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Agent skill

Time Box

by MAGA2010 in MAGA2010/hackathon-run

Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline slips.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Time Box

skills CLI
$ npx skills add MAGA2010/hackathon-run --skill time-box -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install MAGA2010/hackathon-run time-box --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/MAGA2010/hackathon-run.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/time-box .claude/skills/time-box && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
time-box
GitHub stars
367
Token cost
~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length
522 words
Files
2 (incl. scripts)
Skills in repo
15
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline slips.

  • Works in 4 steps: Compute the stage budget → Allocate per-person → Emit checkpoints → …
  • The clock is the constraint
  • SKILL.md covers Input contract, Execution, Helper and Output contract, plus 3 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder

What it does

Time Box is an agent skill from MAGA2010/hackathon-run. Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline slips. Use when the clock is the constraint or when scope-knife reports time pressure.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including scripts (for example `scripts/compute.py`).

The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The clock is the constraint
  • Scope-knife reports time pressure

Example prompts

  • “Use the time-box skill to allocate time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline…”
  • “/time-box”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Compute the stage budget
  2. Allocate per-person
  3. Emit checkpoints
  4. Detect slip

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit de3bcfb. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Time Box loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 56 tokens; SKILL.md has 522 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~56
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from MAGA2010/hackathon-run at commit de3bcfb, republished under its MIT licence (© MAGA2010). 522 words, ~1,329 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/time-box/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
time-box
description
Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea -> scope -> build -> verify -> demo -> ship) and warns before each deadline slips. Use when the clock is the constraint or when scope-knife reports time pressure.
when_to_use
Trigger when the user says "we have X hours left", "how should we split the time", "we're falling behind", or after scope-knife reports a tight timeline. Do…
version
1.0
category
scoping
tags
["allocation", "checkpoints", "alarms"]
dependencies
[]
side_effects
["time-box"]
triggers
["how much time per stage", "time allocation", "checkpoints", "set timers", "allocate remaining time"]

time-box

A hackathon is won or lost on the clock. scope-knife decides what to build; time-box decides when to build each piece. Together they form a viable plan: one says "no", the other says "now".

Input contract

Required:

  • time_remaining_minutes: integer >= 0
  • team_size: integer >= 1
  • current_stage: one of idea | scope | build | verify | demo | ship

Optional:

  • stage_progress: float in [0, 1] for the current stage (default 0)
  • buffer_minutes: reserve at end of clock for ship/demo (default 90)
  • .hackathon/state/plan.json: load if exists, use KEEP list as scope

Execution

1. Compute the stage budget

Subtract buffer_minutes from time_remaining_minutes to get work_budget. Then split across the remaining stages:

Remaining stagesDefault split of work_budget
build verify demo ship60 / 15 / 15 / 10
verify demo ship40 / 40 / 20
demo ship50 / 50
ship100

When current_stage = build, the verify/demo/ship windows are forced from the table above — not user-negotiable.

2. Allocate per-person

per_person_minutes = stage_budget / team_size. Round down to 15. If per-person is below 30 min, warn: "single-person stage; consider combining roles".

3. Emit checkpoints

For each remaining stage, emit one checkpoint:

  • T-?: minutes from now until stage starts
  • alarm_at: minutes from now when the team should re-evaluate
  • exit_criteria: one sentence describing "done enough"
4. Detect slip

If current_stage = build and stage_progress < (elapsed / stage_budget), flag slipping: true and recommend a CUT pass via scope-knife.

