hackTime

Hackathon Control Room for Organizers, Stage Screens, and Participants

hackTime is a hackathon control room for organizers, stage screens, and participants. It lets you create a timed event flow, launch a live countdown, broadcast announcements, and share a room code so teams can join the clock view instantly.

Who It's For

• Organizers who need a command center for multi-phase hackathons
• Stage or AV teams who need a clean public countdown screen
• Participants who want to join a room and follow the live schedule

What Users Can Do

• Create an organizer account and manage hackathon sessions
• Build a custom event flow with named phases and durations
• Launch a room with a 6-character room ID
• Pause, resume, skip, or stop a live event
• Send timed broadcast announcements to everyone in the room
• Open a dedicated stage view for projection screens
• Let participants join a room without creating an account

Product Views

• Organizer dashboard: /dashboard
• Flow builder: /flow
• Login and guest join: /login
• Stage standby or active stage view: /stage and /room/<ROOM_ID>/stage
• Participant clock view: /room/<ROOM_ID>/clock

Live Deployment

• Experimental: https://hackclock.vercel.app/
• Production: https://hackclock.vercel.app/

Local Setup

hackTime is split into two apps:

• hackclock/ for the Next.js frontend
• backend/ for the Express and MongoDB API

1. Install dependencies

cd hackclock
npm install

cd backend
npm install

2. Configure environment variables

Create backend/.env:

MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
PORT=5000

Create hackclock/.env.local:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:5000
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=replace_with_a_long_random_secret

# Optional: enable GitHub sign-in
GITHUB_ID=
GITHUB_SECRET=

3. Start the backend

cd backend
npm run dev

The API runs at http://localhost:5000.

4. Start the frontend

cd hackclock
npm run dev

For the live app, use:

• Experimental: https://hackclock.vercel.app/
• Production: https://hacktime.vercel.app/

How To Use hackTime

For organizers

1. Open a deployed login page: Experimental: https://hackclock.vercel.app/login Production: https://hacktime.vercel.app/login
2. Create an account or sign in.
3. Go to /flow and create your hackathon.
4. Add your event name, dates, timezone, branding, and phases.
5. Deploy the flow to generate a room ID.
6. Use the dashboard to control the live room and send announcements.

For participants

1. Open a deployed login page: Experimental: https://hackclock.vercel.app/login Production: https://hacktime.vercel.app/login
2. Choose GUEST.
3. Enter a team name and the room ID.
4. Join the room to open the live clock view.

For stage screens

1. Open /stage if you are signed in as the organizer with an active room.
2. Or open /room/<ROOM_ID>/stage directly for a specific event.

Notes

• Participants can join without an account.
• Room IDs are generated automatically when a flow is deployed.
• Draft flows can be saved and launched later.
• MongoDB is required for local development.

Project Structure

.
├── backend/      # Express API, auth, room state, MongoDB models
├── hackclock/    # Next.js frontend for organizers, stage, and participants
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Troubleshooting

The frontend loads but actions fail

Check that:

• the backend is running on port 5000
• NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL points to the backend
• MongoDB is reachable from the backend

Login does not work

Check that:

• NEXTAUTH_SECRET is set in hackclock/.env.local
• the backend is running
• your account exists if using email and password login

The room page says it was not found

Check that:

• the room ID is correct
• the hackathon was deployed, not just saved as a draft
• the backend database contains the room record

Brand Logos

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.