July - August 2026Submissions open now

Zoo LogoAPI Makeathon

Join our virtual makeathon and create projects that inspire fellow engineers, showcase new possibilities with Zoo's flagship APIs, and encourage others to build on, remix, and expand their ideas

Time left to submit

The API Makeathon is live — submit by August 5

00:00:00:00

Results

Meet the API Makeathon winners

You all seriously raised the bar. The submissions were inventive, technically impressive, and full of ideas we didn’t see coming. Choosing just a few winners was incredibly tough.

ThreeDSViewer running on a Nintendo 3DS while a model is sketched with the stylus.

🥇 1st Place

ThreeDSViewer

Created by GUIpsp

Yes. In its full stereoscopic beauty, someone has made the “CAD on DS” meme real. ThreeDSViewer uses the Zoo Engine API to sketch using the stylus on the bottom screen and compute models to show on the top stereoscopic screen. It even supports our new cloud storage API before we’ve advertised it. Absolutely awesome.
View on GitHub
Zapim interface showing an electronics enclosure with automatically routed wiring and mounted components.

🥈 2nd Place

Zapim

Created by kai@cascadia

A full-service electronics enclosure generator. Zapim shows how AI and parametric CAD can automate wiring routing and component-mount placement, reducing the time it takes to bring a project to life. We love how straightforward the interface is, too.
View on GitHub
AutoCrate interface showing objects secured inside a generated shipping crate.

🥉 3rd Place

AutoCrate

Created by Yacine

Need to mail something delicate in the smallest box available? AutoCrate automatically places small wedges throughout a box that fits the object you want to ship and gives you an estimated overall weight. It’s an easy, simple, fast way to get your package out the door.
View on GitHub
BeaverFlow node editor connecting inputs, Zookeeper, geometry, and analysis outputs.

🌟 Team Pick

BeaverFlow

Created by slkiser

Node- or flow-based programming is a natural fit for mapping processes visually, and that’s what BeaverFlow does. It lets you define many inputs that feed into intermediate steps and processes, eventually generating useful output. What a great way to bring many tools together.
View on GitHub

Congratulations to all our winners, and a massive thank you to everyone who participated. Watching this community take our APIs and turn them into projects we never could have anticipated was genuinely inspiring. We can’t wait to see what you build next.

Key details

API Makeathon results and event details

FYI 📐

  • Makeathon creation window: July 22 - August 5, 2026
  • Submission deadline: August 5, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT
  • Judges' voting period: August 5-12, 2026
  • Judging concluded and winners were announced after the event.
  • Location: Fully virtual

Prizes 🏆

Zoo credits, 3D printers, and more

All participants will be featured on our website. Makeathon winners will also receive the prizes listed here.

1st place 🥇

  • Bambu Lab H2C 3D Printer - Learn More
  • 10,000 minutes of Zoo API access to continue building and experimenting with your project
  • Winner spotlight on the Zoo Blog, created in collaboration with the winner and the Zoo team

2nd place 🥈

  • Bambu Lab H2D 3D Printer - Learn More
  • 10,000 minutes of Zoo API access to continue building and experimenting with your project

3rd place 🥉

  • 10,000 minutes of Zoo API access to continue building and experimenting with your project

Team Pick

Awarded to the project selected by the Zoo team.

  • Bambu Lab H2D 3D Printer - Learn More
  • 10,000 minutes of Zoo API access to continue building and experimenting with your project

Eligible tools 🛠️

  • Participants must have a Zoo account to enter and participate in the Makeathon.
  • Projects must be created from scratch for the Makeathon.
  • Participants will receive 10,000 minutes worth of API access for use during the Makeathon period. After the submission deadline, accounts will return to the subscription tier they were on before the Makeathon.
  • Projects must make meaningful use of one or more of Zoo's flagship APIs below:

Engine API

Create and edit CAD geometry with a scalable, cloud-native geometry engine.

Explore Engine API

Agent API

Bring AI-powered CAD assistance into your applications with Zookeeper.

Explore Agent API

File Format API

Seamlessly convert between CAD file formats through a unified API.

Explore File Format API

What participants built

Projects developers can learn from, adapt, and build on

Participants built open source projects showing what is possible with Zoo APIs across industries, practical problems, and ideas worth sharing.

Example project

Built by Lee

Zoo Viewer rendering a detailed engine model with viewer controls.
Open project

Lee's API example

Zoo Viewer

A browser app for loading KCL projects, connecting them to the Zoo modeling service, and inspecting the rendered model. It shows how a Makeathon project can wrap Zoo APIs with local file loading, live rerenders, AI CAD input, selection mapping, snapshots, and exports.

Engine API
View GitHubLive viewer

Guidelines

What submissions were required to include

To be eligible for judging, submissions had to meet the requirements below.

Submission requirements

  • Projects had to be submitted through the official form before the submission deadline using the same email address used to register for the Makeathon.
  • Include a link to your public GitHub repository.
  • Include a link to a public social media post using #ZooAPIMakeathon and tagging Zoo.

