OnlyCode

Clean UI
Help features
Collaborative Coding Mode
LIVE peer coding environments
Individual Profiles
Leaderboards!

Inspiration

We wanted to bring back the human element in coding practice and not replace it. Platforms like LeetCode and ChatGPT are powerful, but lonely. When you’re stuck, you're on your own. And while AI can explain concepts, it can't replace the empathy of a peer who’s been through the same struggle. Learning to code shouldn't feel like grinding in silence or relying entirely on a chatbot. OnlyCode makes it social, collaborative, and rewarding like it should be.

What it does

Solve Problems: With in-browser IDE, descriptions, examples

Request Help: After 3 failed attempts or 5 minutes stuck, unlock a help request

Skill-Based Matchmaking: Helpers are matched by topic and their skill level

Live Collaboration: Real-time shared editor between users

Gamified Help System: Helpers earn XP, badges, and leaderboard rankings

User Profiles: Track stats, badges, favorite topics, and community impact

How we built it

For the Frontend, we used React with Typescript, TailwindCSS for styling For the Backend, we utilised Node.js, and Express

Alongside the in-built code editor, we used a third-party open sourced API to handle and run user-submitted code in a secure, sandboxed environment whilst eliminating any risk of executing unsafe code on our own servers.

By leveraging WebSocket, we created the live collaboration feature in the code editor. This allows us to update all the editors based from the changes on the server over a persistent connection.

Challenges we ran into

We found implementing a real time pair coding environment was difficult as none of us has had experience working on syncing rooms with WebSocket.

Accomplishments we are proud of

We are proud on how we executed this huge project in a small time window of the Hackathon, and we all worked cohesively as a unit. Also, we are proud in being able to grow and learn more from making OnlyCode.

Ways forward

We could expand our target audience to include educational institutes, with a feature to monitor progress of a class of students in a certain topic, or just for an overall score. The concept of a gamified help system can be extended and adapted for other fields of learning, like math and other sciences, its not just restricted to coding.