✦ LEADERBOARD GUIDE

How the leaderboard works: points, ranks and badges

How points are earned, how ranks are decided, what each of the 13 badges means, and the perks you unlock along the way.

13 badgesUp to 50 points per PRWeekly MVP

The short version

1

Pick an issue

Get assigned an issue labelled recode and a level.

2

Get it merged

A maintainer merges your pull request.

3

Earn points

10, 30 or 50 points, by level.

4

Climb and unlock

Move up the leaderboard and earn badges.

How points work

Points come from the labels on your merged pull request. One formula decides everything:

ALWAYS

recode

Required on every PR

+

ONE LEVEL

level 1level 2level 3

Case doesn't matter

=

YOU SCORE

103050

points, by level

SCORES 0No recode labelrecode but no level

Two or more level labels? Only the lowest one counts, so level 1 + level 3 scores 10.

Label	What it means	Points
recode	Required on every PR, but worth 0 points alone	0
level 1	Small fixes, docs, content updates	10
level 2	Features and medium changes	30
level 3	Large or complex work	50

TRY IT Tap the labels on this pull request

Merged

Add dark mode to the blog page

Example · merged into recodehive/recode-website

+30 ptsrecode + level 2 = 30 points added to your total.

What counts

DO

Merged PRs with recode label and a level label

Only Work on an issue When it assigned assigned

Reviewing PRs and helping others in discussions (counts toward Weekly MVP)

DON'T

PRs without the recode label: 0 points

PRs with no level label: 0 points

PRs that are closed without merging

Issues get assigned FIFO format, if it goes stale it goes to the next person

Ranks and the leaderboard

The leaderboard orders contributors by points. The top three earn the leaderboard recognition badges. When two contributors have the same points, the one with more merged PRs ranks higher. The leaderboard updates every 2 hours, and the rank badges use the all-time ranking.

RANK #2

Second place

on the leaderboard

RANK #1

Top contributor

on the leaderboard

RANK #3

Third place

on the leaderboard

Achievement badges

13 badges, from your first merged pull request to the top of the leaderboard. The hexagon comes from a honeycomb: it connects every badge to the hive and stands for collaboration, structure and growing together. Merged PR counts include only pull requests that scored points. Tap a badge to see what it means.

Every journey starts somewhere

First Contribution

The first milestone in every contributor's journey. Awarded after your first successfully merged pull request.

CRITERIA1+ merged PR

1 / 10

Badge design by Sowmiya V, Brand Designer

Check your progress

Enter your numbers to see which badges you have and what is next.

MERGED PRSPOINTS

0 of 10milestone badges unlocked

NEXT UP

First Contribution

0 of 1 merged PRs. 1 to go.

Perks and progression

Badges recognise your work. Perks reward it. Keep contributing and you unlock real career opportunities, from free mentorship to paid client work.

EVERY WEEK

Weekly MVP

Top of the weekly dashboard, scored on PR volume. The MVP is not just about code quality, We look for collaboration & helping others.

₹500

through GitHub Sponsors

01

TIER 1

Bronze Contributor

5 merged PRs on backend or core repos

Free mentorship1:1 calls, reviews and guides from the founder. See below.

02

TIER 2

Core Maintainer

50 merged PRs plus an interview with the founder

Includes every reward above

NEWFeatured on the Hire Developers pageClients can find and hire you

Maintainer roleMerge rights on the repo

Co-author creditYour name on Git commits

03

TIER 3

Senior Maintainer

180 days active as a maintainer

Includes every reward above

Paid client projectsReal work, paid

NEW$100 profile boostA boosted ad slot on the Hire page

04

TIER 4

recode hive Fellow

365 days of active contributions

Includes every reward above

₹2,500 bonusPaid out on reaching Fellow

Network referralsIntroductions to people hiring

Free mentorship

Unlocks at Tier 1 · 5 merged PRs

Everything the founder offers to the public, free for contributors who reach Bronze.

Video callsPriority DMsDigital guides

Reached Tier 1? Ask in Discord for your contributor code to claim any of these for free.

Priority DM

Job Seeker Crash Course

Kickstart your job search and land your dream role.

Free for contributors

Priority DM · 7 days reply

Resume Bundle and ATS Scoring

Optimise your resume with ATS scoring.

Free for contributors

Priority DM

Open source mentorship and GitHub profile review

Mentorship plus a hands-on guide to your GitHub profile.

Free for contributors

Digital product

Data Scientist Cheat Sheet and Interview Guide

The book covers data science topics and interview questions.

Free for contributors

Video meeting · 45 mins

1:1 Mentorship

A live session on your career, projects and next steps.

Free for contributors

Video meeting · 30 mins

Resume review

Line-by-line feedback on your resume.

Free for contributors

Sponsorship

recode hive is about education, not profit. It is funded by the founder, and sponsor money follows a 100% redistribution model.

Sponsors

Support recode hive on GitHub Sponsors

100%

recode hive

Keeps nothing

🧑‍💻

Active contributors

Weekly MVPs and top contributors

RECENT SPONSORSHIPS@Ayushgupta2408Oct 8, 2026@steam-bell-92Oct 17, 2026Full perks and sponsorship post

FAQ

Badges are earned automatically from your merged pull requests and points, and show on the leaderboard and your profile. Perks, like free mentorship or the maintainer role, are rewards the founder grants as you progress.