Helper

The skill ships scripts/compute.py which implements the stage-budget table above and writes both .hackathon/state/time-box.json and .hackathon/artifacts/time-box-schedule.md. Run it with:

python3 skills/time-box/scripts/compute.py \ --time-remaining 240 \ --team-size 4 \ --current-stage build \ --out-dir .hackathon

New in v1.2.1.5:

  • --elapsed N drives burn-rate (consumed / current-stage-budget). The script emits urn_rate in the state JSON and prints it on stdout.
  • Three escalating alarms per stage at 50% / 80% / 100% of the stage budget, labeled soft / irm / hard. The schedule table now lists every alarm timestamp.
  • When the current stage is slipping, compute.py emits a recovery budget: how many minutes to steal from erify, demo, and ship buffer proportionally to recover the deadline.
  • Minimum-viable demo (MVD) check against --demo-target-minutes (default 180 = 3 min). The state JSON gets minimum_viable_demo_feasible.
  • --demo-at HH:MM accepts a wall-clock demo time and converts it to ime-remaining.
Show full SKILL.md (174 more words)Show less

New in v1.6:

  • compute.py records deadline_at, current_stage_started_at, current_stage_budget_minutes, and elapsed_minutes so the clock can be re-read later.
  • hackathon status consumes those fields into a live pulse section with remaining time, current-stage burn rate, and the next alarm.
  • hackathon status --watch --interval 30 refreshes that dashboard without rerunning compute.py.
  • Schedule and alarm fields now match time-box.schema.json exactly.

Output contract

Files written:

  • .hackathon/state/time-box.json (NEW schema, see src/state/schemas/time-box.schema.json)
  • .hackathon/artifacts/time-box-schedule.md (human-readable timeline)

Acceptance criteria

  • Stages add up to <= time_remaining_minutes (no over-budget).
  • Buffer is honored.
  • Per-person allocation is at least 30 minutes, OR a warning is emitted.
  • Each remaining stage has an exit criterion and an alarm.
  • Slipping flag fires when actual progress < expected.

Failure modes

ModeBehavior
time_remaining_minutes = 0Refuse; suggest recovery-runbook
team_size = 0Refuse; ask for valid input
No plan.json yetSuggest scope-knife first
Already past bufferOutput only ship stage; warn loudly

Trigger phrases (for agent intent matching)

  • "we have 4 hours left"
  • "how should we split the time"
  • "running out of time"
  • "falling behind"
  • "what should we focus on next"
  • "how long until the demo"

© MAGA2010, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (scripts) in skills/time-box of MAGA2010/hackathon-run.

  • SKILL.md
  • scripts/compute.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit de3bcfb

Compare with similar skills

Time Box next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Time Box compared with similar skills
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Time Box this skillMAGA2010/hackathon-run367—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Boxasgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks69k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassCC0-1.0
Idea Darwinsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k2 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Idea Refinementaddyosmani/agent-skills103k6 repos~2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Agent Resource Allocatorruvnet/ruflo74k2 repos~4.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Alloc ProfileClickHouse/ClickHouse50k—~4.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about Time Box

What does Time Box do?

Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline slips. Time Box is an agent skill from MAGA2010/hackathon-run. Allocates time across the hackathon lifecycle (idea - scope - build - verify - demo - ship) and warns before each deadline slips.

When should I use Time Box?

Time Box fits situations like: the clock is the constraint; scope-knife reports time pressure.

How do I install Time Box in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add MAGA2010/hackathon-run --skill time-box -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/time-box in MAGA2010/hackathon-run) into .claude/skills/time-box in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Time Box in Codex?

Run `npx skills add MAGA2010/hackathon-run --skill time-box -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/time-box in MAGA2010/hackathon-run) into .agents/skills/time-box in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Time Box in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add MAGA2010/hackathon-run --skill time-box -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/time-box, .gemini/skills/time-box, .github/skills/time-box and .opencode/skills/time-box in your project.

What does Time Box need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Time Box needs Python for the scripts in its folder. Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Time Box access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Time Box safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Time Box use?

Time Box is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Time Box use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Time Box?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Time Box: Box (asgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks, 69k stars), Idea Darwin (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars), Idea Refinement (addyosmani/agent-skills, 103k stars) and Agent Resource Allocator (ruvnet/ruflo, 74k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Time Box?

MAGA2010 (a GitHub user) maintains it in MAGA2010/hackathon-run, which has 367 GitHub stars. The repository holds 15 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: MAGA2010/hackathon-run on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.