🎃 MindsDB Hacktoberfest 2025

Supercharging AI analytical Apps with Knowledge Bases ⚡

This Hacktoberfest, MindsDB challenges you to build RAG apps using Knowledge Bases.

🌟 Why Join?

MindsDB's Hacktoberfest is your chance to turn code into impact:

• Build tools that answer real business questions.
• Help teams move beyond rigid dashboards and siloed data.
• Level up your open-source contributions with AI-native analytics apps.
• Compete for prizes: GitHub sponsorships, swag, and a Prize Draw for a MacBook Pro 16" M4 Chip.
• Get your project featured on the MindsDB blog + community.

Your mission: Create AI apps powered by MindsDB's Knowledge Bases that query enterprise-like data in place—delivering accurate, explainable answers.

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🛠️ Core Task

• Pick a use case where there is unstructured data and can benefit from making it searchable via natural language: (For example analyzing CRM Unstructured data: Notes, Emails, Calls, Meetings, Tasks, Conversations → transcripts, attachments, Tickets → Descriptions, associated notes/emails)
• Pick the datasources that you will need for these use cases
• Write a blog post (Medium, Hashnode, dev.to, LinkedIn) explaining your use case.
• Write a pull request with your use-case implementation in the use-cases folder (create a folder for your use case with a descriptive name)
• Your use case implementation can be either a notebook or an app, that uses MindsDB + Knowledge bases
• Promote your use case on Linkedin, and X/Twitter with a post mentioning @mindsdb.

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🏆 Prize Categories

Stand a chance to win a MacBook Pro 16" M4 Chip in our Prize Draw!

🔥 Most Popular Pull Requests

• Top 3 Pull Requests with the most thumbs up (👍) or heart (❤️) reaction wins win GitHub sponsorship prizes.
• Every 10 positive reaction = 1 entry into the Apple MacBook Pro prize draw.

Prizes:

• 🥇 $1500 + MindsDB T-shirt
• 🥈 $1000 + MindsDB T-shirt
• 🥉 $500 + MindsDB T-shirt

(Note: GitHub sponsorship must be available in your country in order to receive the prize, participants to check before they contribute. Automated voting is not allowed—violations will be disqualified.)

📣 Social Media Awareness

Top 3 posts (LinkedIn/X) with the most engagement win:

• MindsDB T-shirt
• 1 entry into the Apple MacBook Pro prize draw
• $100 Github Sponsorship

(Github Sponsorship may change depending on the amount of engagement a social media post received).

✍️ Best Blog Content

Top 3 blog posts (as judged by the MindsDB team) win:

• MindsDB T-shirt
• Blog feature on the official MindsDB website
• 1 entry into the Apple MacBook Pro prize draw
• $100 Github Sponsorship.

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🎯 Goals

• Showcase zero-ETL, data-in-place AI analytics with MindsDB KBs.
• Demonstrate hybrid semantic + SQL logic and use Evaluate KB for quality.
• Encourage integrations (Salesforce, BigQuery, Confluence, Gong, Postgres, etc.).
• Create repeatable app templates for use cases in accordance to our industries listed on our webpage, i.e Finance Services, Energy & Utilities, Retail & E-commerce, Enterprise Software Vendors, or for another Enterprise industry.

👩‍💻 Who Should Join?

• AI/ML Enthusiasts (especially RAG & semantic search fans)
• SQL-savvy developers (data engineers, full-stack devs, data scientists)
• Existing MindsDB users & open-source contributors

🔑 Example Use Cases

• Decision BI Re-imagined → NLQ → KPIs/charts (with auditability).
• Operations Copilot → Root cause & SOP search across tickets/wikis.
• Customer Intelligence → 360° CRM + docs with explainable recs.
• Compliance & Controls → Policy/filing QA with citations + risk flags.
• Wildcard → Any creative KB-powered analytics app.

🛤️ Tracks

Track 1: Build an application with MindsDB Knowledge Bases

Create a functional application (CLI, Web App, API, Bot Interface etc.) where the primary interaction or feature relies on the semantic query results from the KB. This includes:

• A functional, empty Knowledge Base exists within their MindsDB instance (Cloud or local)
• Participant connects a data source (Salesforce, Gong, Hubspot, Postgres or files) and successfully ingests text data into the KB using INSERT INTO. The KB is populated with text data suitable for semantic querying.
• Demonstrate retrieving meaningful results based on semantic similarity and metadata filtering using Hybrid Search. Successfully retrieve relevant data chunks/rows based on semantic queries.
• Provide a public GitHub repo with clear setup instructions and documentation, along with a working application that demonstrates a practical use case for Knowledge Bases, supported by a short, shareable demo video showcasing the app in action.

