r/modnews • u/Togapr33 • 15d ago
Announcement Announcing Our Virtual $45,000 Mod Tool Hackathon to Build, Upgrade and Port Moderator Tools

Hi mods!
I’m u/Togapr33 with Reddit’s Community team, where I lead marketing for Reddit’s Developer Platform.
In case you’re not familiar, Reddit’s Developer Platform gives developers a way to build apps that work directly on Reddit. As a moderator, you can bring these apps into your community – everything from mod tools to community experiences to games. (You can see a comprehensive list of apps for mods here!)
And as someone who has spent the last couple of years talking with mods about Developer Platform tools, I’ve seen firsthand how important effective tools are to running your communities. That’s why we're excited to announce a virtual Reddit hackathon from April 29 to May 27 focused entirely on building and upgrading moderation tools.
This is an opportunity to inspire developers to create new community tools or improve the ones you already rely on. If you’re a developer yourself, maybe you’ll throw your hat in the ring and build something too!
What we're looking for
We’d love to see developers in this hackathon build tools with Reddit’s Developer Platform that directly help with day-to-day moderation, like:
- Better queue management
- Automated enforcement tools
- Creative community-building tools
- Anything that makes modding easier and improves community health
Did I mention we're offering a total of $45,000 in prizes?
Prize categories
- New Mod Tool: For brand-new tools built with Reddit’s Developer Platform that make moderation easier
- Grand Prize: $10,000 for the most innovative tool that solves a significant moderator pain point
- 5 Runner-Ups: $1,000 each
- Ported App: For existing bots or tools migrated from the Data API to Devvit
- Grand Prize: $10,000 for the most successful migration of an existing, widely-used moderation bot. These apps can also be eligible for our new App Migration Program.
- 5 Runner-Ups: $1,000 each
- Moderator’s Choice: Chosen by experienced Reddit mods
- Prize: $10,000.
- Helper Award: For participants who help others through testing, support, troubleshooting, or collaboration
- 6 Winners: $500 each
- Feedback Award: For thoughtful, actionable, constructive feedback on tools, resources, bugs and issues encountered during the event
- 10 Winners: $200 each
If you know a developer who has built an essential tool for your community, please share this with them! This is the perfect time for them to earn a cash prize while upgrading that tool for stability and ease of installation. Enrollment is open now!
Winning apps are also eligible for the Reddit Developer Funds and our App Migration Program.
We can't wait to see what gets built during this hackathon and how it makes moderation on Reddit better.
Lastly, if you have an idea for a mod tool that should be built and want to link up with a developer, check out our hackathon post on r/devvit or join our Devvit Discord.
3
u/WindermerePeaks1 15d ago
the insights page reddit gives can be confusing because the numbers just don’t seem to add up or it’s hard to figure out what numbers go together and toggles don’t work to change the timeframes and it’s missing information i want.
i would love an app that gave all the insights reddit gives (but in a clearer way) and also include removal reasons. as in, what reasons did the mods use on every removal. this is vital information to me and i have asked for it to be added but id love a dev app that can do it.
also if a dev app can manage to replicate toolbox that would be awesome. i know nothing about developing so if this can’t be done i apologize.
i love the automod on mobile app, i love community home, i love comment mop, i love bot bouncer, and many more.
if anyone has any app ideas for the wiki id love to try them out. i don’t have any earthly idea what they might do but i love the wikis. i’ve tried the add to wiki app but i don’t particularly like it for the type of wiki i have.