Attendee Onboarding Guide

Welcome to Hackathon 2026! This guide gets you from zero to “first issue created” in under 10 minutes.

Total time: ~10 minutes
Outcome: You’ll have created your first Epic issue using spec-kit and can see it on the GitHub Project board.

Step 0: Before You Start (Prerequisites Check)

You need:

Check: Can you log in to https://github.com/orgs/TanureLabOrg/projects/3 ?
If yes, proceed. If no, ask a facilitator.

Step 1: Accept Invitations (1 minute)

1.1 Accept GitHub Org Invite

  1. Check your email for: “You’ve been invited to join TanureLabOrg organization on GitHub”
  2. Click View or visit the link
  3. Click Accept invitation

1.2 Accept Repo Invite

  1. You should receive: “You’ve been invited to join [frontend/backend/infra] repository”
  2. Click Accept

Verify: Go to https://github.com/TanureLabOrg and you should see your repo listed.

Step 2: Install Tools (5 minutes)

You need three tools. Skip any you already have.

2.1 Node.js + npm

# Check if you have it
node --version   # Should be v18+
npm --version    # Should be v9+

# If not installed: Download from https://nodejs.org
# Accept defaults during install

2.2 GitHub CLI

# Check if you have it
gh --version     # Should be v2.40+

# If not installed: Download from https://cli.github.com
# Accept defaults during install

2.3 Verify Both

# Log in to GitHub
gh auth login
# Follow prompts, use web browser to authorize

# Verify
gh auth status    # Should show your account

Step 3: Clone Your Repository (2 minutes)

# Navigate to your projects folder
cd ~/projects

# Clone your assigned repo (example: frontend)
gh repo clone TanureLabOrg/frontend

# Go into the repo
cd frontend

# Verify you're in the right place
pwd   # Should show: .../frontend

Step 4: Install spec-kit (2 minutes)

# Install spec-kit CLI globally
npm install -g @spec-kit/cli

# Verify
specify --version    # Should show version number

# Install the gh-issues extension
specify extension add gh-issues \
  --from https://github.com/TanureLabOrg/spec-kit-gh-issues/releases/latest/download/gh-issues.zip

# Verify
specify extension list    # Should show: gh-issues installed

Step 5: Open in VS Code (1 minute)

code .

VS Code should open with your repository. You should see:

Step 6: Load Copilot Space Context (1 minute)

6.1 Open Copilot Chat

In VS Code:

  1. Click Copilot Chat icon [💬] in left sidebar
  2. Or press Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+I (Mac)

6.2 Load Space Context

  1. At the top of the Copilot Chat panel, you should see a Context section
  2. Click + Add context or @[Your Space Name]
  3. Select: Hackathon 2026 Workspace (the Copilot Space you were given)
  4. You should see a pin icon appear (✓ context loaded)

What happened: Copilot now knows:

Step 7: Create Your First Epic (2 minutes)

7.1 In Copilot Chat

Type this message (or use your own example):

speckit.spec

Problem: Users need to log in to our app
Users: Web app users, mobile app users
Desired Outcomes: 
  - Secure authentication
  - Single sign-on across web and mobile
Non-Functional Requirements:
  - Response time < 100ms
  - 99.9% availability
Scope: Web + mobile frontends, backend API
Risks: Third-party OAuth provider outages, token expiration edge cases

7.2 What Happens

Copilot will:

  1. Run the speckit.spec command (powered by GitHub MCP)
  2. Create an Epic issue in your repository
  3. Auto-populate: acceptance criteria, scope, risks
  4. Auto-apply labels: type:epic, phase:discovery, status:triage
  5. Show you the issue link: “Epic created: #42”

7.3 Verify

  1. Click the issue link (e.g., #42)
  2. You should see the Epic issue in your browser on GitHub
  3. Check the issue body — it should have all your requirements
  4. Check the labels — you should see the type:* and phase:* labels

Step 8: Check GitHub Project Board (1 minute)

8.1 Open Project Board

  1. Go to: https://github.com/orgs/TanureLabOrg/projects/3
  2. You should see your Epic issue in the Triage column

8.2 What You’re Seeing

Hackathon 2026 Board
┌──────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┬────┐
│Triage│Ready │In    │Blocked│Review│Done│
├──────┼──────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼────┤
│ Epic │      │      │       │      │    │
│ #42  │      │      │       │      │    │
│[Fron]│      │      │       │      │    │
│      │      │      │       │      │    │
└──────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┴────┘

The issue appears because:

Step 9: Expand with Features (Optional, 2-3 minutes)

Ready to continue? Create Features from your Epic.

9.1 In Copilot Chat

Type:

speckit.plan Epic#42

Features:
1. OAuth Provider Integration (choose provider, implement config)
2. Login UI (design form, build component, test)
3. Session Management (token storage, refresh logic)

9.2 What Happens

Copilot will:

  1. Create 3 Feature issues linked to your Epic #42
  2. Each will have acceptance criteria and parent reference
  3. Auto-apply labels: type:feature, phase:specification
  4. Return issue numbers: Feature #43, #44, #45

9.3 Check Project Board

Refresh https://github.com/orgs/TanureLabOrg/projects/3
You should now see:

Step 10: Create Tasks (Optional, 2-3 minutes)

10.1 In Copilot Chat

Pick one Feature (example: #43) and create Tasks:

speckit.tasks Feature#43

Tasks:
1. Research OAuth 2.0 specification
2. Choose OAuth provider library (Auth0, Firebase, etc.)
3. Implement configuration module
4. Write unit tests

10.2 Outcome

4 Task issues created under Feature #43, each with:

10.3 Project Board Update

You’ll now see:

What’s Next?

If Your Team Hasn’t Pushed Code Yet

Wait for your team’s lead to:

  1. Create Epic issue (if not done yet)
  2. Break Epic into Features
  3. Break Features into Tasks

The GitHub Project board is your source of truth. Check it regularly.

If Your Team Is Ready to Code

  1. Pick a Task from the Ready column on the project board
  2. Move it to In Progress (on the board)
  3. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/task-43-oauth-config
  4. Code and commit: git commit -m "feat: implement OAuth config"
  5. Open PR and reference the Task issue: “Closes #48”
  6. When PR merges, GitHub auto-closes the issue
  7. Move issue to Done on board

Asking for Help

Key Takeaways

✅ Issues-First: Everything is a GitHub Issue (Epic, Feature, Task, Bug).
✅ spec-kit Commands: Use speckit.* to create issues, don’t write them manually.
✅ Single Project Board: One dashboard shows all 3 teams’ progress.
✅ Copilot Spaces: Shared context you load once, helps agents make smarter decisions.
✅ Labels: Auto-populated by spec-kit (type, phase, status). Don’t edit manually.

Troubleshooting

“Copilot Chat says I’m not authorized”

“spec-kit command failed”

“Issue created but not on project board”

“I don’t see the Copilot Space in the context dropdown”

You’re ready! Start by creating one Epic issue with speckit.spec.

Questions? Ask on Slack or reply to the facilitator.