GitHub repository requirements

  • Be public and open source.
  • Include a README that explains the problem your project solves and why you chose your solution.
  • Explain how your project works and how you used the Zoo APIs.
  • Include setup and installation instructions.
  • Include an ~ 1 minute demo video.
  • To upload your video, edit your project's README.md using GitHub's editor, and click Attach files by dragging & dropping, selecting or pasting them.

Social media post requirements

  • Be shared publicly on at least one social media platform.
  • Use the hashtag #ZooAPIMakeathon.
  • Tag Zoo using the official account for the platform you're posting on. The official profile links are listed here for easy reference.
  • Include a link to your project submission or GitHub repository.
  • Be linked in your official form submission.

Eligibility

  • Projects must be built during the official Zoo API Makeathon window. Pre-existing projects, prototypes, or codebases are not eligible.
  • Projects must make meaningful use of one or more of Zoo's flagship APIs: Engine API, Agent API, or CAD File API.
  • Submissions must satisfy all requirements outlined on this page and comply with the Official Contest Rules. Participants who do not meet the eligibility requirements or contest rules may be disqualified.
  • Optional: share your project in the #makeathon channel on Discord so the community can discover, celebrate, and learn from what you've built.

API Makeathon registration

Registration

Sign in or create an account to register for the API Makeathon.

Sign in to register
  • No upgrade is required to participate. Eligible participants who complete registration will receive 10,000 minutes of API access for use during the Makeathon period. If you run out of minutes while building, contact makeathon@zoo.dev and we can top you off.
  • Projects must be created from scratch for the API Makeathon and make meaningful use of one or more Zoo API capabilities.
  • If you need API access help during the event, please contact makeathon@zoo.dev.
  • After the submission deadline, accounts will return to the subscription tier they were on before the Makeathon.
  • After registering, please review the guidelines below to make sure your submission is eligible.
  • Project submissions open July 22, 2026 when the Makeathon starts. When your project is ready, return to the submission section to send it to the judges.

Community

Join our Discord

We encourage participants to share projects in the #makeathon channel in the Zoo Discord community, where builders can get feedback, connect with other participants, and celebrate completed projects.

  • Ask questions and interact with the Zoo team
  • Share progress and work-in-progress
  • Get support if you need additional API access during the event
Go to #makeathonJoin the Zoo Discord

Project submission

Submit your project for judging

Submissions open July 22 when the API Makeathon starts. Once submissions are open, use the official form to send judges the links and materials they need to review your work.

Submissions open July 22 and close August 5, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT.

Use this form to share your GitHub repository, demo video, project documentation, public social post, and any supporting links judges should review.

Submit project for judging

The panel

Meet the judges

The Zoo team members below judged submissions based on the quality of the documentation, usefulness of setup and use-case details, thoughtful notes or bug reports that help improve Zoo’s APIs, technical depth and readability, UI/UX, and overall creativity and ingenuity.

Jenna Bryant

Jenna Bryant

Co-Founder, CMO

Jordan Noone

Jordan Noone

Co-Founder, Co-CEO

Jessie Frazelle

Jessie Frazelle

Co-Founder, Co-CEO

Kurt Hutten

Kurt Hutten

Founding Engineer

Lee

Lee

Staff Software Engineer

Adam Sunderland

Adam Sunderland

Senior Staff Software Engineer, Cloud Infra

Judging

How the winners were selected 🏆

Judges looked for work that was thoughtfully made, creatively compelling, meaningful in its intent, engaging to the engineering community, and inspiring for others to learn from or build on.

Scoring criteria for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place

  • 25% Documentation - Documentation on the application setup, behavior, and use-cases
  • 20% Documentation Notes & Bug Reporting - Information on how to improve Zoo's APIs
  • 20% Technical Depth & Readability - Intersection of disciplines & knowledge is demonstrated yet conveyed in an understandable manner
  • 15% UI/UX - Presents a nice interface and experience to users
  • 20% Wow (Creativity & Ingenuity) - Uses the API(s) in ways we couldn't imagine!

Scoring criteria for Zoo Team Pick

  • After submissions closed, the Zoo team reviewed all eligible projects and selected the submission that stood out as the most impressive overall.
  • Projects should demonstrate creative thinking, strong technical execution, meaningful use of Zoo APIs, and a compelling vision for the future of AI-powered engineering and design.
  • The winning project was chosen by the Zoo team based on personal opinion and appeal rather than a predefined scoring formula.
  • Winners were announced after judging was completed and results were finalized.

Get support

Book time with Lee when you need more than the docs

Participants can reserve short advisory sessions for API questions, project direction, and bottlenecks that need a real conversation.

Lee

First-come, first-serve

Lee

API guidance and project advice

Office hours

Come hangout, talk through your idea, and avoid blockers!

Use this time to sanity-check an idea, get unstuck with Zoo APIs, or ask for direction when the next step is not obvious from the documentation.

API navigationProject adviceDebugging direction

Limited appointment times. Sessions are reserved in the order participants book them.

Schedule time

Additional Support

General Support

Questions about the results, prizes, API credits, or anything else Makeathon-related? Message our team on Discord or email us anytime.

Chat with us on DiscordEmail makeathon@zoo.dev

By participating in the Makeathon, entrants agreed to the Zoo Makeathon Official Contest Rules.