Back to School / Rules
The Rules
One teaching app a day, deployed live, logged on the wall. Everything below is the whole rulebook — the 31-day assignment, what counts as an entry, and what you can win. Longer answers live in the FAQ.
Build something that teaches. Every day.
Pick a concept you can explain — how gravity works, why recursion clicks, how compound interest grows — and build a working app that explains it. Education is the theme. Building is the requirement.
Every entry has to be a working app
The teaching happens inside the app. Format is wide open, as long as it is running at a live URL someone else can open.
Static site
A crisp explainer page or cheatsheet people actually bookmark.
Interactive
Sliders, toggles, and playgrounds that make the idea click.
Game
A lightweight browser game with a lesson baked in.
Simulator
Change the inputs, watch the system respond in real time.
How it works
Five steps, repeated 31 times. The deploy is the entry: posts amplify a build, they never replace it.
- BuildAn education themed app. Any stack, any tool, any agent.
- DeployShip it live on Netlify so anyone can open it.
- SubmitAdd the live URL to the wall so it counts.
- SharePost it, mention @netlify, use #NetlifyBackToSchool.
- ClimbRise up the leaderboard for the rest of the month.
What you can win
Credits, amplification, and the top of the board. Judging looks at shipped apps only — a build that is not deployed cannot win.
Best use of Agent Runners
Each week a Netlify teammate picks the strongest Agent Runners build by hand. Optional track, real upside.
Student head start
Verify a .edu email, connect your Netlify account, and claim once. Credits are granted by hand afterward.
Credits and bragging rights
Ranked by apps shipped, with day streak as the tiebreaker.
The edge cases
The rules that only matter once you are actually shipping every day.
How many apps can I log in a day?
One. The form takes a single app per calendar day (UTC), so the most you can log across a 31-day August is 31 apps.
Can I backfill days I missed?
No. Every app you log is dated today (UTC) — there is no going back to an earlier day, so nobody can fill in the whole month on the last day.
What happens if I break my streak?
You start again tomorrow. Every app you already submitted stays on the wall and stays in your count — only the unbroken run resets, and the streak is only the tiebreaker on the leaderboard.
What if I join late?
Jump in any day. You cannot backfill, but every day left in the month still counts.
Does it have to be good?
It has to be shipped, and it has to teach something. Small, weird, and rough all count.
Does posting about a build count instead of submitting it?
No. The deploy is the entry. Submit the live URL to the wall, then share it wherever you like — posts amplify a build, they never replace it.
What gets a submission pulled?
A dead URL, someone else's work, or spam. Entries are reviewed, and anything that is not a working app at a live URL does not stay on the wall.
School is in. Bring what you know.
One app a day, all August, each one teaching a single idea. Students with a .edu email get a head start, and the best Agent Runners build wins credits every week.