#42 - Vultr Agent Runtime Hackathon

***Do note that you have to sign-up at the Luma event to be able to attend: https://luma.com/stockholm-nn3n***

All right!!!
​Meetup #42 will take the shape of a full day 12h Hackathon!!! Bring your laptops and your hacking chops and let's go! (And yes, there will be food, drinks and refreshments throughout the day!)

​The hackathon is centred around a single challenge:

​Build a web-based agent that performs real work - writing and running code, or operating a real browser - with every action contained inside a sandbox running on Vultr. Your system should act as a centralized control layer that plans a task, dispatches it to an isolated execution environment, and returns verifiable output.

​Projects should demonstrate multi-step agentic workflows, real executed results rather than described ones, and a production-style web application - all running on Vultr infrastructure.

​Containment-first is required. An agent that only chats is a demo; an agent that executes safely is a product.

​There will be a team from Vultr on-site to help guide you through the day! More detailed agenda will be provided. Stay tuned!

​Who should participate?
​Developers, AI/ML and platform engineers, and technical founders building agentic applications. Participants will work in teams of 2–4. If you show up solo, we'll help you join/form a team!

Pre-reqs
​Laptop and GitHub account, working Python (or TypeScript) and API experience, and basic LLM familiarity. No special hardware needed. Vultr will provide credits for cloud compute, and we'll share a short prep guide beforehand.

Prizes
​The three most impressive projects formally submitted will all receive cash prizes and additional Vultr credits! (More on this later... Stay tuned!)

Hackathon Infrastructure

• ​Deploy a VM-based backend on Vultr (mandatory)
• ​Agent LLM calls must go through Vultr Serverless Inference (mandatory)
• ​Vultr should be the central system of control and orchestration, not just static hosting
• ​Sandboxes run as containers or throwaway instances on Vultr, never inside your app process
• ​Open Source Sandbox example solutions:
• ​OpenSandbox
• ​gVisor
• ​E2B Sandboxes
• ​Microsandbox

Execution Pattern Integration​
Build against one or both patterns:
​Pattern A - Sandboxed Code Execution User asks → model writes code → code runs in a container → real output (chart, file, test log) returns → model explains it. On error, stderr is fed back for a retry.
​Examples:

• ​CSV Analyst - upload a spreadsheet, ask a question in plain English, get an actually-executed chart plus the code that produced it
• ​Prove-It Code Reviewer - paste a snippet or PR; the agent runs it and its tests in the sandbox and reports what really happened
• ​Chart Anything - natural language in, executed matplotlib or plotly image out
• ​File Fixer - messy CSV or JSON in, cleaned file out, with an executed before/after diff
• ​Self-Healing Runner - the agent runs code, reads the error, patches it, and retries, with the retry loop visible on screen

​Pattern B - Sandboxed Browser Use User gives a goal → model plans → Playwright in a container navigates, clicks, types → screenshots return → a vision model on Serverless Inference verifies the result → repeat, with a human approving anything final.
​Examples:

• ​Comparison Shopper - two or three product URLs in, screenshot-backed comparison table out
• ​Form Filler - structured data in, multi-step web form filled, with a screenshot trail and an approve-before-submit gate
• ​Site QA Sweep - point it at a web app and get back broken flows and links with screenshots and repro steps
• ​Research with Receipts - a brief where every claim links to a screenshot of its source
• ​Page Watcher - monitors listing or pricing pages, extracts structured data, and diffs against yesterday​

Containment Focus
​Address real safety and reliability challenges in agent execution:

• ​Process isolation - execution never touches the host or app runtime
• ​Secret hygiene - no API keys or credentials inside the sandbox
• ​Resource limits - time and memory caps on every run
• ​Lifecycle discipline - reset or destroy the environment after each task

​Show how isolation makes autonomous execution shippable.

Production-Ready Web Application

• ​Must be accessible via a public web browser
• ​Demonstrate a real product-style experience
• ​Clear user flows, not just a local demo​

Key Positioning

• ​Vultr is the central backend powering execution and orchestration
• ​Your application plans, dispatches, and verifies real work
• ​Focus on platform thinking, not just a one-off demo

Developer Expectations
​Each team must provide:

• ​GitHub repository with setup and documentation
• ​Vultr VM backend deployment, with agent LLM calls through Vultr Serverless Inference
• ​Public demo URL
• ​Recorded demo video
• ​One containment moment in the video - the sandbox absorbing something unsafe, such as an rm -rf, an infinite loop, or a hostile web page
• ​Clear explanation of architecture and use case

​Technology
Required

• ​Vultr VM backend
• ​Web application deployed on Vultr
• ​Vultr Serverless Inference for agent reasoning (OpenAI-compatible; base URL https://api.vultrinference.com/v1)
• ​A sandbox isolated from your application process

​Strongly Recommended

• ​Docker container as the sandbox boundary
• ​REST or WebSocket APIs for run status and streaming output
• ​Web dashboards showing the execution loop, retries, and screenshot trails
• ​Approve-before-submit gates on any irreversible browser action

​Optional

• ​Vultr API to spin up a throwaway instance per task and destroy it afterward, making Vultr itself the sandbox fabric
• ​Vision-capable models on Serverless Inference for screenshot reasoning
• ​Playwright in Docker for browser automation

Platform & App Acceleration
​To help teams ship faster, we recommend:
​Vultr Serverless Inference: https://docs.vultr.com/products/serverless/inference/provisioning
​Live model list: https://api.vultrinference.com/v1/models
​Vultr API (throwaway-instance pattern): https://www.vultr.com/api/
​How to Set Up Agent Sandboxing on Vultr Cloud Compute: https://docs.vultr.com/how-to-set-up-agent-sandboxing-on-vultr-cloud-compute

Access Method

• ​$200 in free Vultr credits per participant.
• ​Redemption guide: activate via the Vultr Setup Guide
• ​Redemption walkthrough video: https://del1.vultrobjects.com/tech-talk/redeem-vultr-credits-for-hackathons.mp4

​That's it! That's all! Good luck!!!

/Patrick & the Stockholm MLOps Team