Track 2: Advanced Capabilities

• Jobs Integration: Auto-update KBs with CREATE JOB.
• Agent Integration
• Metadata Filtering: Hybrid search with semantic + structured filters for eg. LIKE and BETWEEN operators.
• Evaluate Knowledge Bases: Produce an evaluation report (MRR, Hit@k, relevancy, etc.).
• Hybrid Search: Perform semantic and metadata filtering queries on your data.

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📦 Deliverables/ Minimum Requirements

• Public GitHub repo with code + infra (Docker optional).
• README: problem statement(what use case this solves), architecture, Knowledge Base schema, SQL examples, metrics.
• Demo UI (CLI or Web) + 5-min demo video
• Sample queries (Natural language + SQL).
• Evaluation report: metrics (MRR, Hit@k, avg relevancy, etc.).
• Blog post explaining how you built the application and what use case it solves.
• Social media posts on LinkedIn and Twitter about your use case, mention @mindsdb.

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🚀 Get Started

• MindsDB Documentation
• MindsDB Knowledge Bases Documentation
• SDK's and API documentation

As the main category is based on the amount of likes/upvotes your Pull Request receives, you can request to have it merged so that you can claim the merged PR by the official Hacktoberfest organizers. Pull Requests will be merged 2 hours before the deadline.

