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We’re thrilled to announce that the Descope Global MCP Hackathon is alive and kicking! This global virtual competition challenges developers to build secure, identity-aware AI agents and MCP servers using the latest tools in modern infrastructure like Anthropic, Neon, Cequence Security, Smithery, and Descope.
Participants will have up to four weeks to build real-world solutions that combine AI, secure APIs, and agent-to-agent trust. Whether you’re working solo or with a team, this is your chance to shape the future of how autonomous software authenticates, delegates, and acts. The $25K in cash prizes and $100K in developer credits up for grabs don’t hurt either!
The MCP Hackathon is proudly supported by leaders in AI, infrastructure, and security, including Anthropic, Neon, Cequence, GitHub, Daytona, Backslash Security, Smithery, and EntreConnect.
To learn more about the three hackathon challenges, timelines, and how to get started, visit our hackathon home page or keep on reading.
Build something that matters
Choose from three challenge tracks designed to push the boundaries of identity, access, and autonomy:
Build a purposeful AI agent
Build an AI-powered agent that solves a real-world problem by integrating with third-party platforms like GitHub, Slack, Notion, or Google Calendar. Use Descope Outbound Apps to handle secure authentication. No hardcoded tokens or custom OAuth logic required.
Imagine creating AI agents that:
Auto-schedule wellness and focus breaks in Google Calendar for college students to promote mental health
Connect with GitHub to suggest beginner-friendly open-source issues based on users’ interests and skill sets
Post real-time weather alerts into Slack or Discord using public alert APIs to help communities stay informed
Deploy a secure MCP server
Build an AI-ready, agent-accessible MCP server using the Cequence AI Gateway. Expose secure, scoped APIs that agents can call via OAuth-authenticated endpoints. Define new standards for safe and observable agent-to-API interaction. Host your MCP server on the Smithery MCP registry for easy discoverability.
Imagine building MCP servers that:
Power workplace search by letting gents search, retrieve, and summarize content from tools like Google Drive, Notion, Slack, or Confluence
Provide personalized content recommendations based on user preferences, activity, and browsing history
Analyze resumes, job roles, and candidate profiles to match individuals with the best job opportunities
Design secure agent-to-agent systems
Create a multi-agent architecture where agents talk, trust, and team up across scoped permissions and delegated access. Use Descope Inbound Apps to protect the APIs your agents expose, OAuth-based scope access, and user consent management.
Imagine architecting multi-agent systems that:
Collect and validate official documents provided by a user
Create calendar events and send time-based reminders to users
Summarize email threads and take calendar-based follow-up actions
Thanks to our partners
We’re really grateful to our hackathon partners and sponsors for providing developer tools, defining challenges, and extending community support. Thank you to Anthropic, GitHub, Cequence Security, Neon, Daytona, Backslash Security, Smithery, and EntreConnect for helping make this hackathon a reality.
Developers can:
Leverage Anthropic, Neon, and GitHub credits and support to complete any of their hackathon challenges
Use the Cequence AI Gateway to build secure MCP servers
Host and promote their MCP servers on Smithery
Stand a chance to win Daytona credits
Why join
This hackathon is more than a code sprint. It challenges developers to imagine how identity, access, and trust work in a world where AI agents act, collaborate, and make decisions on our behalf.
Bring security and autonomy together in your AI-powered apps
Learn by building with tools like Descope, Anthropic, Cequence, and Neon
Stand a chance to win $25K in cash prizes and $100K in Daytona developer credits
Key dates
Hackathon participants should keep these key dates in mind:
August 12 (today): Hackathon begins
September 8: Last date by which submissions are due
September 9-15: Judging
September 16: Winners announced
Ready to build?
Register now to get challenge details, starter templates, and everything you need to start building.
Whether you’re launching your first AI agent, looking to learn how to take MCP servers to production, or refining your agent-to-agent architecture, the Global MCP Hackathon gives you the space, tools, and support to build something real.
