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FAQ  The questions that come up most in the channel.
Page: https://sterndocs.hackclub.dev/cloudfall/faq
Source: content/cloudfall/faq.md
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## Do I need to own a server?

No. An old laptop, a Raspberry Pi, or the desktop nobody uses is enough see
[Self-hosting basics](/cloudfall/self-hosting-basics). You can also develop
against a hosted service and ship a container someone else can run.

## Can I work in a team?

Ask in **#ysws-CloudFALL** before you plan around it. Hours are tracked per
person, so a team submission needs to be clear about who did what.

## Does installing an existing tool count?

Not on its own somebody already built Jellyfin. Build something around the
problem: the missing client, the migration tool, the glue between services, or a
subscription nobody has replaced yet.
[Pick a project](/cloudfall/pick-a-project) goes into this.

## How much AI help can I use?

At most 30% of the project, and you only get credit for hours you actually
worked. It's checked. and No claude cannot share the hours it earned with you! 

## My hours are wrong / Hackatime stopped reporting

Say so in the channel while it's recent. It's fixable then and effectively not
fixable at submission time.

## Can I submit something I started before the round?

No. It has to be built new during this round, and you can't bring hours from a
previous project or another YSWS. No double dipping

## What if my project is hardware?

That's in scope, as long as it's useful to a homelab or on-prem setup, even
indirectly. Same rules: open source means schematics and firmware too, and the
documentation has to be good enough that someone else could build it.

## Does the round end at a specific time?

The countdown in the header is the authority it reads the program directly.
When it runs out, submissions close, note some execptions may be made so you should always ask before assuming it's over.

## Something on this page is wrong

Fix it. Every page here is a markdown file, and **Suggest an edit** at the bottom
of a page opens a pull request against it.
[How to edit these docs](/cloudfall/contributing).
