sahat/hackathon-starter

Analysis updated 2026-06-20

★ 35,217JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Hackathon Starter))
    Auth System
      Email and password
      OAuth 10+ providers
      Two-factor auth
    User Features
      Profile management
      Password reset
      Account deletion
    API Integrations
      Stripe payments
      Twilio SMS
      Google services
    AI Features
      ReAct agent
      RAG with caching
      LangChain integration

mindmap root((Hackathon Starter)) Auth System Email and password OAuth 10+ providers Two-factor auth User Features Profile management Password reset Account deletion API Integrations Stripe payments Twilio SMS Google services AI Features ReAct agent RAG with caching LangChain integration

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Clone the boilerplate to start a new web app with OAuth sign-in, email verification, two-factor auth, and user profile management already working.

USE CASE 2

Bootstrap a startup MVP with pre-built Stripe payment integration, file uploads, and a contact form wired to email services from day one.

USE CASE 3

Build a hackathon project in 24-48 hours starting from auth and API integrations already in place, leaving all time for your unique idea.

USE CASE 4

Add AI features using the included LangChain ReAct agent and RAG examples as a starting point for your app's AI layer.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptNode.jsExpressMongoDBBootstrapLangChain

How does it compare?

	sahat/hackathon-starter	typicode/husky	ryanhanwu/how-to-ask-questions-the-smart-way
Stars	35,217	35,035	35,034
Language	JavaScript	JavaScript	JavaScript
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	easy
Complexity	3/5	2/5	1/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a running MongoDB instance and individual environment variables for each third-party service you want to enable.

In plain English

Hackathon Starter is a boilerplate, a pre-built starting point, for Node.js web applications, designed to eliminate the hours of setup work that happen before actual product development can begin. The name comes from hackathons, where teams have only 24-48 hours to build a project and cannot afford to spend the first few hours configuring authentication, email, and APIs from scratch. The boilerplate ships with a comprehensive set of pre-built features so you can clone the repository, configure a few environment variables, and immediately start building the unique parts of your idea. The most valuable pieces are the authentication system (local email/password login, passwordless login, passkeys, and OAuth 2.0 sign-in with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, GitHub, Discord, and others), full user account management (profile editing, password reset, email verification, two-factor authentication, and account deletion), a contact form wired to email services, and file upload support. It also includes pre-built examples for AI features (an AI agent using the ReAct pattern with tool calling, RAG with semantic caching, and integrations with Llama, DeepSeek, and other models via LangChain), and example integrations with dozens of third-party APIs including Stripe, Twilio, Google Maps, Google Drive, GitHub, and stock data services. A "go to production" checklist is included to help you verify the app is ready for real users. You would use Hackathon Starter at the beginning of any new Node.js web project, especially when you need standard features like authentication and want to skip reimplementing them. It is equally useful at a hackathon or when bootstrapping a startup MVP. The tech stack is JavaScript on Node.js, using Express as the web framework, MongoDB as the database, and Bootstrap 5 for the frontend styling. Configuration uses environment variables.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I cloned Hackathon Starter and want to add Google OAuth sign-in. Walk me through creating a Google OAuth client, getting the credentials, and wiring them into the .env file so sign-in works.

Prompt 2

Using the Hackathon Starter Express app, add a new POST route that looks up a user by email in MongoDB and sends them a transactional email using the existing email setup in the boilerplate.

Prompt 3

I want to add Stripe monthly subscription billing to Hackathon Starter. Show me how to add a subscription plan and integrate the checkout flow using the existing Stripe example as a starting point.

Prompt 4

Extend the Hackathon Starter AI agent example to add a custom LangChain tool that queries my MongoDB database and returns results as part of the ReAct reasoning loop.

Frequently asked questions

What is hackathon-starter?

Hackathon Starter is a Node.js boilerplate that ships with authentication, OAuth sign-in for 10+ providers, user account management, Stripe payments, and dozens of third-party API integrations pre-wired so you can skip setup and build your unique idea immediately.

What language is hackathon-starter written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Node.js, Express.

How hard is hackathon-starter to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is hackathon-starter for?

Mainly developer.

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