Hacktoberfest is here, and we're brewing up something spook-tacular! We're running a beginner-friendly series to help you go from GitHub ghost 👻 to confident contributor, one trick-or-tip at a time.

Key dates 📅

• Registration for Hacktoberfest began on September 15, 2025 on the official Hacktoberfest site.
• The contribution window is October 1–31.

What "counts" ✅

Make PRs to participating projects. Repositories can opt in by adding the hacktoberfest topic, and maintainers can accept PRs by merging, giving an overall approving review, or adding the hacktoberfest-accepted label. Accepted PRs go through a seven-day review window that can extend into November if it starts late in October.

What treats we have in store 🍬

We're running 8 posts throughout October to guide you from setup to success:

🎃 Trick-or-Tip Tuesdays (4 posts)

Weekly skills-building tips with a Halloween twist:

• Week 1: Hunting for Perfect Pumpkin Issues
• Week 2: Ghoulishly Good PR Manners
• Week 3: Spook-tacular Git Skills
• Week 4: Fork vs Clone - No Pitchforks Required!

🔨 Weekly Challenges (4 posts)

Fun, interactive challenges to put your new skills to practice:

• Week 1: Tricking or Treating for Good First Issues
• Week 2: PR Peer Review 👥
• Week 3: Spooky Skills Showcase
• Week 4: Hacktoberfest Grand Finale

Get ready (2 minutes) 🚀

1. Sign in to GitHub.
2. Register on the Hacktoberfest site starting Sep 15
3. Follow this announcement post so you don't miss any of our 8 posts!
4. Comment below with your interests and whether you're okay with your PR being reviewed in a recorded video.

Copy-paste this as a reply:

- I'm in for Hacktoberfest! 🎃
- Language or stack:
- Time zone:
- Topics I'm interested in (docs, tests, web, mobile, data, security):
- What scares you most about contributing to open source:

Maintainers 👥

If you want beginners to contribute, add the hacktoberfest topic to your repo and label beginner-friendly issues so newcomers can find you. We'll have an opportunity to share these issues here in the community as part of our challenges!

Ready to turn your GitHub presence from invisible to incredible? See you for our first Trick-or-Tip Tuesday! 🎃✨

No tricks, just tips for your Hacktoberfest journey!