What is vibe coding?
Vibe coding is programming by talking to AI models, which write most of the code while the person steers the project: decides what to build, reviews what comes back and corrects course until it does what they wanted.
Terms explained
Glossary
This glossary explains, one page per question, the terms that come up around the IOOVC: vibe coding, AI coding agents, the olympiad format, the categories, the judging criteria, the prizes and the Brazilian sister competition. It is for anyone deciding whether to enter a project and who wants short answers with the official facts of the first edition.
What is a vibe coding olympiad (and how is it different from a hackathon)?
A vibe coding olympiad is a competition where each person enters their own project, built with AI at their own pace, and a committee scores every entry by the same criteria.
How are projects judged at the IOOVC?
At the IOOVC every project gets a score from 0 to 100, given by the judging committee on four criteria with different weights: the idea (weight 4), clarity (weight 3), how it works (weight 2) and polish, which covers bugs, accessibility and security (weight 1).
What is the University category?
The University category is the IOOVC competition reserved for students enrolled at an educational institution, anywhere in the world.
What is the Open category?
The Open category is the IOOVC competition open to anyone, anywhere, with no proof or affiliation required: professionals, hobbyists and one-person companies.
What counts as an eligible project?
An eligible project is any software you built, solo or as a group, that works with its interface in English and carries a test login and password in its description.
What are the IOOVC prizes?
The IOOVC prizes follow a ladder of registration tiers: the more paid projects in a competition by October 31, 2026, the higher the tier and the bigger each prize.
What is an AI coding agent?
An AI coding agent is an AI program that works inside your project: it reads the files, writes and edits code, runs commands and tests, and comes back with the result for you to approve or correct.
What is the OBVC, the Brazilian sister olympiad?
The OBVC (Olimpíada Brasileira de Vibe Coding) is the IOOVC's sister competition: a vibe coding olympiad in Portuguese and in Brazilian reais, for people in Brazil, at obvc.com.br.