Vibe Coding Hackathon — Build with TRAE AI × Minimax

24 hours. One challenge. Build an AI agent that makes life easier.
Please also sign up here: https://luma.com/k5dc1l0d

What is this?

Build with TRAE is a community event hosted by TRAE Fellows. A 24-hour hackathon where teams of 2–5 build AI-powered agents for productivity and life hacks. You'll use TRAE AI as your coding environment and Minimax models as the brain behind your agent. Whether you're automating your inbox, building a study assistant, or creating something nobody's thought of yet — if it saves time or makes life better, it belongs here.

This isn't a lecture. It's not a workshop. You show up, you build something real, and you demo it. Finished or not, polished or rough — that's the point.

When & Where

Hacking starts: March 27, 2026, at 6:30 pm PT (virtual kickoff)
In-person day: March 28, 2026, at TCC Franklin Suite, USC (3607 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089)
Code freeze: March 28 at 6:30 pm PT
Demos & awards: March 28 evening

How it works

March 27 at 6:30 pm, we go live on Discord with the rules, theme, and start signal. You hack from wherever you are — your dorm, your apartment, a library, wherever. March 28 morning, everyone comes to the TCC Franklin Suite at USC to continue hacking in person, watch sponsor keynotes, get help from mentors, and prep for demos. Code freeze hits at 6:30 pm. Then you present what you built.

⚠️ You must physically check in at TCC Franklin Suite by 11:00 am on March 28 for your submission to be eligible for judging. No check-in, no prizes.

Theme: AI Agents for Productivity & Life Hacks

Build an agent that automates, simplifies, or improves something people deal with every day. Some ideas to get you started:

A study agent that photographs your syllabus and builds a daily study plan
An email triage agent that prioritizes your inbox and drafts replies
A meal planner that suggests recipes based on what's in your fridge
A personal finance agent that tracks spending and flags unusual charges
A meeting prep agent that summarizes docs and generates talking points

You're not limited to these. If it solves a real problem and it's powered by AI, build it.

Your Toolkit

TRAE AI — Your development environment. An AI-powered IDE that helps you write code, debug, and ship faster. Think of it as your coding co-pilot. This is where you build.

Minimax — The AI models powering your agent. Text generation, vision, speech, video — pick the modalities your agent needs. This is what makes it smart.

Photon (bonus track) — Deploy your agent into a real messaging conversation. Instead of demoing on localhost, your agent lives in iMessage. Requires macOS. See bonus prize below.

What is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding is a style of building where AI assists you throughout the entire development process. You bring the idea and creative direction. The AI helps you code it, debug it, and ship it. It's not AI doing the work for you — it's AI building with you. That's why beginners can ship real projects in 24 hours and experienced builders can go way further than they normally would.

Prizes

🥇 1st Place: $800
🥈 2nd Place: $500
🥉 3rd Place: $200
🏆 Photon Bonus Prize: $1,000 + entry into the Photon Residency Program — for the best team that deploys their agent into a messaging platform using the Photon SD

Plus: direct internship and job referral opportunities from TRAE AI and Minimax for standout participants.

Who should join?

You. Seriously. You don't need to be an expert coder. Teams need developers, but they also need people who can brainstorm ideas, design interfaces, and deliver a great demo pitch. CS, Data Science, Engineering, Design, Business — all welcome. If you're curious about building with AI, this is for you.

Team Rules

Teams of 2–5 people
At least one member must write code
You can come with a pre-formed team or find teammates at the event
Solo signups will be matched via Discord before hacking starts

Organized by

BIA@USC

Technology Support Partners: TRAE AI, Minimax

Track Partner: Photon.codes

Community Partners: UCLA CSSA, UCLA FIT, 合抱之木, USC SESE, Claremont CSA

Food Partner: 饭团外卖 Fantuan Delivery

Requirements

What to Build

Build an AI-powered agent that solves a real productivity or life hack problem. Your agent should automate, simplify, or improve something people actually deal with in daily life.

Your project must:

Be built using TRAE AI as your primary development environment
Integrate at least one Minimax API (text generation, vision, speech, or video) as the intelligence behind your agent
Be a new project — started and completed during the 24-hour hacking window. No pre-built projects. Your GitHub commit history must show the first commit after 6:30 pm PT on March 27.

⚠️ Mandatory: At least 75% of the team members must physically check in at TCC Franklin Suite by 11:00 am PT on March 28. Teams that do not check in are not eligible for judging or prizes.

Bonus Track — Best Messaging Agent (Powered by Photon)

Deploy your agent into a real messaging platform using the Photon SDK. Instead of a localhost demo, your agent lives inside an actual iMessage or messaging conversation. Teams that integrate Photon are eligible for the $1,000 Photon Bonus Prize and consideration for the Photon Residency Program.

Note: Photon's iMessage SDK requires macOS. At least one team member needs a Mac to use this track.

What to Submit

All submissions due by 6:30 pm PT on March 28 (code freeze). Late submissions will not be accepted.

Required for all teams:

Project name and tagline — One sentence describing what your agent does.
Description — 2–3 paragraphs covering: What problem does it solve? How does it work? Which Minimax API(s) did you use and why?
Demo video — A 2-minute maximum screen recording showing your agent in action. Walk through the core use case from start to finish. This is how judges evaluate your project if technical issues arise during live presentations. This is required, not optional.
GitHub repository link — Your repo must be public. Judges will review the commit history to verify that the project was built during the 24-hour window. First commit must be after 6:30 pm PT on March 27.
Built with — Tag the tools you used: TRAE AI, Minimax, and Photon, if applicable.
Slide deck (optional but recommended) — Maximum 5 slides for your 3-minute live presentation. If you prefer to demo live without slides, that's fine.

Additional requirement for Photon Bonus Prize:

If competing for the Photon track, also include:

Messaging demo — A short video or screenshot showing your agent running inside a real messaging conversation (iMessage, WeChat, or other supported platform via Photon SDK).

Presentation Format

Not all teams are required to present live — opt in when you submit. Presenting teams get:

3 minutes to present or demo
2 minutes of judge Q&A
Hard cutoff enforced by timer

Judging Criteria

Criteria	Weight
Product Completeness — Does it work? Can you demo it?	25%
Use of TRAE AI — Did you leverage TRAE AI's features in your workflow?	20%
Use of Minimax — How deeply is Minimax integrated? Creative API usage?	20%
Innovation & Creativity — Is the idea novel? Does it solve a real problem?	20%
Presentation Quality — Was the demo clear, engaging, and well-structured?	15%

The Photon Bonus Prize is judged separately on: quality of messaging agent experience, creative use of Photon SDK, and how naturally the agent fits into a real conversation.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$1,500+ in prizes

+ other prizes

Gold Prize

$800 in cash

1 winner

Silver Prize

$500 in cash

1 winner

Bronze

$200 in cash

1 winner

Photon Track 1st Place

1 winner

$1000 Photon Credit & Photon Residency Interview

Photon Track 2nd Place

1 winner

Photon Residency Interview

Judges

Victor
MinMax

To Be Announced
Trae.ai

Judging Criteria

Product Completeness (25%)
Does it work? Can you demo it? Is it a functional agent, not just a concept?
Use of TRAE AI (20%)
Did the team use TRAE AI as their development environment and leverage its AI-assisted features?
Use of Minimax (20%)
How deeply is Minimax integrated? Did the team use its models creatively? Multiple modalities?
Innovation & Creativity (20%)
Is the idea novel? Does it solve a real problem in a clever way? Would someone actually use this?
Presentation Quality (15%)
Was the demo clear, engaging, and well-structured? Did the team communicate their vision?