​The Claude Builder Hackathon lands at Columbia Business School on April 12 — a one-day sprint where students from Columbia, NYU, and across NYC build real products with Claude, the Claude Agent SDK, and Claude Code.

​First hackathon or tenth? Doesn't matter. Show up, ship something, leave with a demo, new teammates, and the NYC builder crowd in your corner.

​• $3,000 in Anthropic credits + cash prizes across the Grand Prize and sponsor challenges

​• $25 Claude API credits for eligible Columbia / NYU students — apply via Google Form by Friday, April 10 at 12 PM (see FAQ)

​• Claude merch — we're giving away a lot of free swag 

​• Live mentorship — rolling office hours with Anthropic, Linkup, and Claude Ambassadors 

​• Judges from big tech + founders — top teams demo on the main stage 

​• Fuel — breakfast, lunch, snacks, and good vibes all day

​• Columbia and NYU students from any discipline, technical or non-technical, undergrad or grad

​• Engineers, designers, PMs, domain experts — we'll help you form teams on site 

​• Come solo or roll in with a team of up to 4

​8:30 AM Check-in, breakfast, team formation

​9:00 AM Opening + keynote & theme reveal

​9:30 AM Hacking begins

​3:00 PM Submissions close

​3:15 PM Demos & judging

​5:00 PM Awards & closing

​• Grand Prize — Best overall build with Claude

​• Linkup Challenge — Best use of the Linkup search API

​All winning teams receive Anthropic API credits to keep building after the hackathon.

​Columbia Claude Builder Club · NYU Claude Builder Club · CBS AI Club

​Anthropic · Affiniti · Eniac Ventures · Linkup

​• Your laptop + charger

​• An idea — or an open mind to join someone else's

• Technical Implementation
  How well does the project integrate Claude's capabilities? Judges evaluate API usage depth, code quality, and whether the architecture goes beyond a basic chatbot wrapper into more sophisticated patterns like tool use or agentic workflows.
• Problem & Impact
  Does it solve a real problem for real people? Teams should clearly identify their user, the pain point, and why this solution matters. A credible path to adoption beats a flashy demo nobody would use again.
• Creativity & Originality
  How novel is the idea? This rewards unexpected use cases, inventive combinations of tools, and fresh angles on familiar problems. The best entries make judges think "that's clever" not just "that's different."
• Polish & Presentation
  Can the team ship? This covers UX quality, error handling, and how clearly the team communicates their vision. A working prototype that feels delightful beats an ambitious concept that falls apart in the demo.