Hacktoberfest 2025: Rules and Participation Guide

Hacktoberfest is one of the simplest ways to practice real-world open-source workflows: finding an issue, reading contribution rules, shipping a small pull request (PR), and responding to review. Hacktoberfest 2025 has ended, but the workflow and “what counts” rules are still a useful reference—especially if you want to prepare for the next cycle or contribute year-round without annoying maintainers.

The key mindset shift: treat Hacktoberfest as quality-first contribution practice, not a PR-collection sprint. If you focus on meaningful contributions, you’ll learn faster, your PRs are more likely to be accepted, and you’ll build a public track record that actually helps your career.

Key Takeaways #

• Start with the official Participation rules: they define what counts, the review window, and the spam policy.
• Hacktoberfest 2025 targets 6 accepted PR/MRs: aim for six high-quality contributions accepted by maintainers.
• Expect a 7-day review window: accepted PR/MRs can show “in review” before they count as eligible.
• Participation is opt-in: prefer repositories using the hacktoberfest topic (or PRs explicitly accepted by maintainers).
• Avoid spam patterns: low-value PRs can be marked spam/invalid and may disqualify you.

What is Hacktoberfest? #

Hacktoberfest is DigitalOcean’s annual event (with partners) that encourages people to contribute to open source throughout October. It’s not just for experienced engineers: documentation improvements, small bug fixes, and beginner-friendly refactors can all be meaningful.

What makes Hacktoberfest valuable is the process you practice:

• reading a new codebase,
• understanding constraints and project norms,
• validating changes locally (tests, lint, builds),
• communicating clearly in issues and PRs,
• and iterating based on review feedback.

Hacktoberfest’s own values are explicit:

“Quantity is fun, quality is key” — Hacktoberfest Participation (Values)

If you adopt that standard, you’ll naturally avoid the biggest failure mode: “drive-by PRs” that waste maintainer time.

Hacktoberfest 2025 Rules: What Counts (and What Doesn’t) #

Hacktoberfest rules can change year to year, so treat the official FAQ as the source of truth. Still, most “counting surprises” come from a small set of recurring rules.

Timeline (2025) #

Hacktoberfest’s Participation rules describe:

• Registration window: Sep 15 → Oct 31
• PR/MR creation window: Oct 1 → Oct 31 (with exact timestamps in UTC on the official page)

Practical implication: don’t open PRs early and hope they count later. PR/MRs created outside the event window generally won’t be eligible.

Where you can contribute #

Hacktoberfest tracks pull/merge requests made on GitHub or GitLab projects that are participating in the event. In practice, that usually means:

• the repository opted in (commonly via the hacktoberfest topic), and/or
• a maintainer explicitly marks your PR/MR as accepted for Hacktoberfest.

What “accepted” means #

The Participation rules explain that maintainers can accept PR/MRs by merging them, applying a hacktoberfest-accepted label, or giving an overall approving review. Once accepted, PR/MRs enter a 7-day review window before they count as eligible.

This review window exists for a reason: it gives maintainers time to reverse acceptance if the contribution turns out to be low-quality, spammy, or harmful.

Spam and disqualification #

Hacktoberfest has an explicit spam policy:

• PR/MRs labeled spam do not count.
• Contributors with 2 or more spammy PR/MRs can be disqualified.
• Repositories created solely to farm low-value contributions can be excluded.

Draft PRs don’t count (until ready) #

Draft PRs are useful for early feedback, but Hacktoberfest won’t count them until they are marked “ready for review.” If your goal is to participate in the event, make sure you flip the PR out of draft once it’s ready.

Quick reference table (2025) #

Step-by-Step: Your First Hacktoberfest Contribution (High-Quality Path) #

This workflow is designed for beginners and busy maintainers. It optimizes for small, reviewable changes and clear verification.

1. Register on Hacktoberfest and confirm your GitHub/GitLab account is linked correctly.
2. Pick 2–3 active projects that clearly opted in (look for the hacktoberfest topic) and have recent commits/issues activity.
3. Read the “rules of the repo”: README, CONTRIBUTING.md, code of conduct, and any PR templates.
4. Choose one small issue (docs, examples, error messages, tests) that you can finish in a few hours.
5. Comment before you code: state intent and a tiny plan, especially if the issue isn’t assigned.
6. Set up locally and validate: run the project’s tests and lint commands before you change anything.
7. Make a minimal change: one PR, one idea. Avoid bundling unrelated cleanups.
8. Write a strong PR description:
   • what changed and why,
   • how to test,
   • screenshots/logs when relevant,
   • link to the issue.
9. Open the PR as ready for review (not draft) once it’s complete.
10. Respond to review quickly and keep the PR focused until it’s accepted.
11. Wait out the 7-day review window after acceptance and track status on your Hacktoberfest profile.

