_{HOSTED BY Gradio · Hugging Face SPONSORED BY [ TBD ]}

Making AI work for your community (TBD)

For two weekends, we want to see what you can do with small models, tight constraints, and care for the people right around you. Build for one neighbor. Build something that runs on the laptop you already own. Build something a child could love. Pick a track, ship a Gradio app, and tell us a story.

Two Tracks

🏡 Backyard AI _{Chapter One}

Solve a real problem for someone you actually know. Pick a person — a neighbor, a parent, a small business owner on your street — and build something that makes their day measurably better. Walk over. Watch them use it. The closer the problem, the better the project.

_{JUDGED ON · problem is specific and real · the person actually used it · honest fit between problem, solution, and the small-model constraint · polish of the Gradio app}

🍄 An Adventure in Thousand Token Wood _{Chapter Two}

Build something delightful that wouldn't exist without AI. Wander somewhere weirder. A toy, a tiny game, a strange interactive story, an art experiment that surprises you. The AI should be doing the fun thing — not just helping you build it. Strange is good. Joyful is the bar.

_{JUDGED ON · genuinely delightful (would you show a friend?) · AI is load-bearing for the experience · originality of concept · polish of the Gradio app}

The Constraints · How It Works

① Small Models Only — any model that fits inside 22 GB of memory.

② Built on Gradio — your app must be a Gradio app, hosted as a Hugging Face Space.

③ Show, Don't Tell — a short demo video and a social-media post are part of the submission.

1. Register — join this org. No application, no waitlist.

2. Find your people — hop into the Gradio Discord. Office hours, AMAs, teammates live there.

3. Build & ship — build your Gradio app and host it as a Space under this org.

4. Submit — drop your Space link, a demo video, and a social post by the deadline.

Bonus Quests

None required. Each one bumps you up the leaderboard. Stack them like badges on a scout sash.

🔌 Off the Grid No cloud APIs. The whole thing runs on the model in front of you.	🎯 Well-Tuned Your app uses a fine-tuned model you've published on Hugging Face.	🎨 Off-Brand A custom frontend that pushes past the default Gradio look.
🦙 Llama Champion Your model runs through the llama.cpp runtime.	📡 Sharing is Caring You shared your agent trace on the Hub.	📓 Field Notes You wrote a blog post or report about what you built. _tentative

Timeline

	When	What
I.	Week of [date TBD]	Registration opens — sign up, join Discord, start sketching
II.	[date TBD]	Hack window begins — two weekends to build, ship, and demo
III.	Mid-window	Live AMA + office hours — ask the Gradio team anything
IV.	[date TBD]	Submissions close — Space, demo video, social post locked in
V.	[date TBD]	Winners announced — per track, plus bonus-quest leaderboard

Build something small.

Two weekends. Two tracks. The model on your laptop. The neighbor next door.

→ Register on Hugging Face ← _{↳ placeholder link for now}

_{Made with care by the Gradio team · questions? Find us on Discord · vol. III · mmxxvi}