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Ideas

Team / Function	Finance & Insurance	Healthcare & Life Sciences	Energy & Manufacturing	Government & Legal	Research & Education	Tech, SaaS & AI Infra	Enterprise / Cross-Industry Ops
🧾 Compliance / Risk	Regulatory filings, audit reports, policy docs
💬 QA: “Find all reports citing liquidity risk in 2024”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Snowflake, ElasticSearch, SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive, QuickBooks, Slack	FDA/EMA docs, SOPs, adverse event reports
💬 QA: “Trials that mention IRB deviation?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Notion, Google Cloud Storage, MS SQL Server	NRC inspections, maintenance logs
💬 QA: “Reports mentioning turbine cracks”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, TimescaleDB, Oracle, S3, Azure Blob	Procurement policies, memos
💬 QA: “Memos mentioning budget overruns”
🧩 Integrations: SharePoint, Microsoft Access, Box, Gmail	Grant compliance docs
💬 QA: “Projects acknowledging NIH funding”
🧩 Integrations: Zotero, Mendeley, Google Drive	SOC2, GDPR evidence docs
💬 QA: “Which systems lack risk assessments?”
🧩 Integrations: Confluence, Notion, GitHub, Jira, Slack	ESG & vendor compliance forms
💬 QA: “Who hasn’t signed NDA rev3?”
🧩 Integrations: Salesforce, Google Sheets, Email, DocuSign (via API), SharePoint
⚙️ Operations / Field	Branch ops reports, loan notes
💬 QA: “Underwriting exceptions by branch”
🧩 Integrations: MySQL, Snowflake, Salesforce, Email, Google Sheets	Lab reports, clinical notes
💬 QA: “Recurring post-implant issues?”
🧩 Integrations: MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Notion, S3	Shift logs, SCADA text alerts
💬 QA: “Outages mentioning pump cavitation?”
🧩 Integrations: InfluxDB, TimescaleDB, Prometheus (via REST), PostgreSQL	Field inspection reports
💬 QA: “Bridge safety issues noted?”
🧩 Integrations: Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, S3, MS SharePoint	Lab notebooks, experiments
💬 QA: “Failed tests due to reagent purity?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Google Drive, Zotero, ChromaDB	Runbooks, support tickets
💬 QA: “Root causes of downtime tickets?”
🧩 Integrations: Jira, GitHub, Confluence, Slack	Facility reports, customer support logs
💬 QA: “Delivery issues by region?”
🧩 Integrations: Zendesk, Gmail, Salesforce, Google Sheets
🔬 R&D / Engineering	Quant models, research memos
💬 QA: “Which models use Monte Carlo VaR?”
🧩 Integrations: Databricks, PostgreSQL, GitHub, Confluence	Trial protocols, biomedical research
💬 QA: “Genes linked to treatment response?”
🧩 Integrations: MongoDB, Milvus, Qdrant, Zotero, Mendeley	Design reviews, test reports
💬 QA: “Materials failed in stress tests?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Oracle, SharePoint, S3	Policy studies, pilot reports
💬 QA: “Programs evaluating IoT sensors?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Google Drive, SharePoint	Academic papers, datasets
💬 QA: “Who published on federated learning?”
🧩 Integrations: Google Books, Zotero, ArXiv (via web), DuckDB	Architecture reviews, Git issues
💬 QA: “Modules changed before latency spike?”
🧩 Integrations: GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Notion, ChromaDB	Product PRDs, process docs
💬 QA: “Automation proposals this year?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Confluence, Google Docs, GitHub
⚖️ Legal / Contracts	Loan agreements, risk clauses
💬 QA: “Contracts with force majeure?”
🧩 Integrations: SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive, Snowflake	Site agreements, NDAs
💬 QA: “Trials with data-sharing clauses?”
🧩 Integrations: MS SharePoint, Notion, Email	Vendor SLAs
💬 QA: “Maintenance contracts mentioning vibration warranty?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Dropbox, SharePoint	Case files, legislation
💬 QA: “Cases citing statute 14-C?”
🧩 Integrations: ElasticSearch, Solr, PostgreSQL, Google Drive	IP licensing docs
💬 QA: “Collaborations with MIT?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Zotero, Google Drive	Partner contracts, OSS licenses
💬 QA: “Repos using AGPL?”
🧩 Integrations: GitHub, GitLab, Notion	Customer contracts
💬 QA: “Contracts expiring Q1 2026?”
🧩 Integrations: Salesforce, SharePoint, Dropbox, Email
💰 Finance / Strategy	Analyst reports, call transcripts
💬 QA: “CFO sentiment by quarter?”
🧩 Integrations: Financial_Modeling_Prep, QuickBooks, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, Email	R&D budgets
💬 QA: “Therapeutic areas over budget?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Snowflake, Google Sheets	CapEx memos, project costs
💬 QA: “Cost variance per plant?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Oracle, Excel (via Sheets), QuickBooks	Budgets & grants
💬 QA: “Projects over $5M funding?”
🧩 Integrations: Google Sheets, PostgreSQL, SharePoint	Grant summaries
💬 QA: “Labs exceeding budgets?”
🧩 Integrations: Google Sheets, Zotero, Notion	Investor updates
💬 QA: “Delayed GTM features?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Google Drive, Slack	P&L reports
💬 QA: “Which ops sites exceed cost benchmarks?”
🧩 Integrations: QuickBooks, Google Sheets, Snowflake
🧩 Customer / Support	Claims, support chat logs
💬 QA: “Common causes of claim denials?”
🧩 Integrations: Zendesk, Email, Slack, Salesforce	Patient feedback
💬 QA: “Post-visit complaints?”
🧩 Integrations: Email, Zendesk, Notion	Vendor support tickets
💬 QA: “Frequent field service failures?”
🧩 Integrations: Jira, Slack, PostgreSQL	Citizen helpdesk
💬 QA: “Permit delays causes?”
🧩 Integrations: Zendesk, MS Teams, SharePoint	Student feedback
💬 QA: “Top paper rejection reasons?”
🧩 Integrations: Gmail, Notion, Zotero	Support tickets, Slack threads
💬 QA: “Feature requests tied to churn?”
🧩 Integrations: Slack, Intercom, HubSpot, Salesforce	IT helpdesk, HR chat logs
💬 QA: “Recurring release issues?”
🧩 Integrations: Jira, Slack, Gmail, Confluence
📘 Knowledge / Training	Onboarding manuals, AML docs
💬 QA: “Changes to AML since 2023?”
🧩 Integrations: Confluence, Notion, SharePoint	Clinical guidelines, manuals
💬 QA: “Latest insulin dosage protocol?”
🧩 Integrations: SharePoint, Notion, Google Drive	SOPs, maintenance guides
💬 QA: “Valve calibration steps?”
🧩 Integrations: PostgreSQL, Dropbox, Google Drive	Agency handbooks
💬 QA: “Emergency declaration steps?”
🧩 Integrations: SharePoint, Notion	Curricula, lecture notes
💬 QA: “Course covering neural nets?”
🧩 Integrations: Notion, Google Drive, Zotero	API docs, runbooks
💬 QA: “How to configure S3 triggers?”
🧩 Integrations: GitHub, Confluence, Notion, S3	HR & IT playbooks
💬 QA: “Vacation policy updates 2025?”
🧩 Integrations: Confluence, Notion, SharePoint

Deadline: The competion ends on 31st October 2025 00:00 PST. It is advised to make Pull Requests well in advanced. We wish everyone goodluck!

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