sahat/hackathon-starter

What is it?

Key features

• 01Local login with email and password, passwordless, and passkey options
• 02OAuth 2.0 sign-in with Google, GitHub, Microsoft, Discord, X and more
• 03Account management including password reset, email verification and two-factor authentication
• 04Contact form, file upload, and CSRF and rate-limit protection
• 05Example integrations with payment, messaging, maps and other third-party APIs
• 06ReAct AI agent and RAG examples built with LangChain

Use cases

• Starting a hackathon project that needs user login and a database-backed web app quickly
• Learning how to add OAuth 2.0 'Sign in with' flows to an Express application
• Prototyping a web product that calls third-party APIs such as Stripe or Google Drive
• Using the AI agent and RAG examples as a starting point for an LLM-powered web app

Quick start

1. 1

   Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/sahat/hackathon-starter.git myproject
2. 2

   Change into the project directory

   cd myproject
3. 3

   Install NPM dependencies

   npm install
4. 4

   Start the app (requires MongoDB running locally or a hosted URI)

   npm start

Things to know

• !Requires MongoDB, either installed locally or hosted.
• !Many features such as OAuth logins and API examples need your own provider API keys.

In collections

Topics

FAQ

What is hackathon-starter?

A Node.js and Express boilerplate for web apps, bundling login with OAuth providers, user accounts, a contact form, and API and AI examples. Hackathon Starter is a Node.js web application template built on Express and MongoDB. It is meant to get a project running quickly, so a team can skip the setup work of choosing a framework, wiring up authentication and building basic account pages before starting on the actual idea.

Is hackathon-starter free to use? What license does it have?

hackathon-starter is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.

Is hackathon-starter still maintained?

Actively maintained. The last commit to hackathon-starter was on Nov 6, 2026.

What can I use hackathon-starter for?

Starting a hackathon project that needs user login and a database-backed web app quickly Learning how to add OAuth 2.0 'Sign in with' flows to an Express application Prototyping a web product that calls third-party APIs such as Stripe or Google Drive Using the AI agent and RAG examples as a starting point for an LLM-powered web app

How do I install hackathon-starter?

Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/sahat/hackathon-starter.git myproject Change into the project directory: cd myproject Install NPM dependencies: npm install Start the app (requires MongoDB running locally or a hosted URI): npm start

Where can I get hackathon-starter?

The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/sahat/hackathon-starter