere at Demo Day in Lisbon. We were amazed at the high level of their projects. Let's take a look at what they created.
Best Overall
The Grand Prize winner is %eyas by ~migrev-dolseg.
%eyas is a browser-based text editor for Urbit. Powerful but light, it allows you to easily edit files and run code on your Urbit ship from anywhere, including a mobile device.
To install %eyas, run this dojo command: |install ~dister-migrev-dolseg %eyas
or search ~dister-migrev-dolseg under ‘Get Urbit Apps.’
Check out the Twitter thread for a demo.↗
Core
The Core winner is UWasm by ~dozreg-toplud (team lead), ~wanref-rappet, ~motdeg-bintul, and ~datful-samned.
UWasm is a WebAssembly interpreter for Urbit, which enables running code from any WebAssembly-compatible language on your Urbit. This project can greatly expand the power of Urbit, allowing code from languages like C, Go, Rust, Swift, Python, and more to be imported and used.
Their Hackathon project is just a prototype -- ~dozreg-toplud has taken on the full 20 star bounty↗ to make it complete, efficient, and usable. You can check out their code here.↗
Best Composability
The Best Composability winner is Pharos by ~dannul-bortux, ~lonhep-tamfeb, and ~normul-postem.
Pharos is Urbit's first feedback system for app developers. It consists of two parts: a wrapper library that can be composed with any Urbit app, giving it a built-in "Help" button, and the Pharos app, which lets developers view, categorize, and respond to help requests.
Pharos is useful and easy to integrate. Add the code from the %grip library↗, and run |install ~missel-foddyr %pharos from the Dojo or search ~missel-foddyr in "Get Urbit Apps".
Best UI
The Best UI winner is %yijing by ~paglud-nodsyn, ~padtes-hidsyn, and ~namful-mocwen.
%yijing is a social divination app for Urbit based on an ancient Chinese system of divination known as the Yi Jing, or I Ching. Random coin flips generate hexagrams, which are symbols with 6 broken or solid lines with associated commentary, in response to a query. Casts are then shared with your %pals network.
To install, run |install ~tapmeg-pitbus-namful-mocwen %yijing from the Dojo, or search ~tapmeg-pitbus-namful-mocwen in "Get Urbit Apps".
Rising Stars
The Rising Stars winner is %bizbaz by ~dibmet-narren and ~talsyx-talsud.
%bizbaz is a decentralized marketplace where you can buy and sell goods or services with your pals of pals. Leveraging Urbit's design and the %pals network for robust built-in reputation, %bizbaz helps you know who to trust.
The %bizbaz team is a veteran of many Ethereum hackathons. They tried to build a similar project using IPFS and Ethereum, but found that only Urbit enabled the design and features that they wanted. We’re excited to welcome them to the ecosystem.
To install, run |install ~dibmet-narren %bizbaz from the Dojo, or search ~dibmet-narren in "Get Urbit Apps".
Audience Vote
The Audience Vote runner-up is Edith by ~natfex-nilfep and ~masmut-folhex.
Edith (edit Hoon) is a structure editor for Hoon which allows for faster and smarter composition. Leveraging Hoon's tree structure, the editor contains valid code at all times, providing a range of convenient features. With a few keypresses, users can copy-paste code, toggle between rune forms, swap order of arguments (such as between ?: and ?.), and more.
Edith is currently a work in progress, and you can find the code here↗. We're looking forwards to the potential of this project to accelerate learning and productivity for Hoon devs.
Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention: %mentat by ~lomped-firser, ~wolfun-solnym, ~mocmex-pollen, ~nismut-tamwep, and ~radbus-tactyl.
%mentat is an AI personal assistant on Urbit. The team implemented several chatbots which connect to open source AI backends. Features include generating images and saving them to personal S3 storage, holding a conversation, generating reminders, and updating a todo-list. %mentat is a first step towards exploring the vast potential of self-sovereign AI on Urbit.
You can check our their code↗, or join their group to find out more at ~lomped-firser/mentat .
To install, run |install ~tagrev-lacmur-lomped-firser/mentat or search ~tagrev-lacmur-lomped-firser/mentat in "Get Urbit Apps".
Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention: %seax by ~racfer-hattes and ~dopnyr-figbud.
%seax lets you easily access the web’s information inside your Urbit. Currently, %seax aggregates search results from open search APIs, such as Alexandria, Crowdview, Wiby, Yep, and the Urbit developer docs. %seax is modular, making it easy to plug in new search sources. Their future goals include adding search over local Urbit apps.
You can check out their source code↗. %seax is compatible with kelvin release 413, not the latest 412 release, so unfortunately it doesn't work on the live network.
Fin
Congratulations to all our teams for their amazing work! Thanks to them for making Demo Day so special.
