Hello tech community!
For this week's Hacktoberfest 2026 DEV Challange, the goal is to build with open-source AI. I am excited to share my journey setting up the Backboard API to explore open-source Large Language Models (LLMs)!
Thanks to MLH, I claimed my $5 Backboard credit and successfully generated my first AI API key.
'''python

My upcoming AI integration snippet

import asyncio
from backboard import BackboardClient

async def main():
client = BackboardClient(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# Send a message — thread and assistant are auto-created response = await client.send_message( "Hello! I'm excited to get started.", memory="Auto", ) print(response.content) # Continue the conversation using the returned thread_id response = await client.send_message( "What can you help me with?", thread_id=response.thread_id, ) print(response.content) 

asyncio.run(main())

To prepare for the frontend of this AI project, I have also seccessfully deployed a live static site portal on Render:
Live Portal: https://hello-render-hacktoberfest.onrender.com

Combining Backboard's AI capabilities with Render's smooth deployment makes building open-source AI apps incredibly easy.