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  "path": "/2026/04/28/indic-wikimedia-hackathon-kochi-2025-event-report/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-28T11:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://diff.wikimedia.org",
  "tags": [
    "Indic Wikimedia Hackathon Kochi 2025",
    "Indic MediaWiki Developers User Group (IMDUG)",
    "TinkerSpace Kochi",
    "Punith\nBalachandra Nayak",
    "(VideoCutTool)",
    "(Scribe-org)",
    "Pushkar\nBansal",
    "(Lingua\nLibre)",
    "Agamya\nSamuel",
    "KC Velaga",
    "Jay\nPrakash",
    "Navya Sri\nKalli",
    "Jnanaranjan\nSahu"
  ],
  "textContent": "The \nIndic Wikimedia Hackathon Kochi 2025 was organised as a beginner-friendly, hands-on introduction to Wikimedia’s technical ecosystem for college students from Kerala by the \nIndic MediaWiki Developers User Group (IMDUG). The event aimed to introduce participants to Wikimedia’s technical environment and help them understand how technical contributions are made through structured onboarding, mentor support, and hands-on project work.\n\nThe hackathon enabled participants, many of whom had prior open-source experience but were new to Wikimedia, to gain practical exposure to MediaWiki-based development, tools, and workflows within a supportive and collaborative setting.\n\n## Scope and Timeline\n\nThe hackathon was conducted in Kochi between **24–27 July 2025** , with **24 July** treated as **Day 0** , and was held as an **in-person event**. The scope of the event was limited to a curated set of Wikimedia-related technical projects and tasks suitable for a hackathon setting.\n\nThe core hacking sessions during the first two days were conducted at **TinkerSpace Kochi** , a community workspace for conducting technical and community events, provided by **TinkerHub**. The venue was centrally located and easily accessible, and supported collaborative work and mentor-led guidance.\n\nThe final day of the event, which focused on project completion, presentations, and the formal conclusion of the hackathon, was conducted at **Novotel Kochi Infopark** , providing an appropriate setting for structured presentations and closing discussions.\n\n## Attendance\n\n**Total Attendees:** 56\n\n  * **Organisers** **:** 5\n  * **Mentors :** 10\n  * **Participants :** 45\n\n\n\nThe primary target audience consisted of **college students** , including participants with prior experience in **open-source development**. A significant proportion of participants were first-time Wikimedia contributors, while a smaller number had participated in a previous edition of the hackathon. Approximately 25% of attendees were women, including both participants and mentors, reflecting a good level of gender diversity.\n\n## Activities Conducted\n\nPrior to the hackathon, an orientation call was conducted on 17 July 2025 for participants, particularly those new to Wikimedia technical spaces and content contribution. The session introduced Wikimedia, its technical ecosystem, and various technical areas, with guidance on basic account setup. A brief overview of the hackathon format was also shared.\n\nDuring the hackathon, participants received onboarding to Wikimedia technical workflows and an introduction to MediaWiki concepts, tools, and contribution practices. Mentors provided project-specific introductions, outlining the scope, objectives, and tasks for each project to help participants engage effectively.\n\nParticipants worked on pre-curated tasks across multiple Wikimedia-related projects and collaborated closely with mentors to understand issue tracking, patch submission, and debugging workflows. Mentors supported participants across different projects, helping them navigate both technical challenges and Wikimedia-specific contribution processes.\n\nTowards the conclusion of the event, a project showcase and presentations session was conducted, during which participants demonstrated their work and shared learnings. An icebreaker session was also held at the end of the event to facilitate interaction among participants and encourage reflection and community bonding.\n\n## Outputs and Outcomes\n\nThe hackathon enabled participants to work on pre-identified tasks across multiple Wikimedia-related repositories, resulting in code contributions, improvements, and documentation submitted under mentor guidance. Several participants continued engaging with their assigned projects after the event, indicating effective onboarding into Wikimedia technical workflows. Participants were also introduced to Wikimedia development practices, including issue tracking, patch submission, and collaborative problem-solving.\n\nDuring the hackathon, a total of **82 pull requests** were submitted across multiple Wikimedia-related projects. The distribution of contributions is summarised below:\n\n  * **VideoCutTool:** 17 pull requests\n  * **Wikimedia Communities Activity Logs:** 19 pull requests\n  * **Wikimedia Incubator Stats Dashboard:** 9 pull requests\n  * **Scribe-org:** 23 pull requests\n  * **Lingua Libre:** 6 pull requests\n  * **Montage:** 8 pull requests\n\n\n\nThese contributions included code changes, improvements, and related updates submitted under mentor guidance.\n\n## What went well\n\n  * The overall event design supported effective onboarding for participants who were new to Wikimedia technical workflows.\n  * Clear project introductions and continuous mentor availability helped participants engage with tasks confidently during the hackathon.\n  * Mentors guided participants across multiple projects, including VideoCutTool, Scribe-org, and Lingua Libre, helping them understand project scope, contribution processes, and technical expectations.\n  * The event included both external mentors and mentors from the user group, ensuring broad technical support across projects. External mentors included Punith\nBalachandra Nayak (VideoCutTool), Gautham Mohanraj (Scribe-org), Pushkar\nBansal (Lingua\nLibre), and Agamya\nSamuel (mentor support). User group mentors included KC Velaga, Jay\nPrakash, Navya Sri\nKalli and Jnanaranjan\nSahu.\n  * The combination of structured onboarding and hands-on project work supported steady progress across teams.\n  * Several participants remained active on their assigned projects after the hackathon.\n  * Most of the issues identified for the event were worked on during the hacking sessions.\n\n\n\n## What can be improved\n\n  * Participation in the pre-hackathon orientation call was lower than expected, which limited early preparation for some participants.\n  * Project–participant alignment can be improved, as some projects were too complex for beginners or required prior domain-specific knowledge.\n  * Stronger coordination with local communities and mentors would help ensure that proposed projects are well scoped and suitable for a hackathon setting.\n  * Some participants faced challenges submitting pull requests due to account-related restrictions on newly created accounts.\n  * Clearer and more up-to-date project documentation would help reduce onboarding time and improve initial productivity.\n\n\n\n## Future Plans\n\nBased on the outcomes and observations from the Indic Wikimedia Hackathon Kochi 2025, future editions of the event will place greater emphasis on early preparation and structured onboarding. This includes conducting pre-hackathon onboarding sessions with improved participation, and ensuring that participants complete essential setup steps – such as account readiness and workflow familiarity – prior to the event.\n\nFuture hackathons will focus on improved project curation and mentor coordination, with greater effort placed on identifying well-scoped, beginner-friendly projects that are suitable for a hackathon environment. Enhanced mentor-mentee mapping should be explored to ensure balanced participation across projects and more effective use of mentor availability.\n\nIn addition, future editions will aim for a better balance between first-time and returning contributors to support peer learning. Strengthening post-event follow-up mechanisms will also be prioritised to encourage continued contributions beyond the hackathon. Where feasible, conducting more events or workshops in college environments will be explored to improve accessibility and reduce logistical overheads.",
  "title": "Indic Wikimedia Hackathon Kochi 2025 Event Report"
}