Computer-Use Agents SOTA Challenge: Hack the North + Global Online

Published on August 25, 2025 by Francesco Bonacci

We’re bringing something new to Hack the North, Canada’s largest hackathon, this year: a head-to-head competition for Computer-Use Agents - on-site at Waterloo and a Global online challenge. From September 12–14, 2025, teams build on the Cua Agent Framework and are scored in HUD’s OSWorld-Verified environment to push past today’s SOTA on OS-World.

Track A: On-site @ Hack the North

There’s one global leaderboard: Cua - Best State-of-the-Art Computer-Use Agent. Use any model setup you like (cloud or local). After projects are submitted, HUD runs the official benchmark; the top team earns a guaranteed YC partner interview (W26 batch). We’ll also feature winners on our blog and socials and kit the team out with swag.

Track B: Cua Global Online Hackathon

Cua and Ollama organize a global hackathon to find the most creative uses of local and hybrid computer-use agents. There are no geographic restrictions on who can join — this is a worldwide competition focused on originality, impact, and inventive applications that showcase what's possible with local and hybrid inference.

Prizes:

• 1st MacBook Air M4 (or equivalent value) + features in Cua & Ollama channels
• 2nd $500 CAD + swag
• 3rd swag + public feature

How it works

Two different tracks, two different processes:

On-site (Track A)

Build during the weekend and submit a repo with a one-line start command. HUD executes your command in a clean environment and runs OSWorld-Verified. Scores come from official benchmark results; ties break by median, then wall-clock time, then earliest submission. Any model setup is allowed (cloud or local).

HUD runs official evaluations immediately after submission. Winners are announced at the closing ceremony.

Rules

• Fork and star the Cua repo.
• Add your agent and instructions in samples/community/hack-the-north/<YOUR_TEAM_NAME>.
• Include a README with details on the approach and any required notes.
• Submit a PR.

Deadline: Sept 15, 8:00 AM EDT

Global Online (Track B)

Open to anyone, anywhere. Build on your own timeline and submit through the Cua Discord form by the deadline.

Project Requirements:

• Your agent must integrate Cua and Ollama in some way
• Your agent must be easily runnable by judges

Judged by Cua and Ollama teams on:

• Creativity (30%) – originality, usefulness, surprise factor
• Technical Depth (30%) – quality of engineering and agent design
• Use of Ollama (30%) – effective integration of local/hybrid inference
• Polish (10%) – presentation, clarity, demo readiness

Submission Process

Submissions will be collected via a form link provided in the Cua Discord. Your submission must contain:

• GitHub repo containing the agent source code and a clear README with instructions on how to use the agent
• Explanation of the models and tools used, and what's local or hybrid about your design
• Short demo video (up to two minutes)

A commit freeze will be used to ensure that no changes are made after the deadline. Winners will be announced after judging is complete.

Deadline: Sept 28, 11:59 PM UTC (extended due to popular demand!)

Join us

Bring a team, pick a model stack, and push what agents can do on real computers. We can’t wait to see what you build at Hack the North 2025.

Discord channels

• Join the Discord first: https://discord.gg/cua-ai
• #hack-the-north (on-site): https://discord.com/channels/1328377437301641247/1409508526774157342
• #global-online (Ollama × Cua): https://discord.com/channels/1328377437301641247/1409518100491145226

Contact
Questions on Hack the North? Email hackthenorth@trycua.com.

P.S. If you’re planning ahead, start with the Cua Agent Framework and OSWorld-Verified docs at docs.trycua.com; we’ll share office-hour times in both Discord channels.