Ah, October—a time for pumpkin spice lattes, cozy sweaters, and… endless lines of code? That’s right, developers around the world gear up for Hacktoberfest, an exciting opportunity to flex their coding muscles and make meaningful contributions to open-source projects. Here at Hyperswitch, we’ve been prepping for this year’s Hacktoberfest like it's the Olympics of coding—except, you know, with more pull requests and fewer gold medals.

Let me take you behind the curtain to show you what goes into planning such a large-scale event. Spoiler alert: It involves a lot of coffee.

Stage 1: What Happened Last Year?

Before diving headfirst into this year’s event, we first ask ourselves the age-old question: What in the world happened last year? We dig into the data to see how many contributors we had, which trype of issues attracted the most pull requests, and, of course, whether or not we met our goals (or just managed to survive on caffeine alone).

For Hyperswitch, last year’s event was a hit—our community grew, and developers were happy. But we also noticed some areas where we could improve, like making the onboarding process a bit more newbie-friendly. Because, let’s be honest, jumping into open-source for the first time can feel a bit like learning to swim by being tossed into the deep end.

Stage 2: Understanding What is Required this year

Once we’ve dusted off the past, it’s time to set this year’s targets. How many new contributors do we want? Which issue types should we shine a spotlight on? 

At Hyperswitch, we’re focusing on Dev Ex problems that could benefit 1000s of Developers. We’re also keeping a close eye on making sure first-time contributors feel welcome, because nothing says “We love open-source!” like crystal-clear documentation and an easy-to-follow roadmap.

Stage 3: Coordinate, Coordinate, Coordinate

Remember that thing your parents always said about teamwork? Well, Hacktoberfest planning is like that, but with a lot more Slack messages and Google Docs. I had to work closely with our design team to get the landing page live—because first impressions matter, and if it looks good, people will want to stay (kinda like a good dating profile, but for developers).

And, of course, the pièce de résistance—t-shirts and stickers! Why do we pour so much love into these goodies? Simple: validation. Because who doesn’t love being rewarded for their hard work with something they can wear proudly at their next dev meetup? It’s like the developer equivalent of a superhero cape.

Stage 4: Fix, Fix, Fix

Even the best-laid plans can hit a snag—or three. This stage is about fixing those last-minute hiccups, whether it’s resolving landing page bugs, updating contribution guidelines, or rewriting an issue to make it sound less like a riddle. (Nobody likes cryptic instructions, right?)

For all the freshers out there, don’t be scared of this stage! Fixing small bugs, improving documentation, or just suggesting tiny tweaks is a great way to get started. Trust me, you’ll feel like a wizard when your first pull request gets merged. Plus, you’ll walk away with some swag and the satisfaction of contributing to something bigger than yourself.

Why Hacktoberfest?

Why do I love Hacktoberfest? Well, besides the obvious fact that it’s a free pass to live in our IDEs for a month for Devs, it’s all about building community for me. It’s an open invitation to developers around the world to step up, contribute, and get some recognition. (Not to mention a sweet t-shirt to flex at your next virtual conference.)

For us at Hyperswitch, Hacktoberfest is also a way to give back to the open-source community that powers so much of what we do. Whether you’re an open-source veteran or still figuring out how to fork a repo, we want you to join in. Who knows? You might just build the next Instagram!

How you can Get Involved

Ready to jump in and make your mark during Hacktoberfest? Head over to our Hacktoberfest landing page [Don’t forget to share some feedback here], where you’ll find beginner-friendly issues, no code developments, and feature requests that need your touch.

Plus, we’ve got some shiny new plugins developments [Paid “$” Contributions] and integrations in the works that are ripe for contribution. Think of it as your chance to be the hero of our open-source saga.

Wrapping It Up

Planning Hacktoberfest is no small feat. From reflecting on last year to setting this year’s goals and coordinating every little detail, it’s a labor of love. But when the community comes together, it’s all worth it. We’re pumped to see what this year’s event brings and can’t wait to welcome developers of all experience levels to our open-source ecosystem.

Join our Community: Discord | Slack

Don’t forget to Star us on GitHub

Yeah, I know—I’m using GPT to write this. Don’t sweat it; the robots haven’t taken over just yet. But trust me, when they do, they’ll be fully equipped to take over the world!