CockroachDB × AWS Hackathon - Build with Agentic Memory

Overview

The CockroachDB × AWS Hackathon challenges developers, engineers, and AI builders to create agentic applications that leverage CockroachDB's distributed AI capabilities and AWS services. The hackathon focuses on building AI agents with production-grade, persistent memory, recognizing that reliable memory is crucial for agents transitioning from experimental stages to real-world production workflows. AI agents require memory that is always available, distributed, and scalable, unlike traditional databases optimized for human-scale interactions. CockroachDB is presented as the ideal system of record for agentic memory, offering global distribution, continuous availability, PostgreSQL compatibility, and native integration into the agent toolchain through its Managed MCP Server, ccloud CLI, and an open-source Agent Skills ecosystem. This robust foundation ensures memory persists across regions, failures, and scales without data loss or maintenance. Participants are invited to innovate using CockroachDB's tools, including the Managed MCP Server, Distributed Vector Indexing, agent-ready ccloud CLI, and the open-source Agent Skills Repo, all deployed on AWS. The goal is to demonstrate how a production-grade memory layer makes an agent useful and resilient in real-world scenarios, addressing the critical need for agents that can reliably remember, think, and act.

What to build

Build an agentic application that uses CockroachDB as its persistent memory layer, deployed on AWS. Your agent should store, retrieve, and act on memory, which can include conversation history, user context, task state, embeddings, or structured transactional data. The submission must demonstrate that memory is integral to the agent's production utility. All submissions must use at least two of the following CockroachDB tools: - CockroachDB Cloud Managed MCP Server - CockroachDB Distributed Vector Indexing - ccloud CLI (Agent-Ready) - CockroachDB Agent Skills Repo (Open Source) All submissions must also use at least one AWS service: - Amazon Bedrock (foundation models, knowledge bases, or agents) - AWS Lambda (serverless agent execution) - Amazon ECS / EKS (containerized agent workloads) - Amazon S3 (artifact or document storage) - Amazon SageMaker (model training or inference) - Amazon Bedrock Agents (multi-step agentic workflows) - Any other AWS service that powers your agent's environment

Prizes

Key dates

• Submission Period BeginsJune 30, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT
• CockroachDB - Zero to Hero | Build SessionJuly 9, 2026 at 11:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM PT
• Submission Period EndsAugust 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT
• Judging Period BeginsAugust 19, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT
• Judging Period EndsSeptember 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT
• Winners AnnouncedSeptember 21, 2026 at 3:00 PM EDT

Eligibility

The hackathon is open to individuals who are at least 18 years old (or have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence) and teams of up to 5 individuals, as well as organizations (corporations, non-profits, LLCs, partnerships). An eligible individual may join multiple teams/organizations or enter individually. The hackathon is not open to residents of or organizations domiciled in countries where participation or prize receipt is prohibited by U.S. or local law (e.g., Brazil, Quebec, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and OFAC-designated countries). Promotion Entities, their employees/agents, judges, and immediate family/household members, and any individual/organization whose participation would create a conflict of interest are also ineligible.

How to enter

1. Register for the Hackathon on the Hackathon Website (cockroachdb-ai.devpost.com) by clicking the “Join Hackathon” button. This requires creating a free Devpost account or logging in with an existing one.
2. Agree to the Devpost Terms of Service and the AWS Event Terms and Conditions.
3. Create a free CockroachDB account at cockroachlabs.cloud/signup (free-tier offerings apply).
4. Create an AWS Free Tier account at aws.amazon.com/free (free-tier offerings apply).
5. Build an agentic application using CockroachDB as its persistent memory layer, deployed on AWS, meeting all Project Requirements.
6. Complete and submit all required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page of the Hackathon Website during the Submission Period.

Submission requirements

• A public open-source code repository URL (e.g., GitHub) containing all necessary source code, clear README documentation, dependencies, example configurations/datasets, and setup/run instructions. The repository must include an open-source license file (MIT or Apache 2.0 recommended).
• A URL to a functional demo application.
• A demonstration video (less than 3 minutes) uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and made public. The video must show the Project functioning on its intended device and demonstrate the CockroachDB memory layer at work.
• A text description explaining the features and functionality of your Project.
• Identification of which CockroachDB tools (MCP Server, ccloud CLI, Distributed Vector Indexing, Agent Skills) were used and how the agent interacted with them.
• Identification of which AWS Services (Amazon Bedrock, AWS Lambda, Amazon S3, etc.) were used and how.
• Optional: An architectural diagram illustrating the interaction between CockroachDB, AWS services, and your agent.
• Optional: Feedback on CockroachDB AI tools or features.
• The project must be newly created during the Submission Period. Standard development tools are allowed, but pre-existing code must be disclosed.
• If using third-party SDKs, APIs, or data, authorization for their use in accordance with their terms/licenses is required.
• Access must be provided to a working Project for judging and testing (website link, functioning demo, or test build; login credentials if private). The project must be available free of charge and without restriction for testing until the Judging Period ends.
• All submission materials must be in English or provided with an English translation.

Judging criteria

• Agentic Memory Design: Does CockroachDB play a meaningful, production-grade role as the agent's memory layer? Is it used for more than toy queries — state, embeddings, context, or transactional data at real scale?
• Technical Implementation: Is the integration with CockroachDB tools (distributed vector index, MCP Server, ccloud CLI) quality software engineering? Does the agent use the tools correctly and safely?
• Real-World Impact: How big of an impact could the project have on real users or workflows? Is the use case meaningful, not just technically impressive?
• Production Readiness: Is the design secure, observable, and scalable? Has the team thought about resilience, access control, and what happens when things go wrong?
• Creativity & Originality: Is this a genuinely new idea or a novel application of the technology? Does it demonstrate insight into what makes agentic systems different from traditional apps?

Sponsors & partners

Resources

• Hackathon Official Rules
• CockroachDB Cloud — Start Free
• Managed MCP Server Quickstart
• ccloud CLI Documentation
• CockroachDB Agent Skills Repo (GitHub)
• pgvector + CockroachDB (Distributed Vector Search)
• LangChain × CockroachDB Integrations
• AWS Free Tier
• Devpost Session Recording: Dive in to your build
• Slack community
• Code for CockroachDB setup and memory/embeddings use
• Site to find demo videos
• Devpost Session Deck
• FAQ from Devpost Session
• Session Code & Repository for Zero to Hero