Kiroween 2026

Kiroween 2026 is Kiro's annual Halloween-themed hackathon, returning with a challenge to push boundaries using the Kiro platform. Building on last year's success where thousands of developers revived dead tech and stitched together unexpected technologies, this year invites participants to create hauntingly good experiences.

Participants can work across a crew of agents in Kiro Crew, add structure with specs, customize workflows with hooks or steering, streamline with Kiro powers, or bring in new capabilities with MCP. The competition runs from October 30 to December 4, 2026, with submissions due by Friday, December 4, 2026, at 2:00 PM Pacific Time. Only new projects started during this period are eligible; projects begun before October 30, including those from Kiroween 2025, are excluded. Teams can have up to three members.

Categories

Entrants must build a working software application using Kiro (IDE, CLI, Web, and/or Kiro Crew) and submit it into one of four categories:

• Resurrection: Bring your favorite dead technology back to life by reimaging obsolete tech with today’s innovations or solving tomorrow’s problems.
• Frankenstein: Stitch together a chimera of technologies into one app, bringing seemingly incompatible elements to build something unexpectedly powerful.
• Skeleton Crew: Build a skeleton code template that is lean yet flexible enough to support various use cases, demonstrating versatility with two distinct applications built from the foundation.
• Costume Contest: Build any app but showcase a haunting, polished, and unforgettable user interface with spooky design elements that enhance function.

Prizes

Competitors vie for $100,000 in total prizes. Awards include first, second, and third place overall, as well as category-specific awards for Best Resurrection, Best Frankenstein, Best Skeleton Crew, and Best Costume Contest. Additional bonuses include Startup Projects, Ghost of Kiroween Past, Best Kiro Crew App, and Student Project awards ($1,500 USD plus a 1-year Kiro Pro Max subscription). Other bonus prizes include credits for blog posts and social media engagement.

Judging Criteria

Projects are evaluated based on: * Potential Impact: Solving real problems for a real audience with useful, intuitive, and accessible solutions. * Technological Implementation: Thorough and skillful use of Kiro tools, thoughtful AI development strategy, and deep understanding of features like custom agents, hooks, and spec-driven development. * Design: A complete, coherent product experience with intentional and polished design. * Innovation/Idea: Creative concepts that differ from existing solutions, potentially leveraging unusual technologies or resources. * Presentation: Clear video demonstrations, effective pitches explaining the problem and solution, and memorable delivery.