Social Winter of Code · Season 7

What is SWoC

Social Winter of Code pairs developers with maintained open-source projects and the people who run them. You pick a project, open pull requests, and every merge earns points on a public leaderboard. New to open source? There's a gentle Base Camp climb for every first-timer.

The route

Five commits from clone to certified.

01 · register

Sign up in a minute

Pick a role – Contributor, Mentor, or Project Admin – and register with your GitHub handle.

02 · clone

Find your project

Browse the curated directory by tech stack and difficulty, then claim an issue to work on.

03 · push

Open pull requests

Ship real changes. Maintainers review and merge, with mentors on hand when you're stuck.

04 · review

Get merged, earn points

Every merge scores by trail difficulty and updates the live leaderboard in real time.

+20 +30 +40

05 · certify

Two merges, one certificate

Land two merged pull requests during the coding period and your verified certificate unlocks when the season ends.

Key dates

The season at a glance.

20 Aug 2026

Registrations open

31 Dec 2026

Registrations close

1 Jan 2027

Programme starts

30 Mar 2027

Programme ends

Take part

Three ways onto the mountain.

Ride

Contributor

Write code, fix bugs, ship features. Every merged pull request earns points and moves you up the leaderboard.

Register as Contributor →

Guide

Mentor

Guide contributors, review pull requests, and share what you know. Shape the next wave of open-source developers.

Register as Mentor →

Open a run

Project Admin

List your open-source project, welcome contributors, and grow your community over the winter.

Register as Project Admin →

Campus Advocates

Lead the climb on your campus.

Every open-source season starts with someone on the ground who cares. Campus Advocates bring Social Winter of Code to their college: rallying classmates, running a session or two, and turning a shared link into a local community that outlasts the season. If you like being the person who makes things happen, this run is yours.

Become a Campus Advocate →

Rally your campusGet classmates registered and shipping their first pull requests.
Spread the wordRun info sessions, share resources, and answer the questions newcomers are too shy to ask.
Build a communityStart a local open-source circle that keeps going long after the season ends.
Earn recognitionA verified Campus Advocate certificate, a direct line to the core team, and real leadership for your CV.

Why join

Real work, real recognition.

Live leaderboard

Watch your rank update as your PRs get merged.

Verified certificate

Shareable proof of everything you shipped.

Real mentorship

Guidance from maintainers who actually ship.

A global community

Thousands of developers, one winter.

Questions

Good to know before you register.

Who can take part? +

Anyone: students, working developers, and first-time contributors. If you can open a pull request, you can join.

Do I need prior experience? +

No. Projects are graded by difficulty, so you can start at Base Camp and work up to a Summit Push. Mentors are there to help.

Is it free? +

Completely free to join, contribute, and earn a certificate.

How do I earn a certificate? +

Get at least two pull requests merged into participating projects during the coding period. Your certificate unlocks when the season ends.

When does it run? +

Registrations open 20 August 2026 and close 31 December 2026. The coding period runs 1 January to 30 March 2027, and certificates unlock when the programme ends.

Registrations open 20 August 2026

Your winter of code starts here.

Sign up once. Contribute all season. Leave with a certificate and a stronger GitHub.

Register for SWoC Season 7 → Join Discord