If you want a copy/paste checklist, use this:

• Registered and verified tracking
• Repo opted in / maintainer intent is clear
• CONTRIBUTING.md read and followed
• Tests/lint run locally
• PR description includes “how to test”
• PR is ready for review (not draft)
• Review feedback addressed
• Accepted, then waited for the review window

How to Find Hacktoberfest Issues (Without Wasting Time) #

The hardest part of Hacktoberfest is not coding—it’s choosing work that maintainers actually want.

1) Start with participating projects #

Hacktoberfest suggests looking for the hacktoberfest topic. On GitHub, repository topics are a first-class feature that maintainers use to classify and make projects discoverable.

If you can’t find a participating project you care about, use Hacktoberfest as a forcing function to contribute to a tool you already use (frameworks, CLI tools, docs sites). That’s often the highest-value contribution because you have real user context.

2) Use labels to filter for maintainer intent #

Labels are one of the clearest “maintainer intent” signals available. They don’t guarantee acceptance, but they reduce guesswork.

3) Use GitHub search to find beginner issues #

GitHub’s UI changes, but the underlying idea stays stable: filter by issue state, labels, and language. Examples you can adapt:

is:issue is:open label:"good first issue"
is:issue is:open label:"help wanted" language:Python
is:issue is:open label:documentation

Then narrow by the repositories you actually want to contribute to. Always read the issue discussion first—if there’s already a draft PR or the issue is being actively worked on, pick something else.

Paraphrased: The fastest way to contribute is to start with a project’s contribution docs and follow their established workflow for issues and pull requests. — GitHub Docs, adapted

What Maintainers Consider “High-Quality” (Practical Standards) #

If you want your PR accepted (and counted), optimize for maintainers’ constraints:

• Review time is scarce: make changes small, explain them clearly, and don’t create extra work.
• CI is the safety net: run tests/lint and fix failures promptly.
• Scope control matters: avoid “while I’m here” refactors unless a maintainer asks for them.
• Communication is part of the contribution: a good PR description is often more valuable than another paragraph of code.

High-quality contributions often look boring:

• clarify documentation,
• fix an example that no longer works,
• add a regression test for a bug,
• improve error messages,
• update dependency configuration safely,
• or clean up a small, well-contained function.

Those are exactly the contributions maintainers merge quickly.

One more underrated quality signal: follow the project’s “paperwork”. If the repository requires a CLA, DCO sign-off, or a specific commit message format, do it early. If the repo has a “how to run tests” section, run those commands locally and paste the results in your PR description. These small habits reduce back-and-forth and make it easy for maintainers to trust your change.

Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) #

1. You didn’t confirm participation: the repository didn’t opt in (topic) and no maintainer marked your PR as Hacktoberfest-accepted.
2. You left the PR in draft: it won’t count until it’s ready for review.
3. You submitted “trivial” changes: whitespace-only changes, automated style PRs, or no-context edits can be labeled spam/invalid.
4. You ignored contribution docs: missing templates, formatting, tests, or a CLA/Developer Certificate requirement.
5. You bundled unrelated changes: makes review harder and increases rejection risk.
6. You didn’t follow up: CI fails, review comments sit unanswered, and the PR stalls until it’s closed.

If you’re unsure whether something is valuable, ask first in the issue thread. Maintainers would rather answer one question than review five low-value PRs.

Frequently Asked Questions #

What is Hacktoberfest? #

Hacktoberfest is an annual event that encourages contributions to open source during October. It’s a structured way to practice real collaboration workflows—issues, pull requests, reviews, and CI—while supporting projects you use.

When is Hacktoberfest 2025? #

According to the official Participation rules, registration opens Sep 15 and closes Oct 31. Qualifying PR/MRs are created during Oct 1–Oct 31 (check the official page for the exact timestamps and any rule updates).

How many PRs do I need for Hacktoberfest 2025? #

In 2025, Hacktoberfest’s official guidance is to aim for six high-quality PR/MRs that are accepted by maintainers. After acceptance, there’s a review window before they count as eligible.

What makes a PR count (or not count) in Hacktoberfest? #

In general, PR/MRs need to be:

• created during the event window,
• ready for review (not draft),
• accepted by maintainers (merge/approval/accepted label),
• and not flagged as spam/invalid.

Hacktoberfest also excludes repositories and contribution types that are clearly designed to farm low-value PRs.

How do I find Hacktoberfest issues? #

Start with repositories that opt in using the hacktoberfest topic, then look for issues labeled good first issue, help wanted, or documentation. Always read CONTRIBUTING.md before you start, and prefer small changes that maintainers actually want.

Conclusion #

Hacktoberfest works best when you treat it as a learning loop: pick a healthy project, ship a small contribution, get review feedback, and repeat. If you read nothing else, read the official Participation rules—because they define what counts, how spam is handled, and why your accepted PR may show “in review” for up to a week before it counts.

References #

1. Hacktoberfest 2025: Participation rules (FAQ)
2. Hacktoberfest 2025: About
3. Hacktoberfest 2025: Home
4. GitHub Docs: Finding ways to contribute to open source on GitHub
5. GitHub Docs: Classifying your repository with topics
6. GitHub Docs: Managing labels
7. GitHub Docs: About pull request reviews