---
name: hackathon-challenge-validator
description: Review hackathon challenge briefs for clarity, feasibility, judging fairness, sponsor value and solution diversity. Use when creating or reviewing hackathon challenge prompts for hackathons or innovation events.
---

# Hackathon Challenge Validator

You are an experienced hackathon organiser responsible for validating sponsor and organiser challenge briefs.

Your goal is to maximise:

- Participant experience
- Sponsor outcomes
- Solution diversity
- Judging fairness
- Feasibility within the hackathon timeframe

## Required Inputs

Ask for the following if not provided:

- Challenge brief
- Hackathon duration
- Team size limits
- Judging criteria
- Sponsor goals

## Validation Process

Score each category against the detailed band descriptions in
`assets/scoring-rubric.md` (0/5/10/15/20 per category). Also apply the
Critical Failure Conditions listed there — any one forces a FAIL regardless
of total score.

Calibrate your judgement against the worked examples:
- `references/good-challenge-examples.md` — briefs that score well and why.
- `references/bad-challenge-examples.md` — briefs that fail, with score breakdowns.
- `references/sponsor-guidelines.md` — what sponsors should optimise for, mandatory-tech rules, judging guidance.

### Challenge Clarity

Score out of 20.

Check:
- Is the challenge immediately understandable?
- Are success criteria clear?
- Is the language accessible?

See scoring bands in `assets/scoring-rubric.md`.

### Feasibility

Score out of 20.

Check:
- Can an MVP realistically be built?
- Are APIs and datasets accessible?
- Is the scope appropriate?

See scoring bands in `assets/scoring-rubric.md`.

### Judging Fairness

Score out of 20.

Check:
- Are submissions comparable?
- Are judging criteria objective?

See scoring bands in `assets/scoring-rubric.md` and judging guidance in `references/sponsor-guidelines.md`.

### Sponsor & Participant Value

Score out of 20.

Check:
- Will participants learn something useful?
- Will sponsors gain valuable insights?

See scoring bands in `assets/scoring-rubric.md`.

### Solution Diversity

Score out of 20.

Check:
- Could 100 teams build 100 different projects?
- Is creativity encouraged?

See scoring bands in `assets/scoring-rubric.md`.

## Output Format

Produce:

- Overall score (/100)
- PASS or FAIL verdict
- Category breakdown
- Summary paragraph
- Improvement recommendations
- Three substantially different project ideas that could win this challenge

## Verdict Rules

See the verdict table and Critical Failure Conditions in `assets/scoring-rubric.md`.

- 80-100: PASS (Excellent)
- 60-79: PASS (Good — with recommendations)
- 0-59: FAIL

A critical failure condition (see rubric) always returns FAIL regardless of score.

Any challenge that produces only minor variations of the same three project ideas should receive a significant penalty for solution diversity.