For programme reviewers
Why Elixpo for GSoC
Short answers to the questions a Google Summer of Code reviewer is likely to ask about Elixpo, each with a link to the page or public record that supports it. Elixpo is applying to be a mentoring organisation for 2027; Google decides which organisations take part.
Is Elixpo an established, active open-source organisation?
Yes. The Elixpo GitHub organisation was created on 24 February 2024 and develops its projects in public. Each of the five participating repositories had changes pushed in October 2026. See the Elixpo repositories, the participating codebases and the dated history.
Is the software under an OSI-approved licence?
The source code of all five participating repositories is licensed under the
MIT License, which is OSI-approved. Each repository's current LICENSE file
combines the MIT terms with Elixpo's brand terms; open pull requests replace
it with the standard MIT text and move the brand rules to TRADEMARKS.md
(LixBlogs,
LixSketch,
Crumb,
Elixpo Open Source,
Oreo).
Is there an active contributor community?
Elixpo maintainers took part in Hacktoberfest in October 2024 and October 2025, preparing work for outside contributors and reviewing their pull requests. In October 2025 the Chapter repository merged 47 Hacktoberfest pull requests from 24 GitHub accounts. See the community and mentoring record.
Who mentors, and is there enough capacity?
Three mentors, two organisation administrators (Ayushman Bhattacharya, lead, and Vivek Yadav) and a programme coordinator (Anwesha Chakraborty). In 2027 we plan to mentor one contributor, so every accepted contributor gets two mentors' full attention: a primary and a backup mentor on every idea. See the mentors page.
Are the project ideas well defined?
Each of the six ideas is one problem in one codebase, with expected outcomes, what is out of scope, how success is measured, warm-up tasks, a size of 90 or 175 hours, and two named mentors. Every project can be set up from its public repository without private keys. See the ideas list.
How do contributors get started, and how are they selected?
The contributor guide sets out the steps from choosing an idea to a first reviewed pull request and a proposal. Mentors assess every proposal against the published selection criteria and talk to every shortlisted applicant before ranking.
How will you communicate with and evaluate the contributor?
A weekly call with the primary mentor, at least one more written exchange each week, and a public weekly progress report. Evaluations are based on the agreed milestones, communication and merged work, with early written warning if work falls behind. See How we run the programme.
How will you keep the contributor involved afterwards?
The contributor is invited to continue as a reviewer and maintainer of the part they built, with follow-up about 30 and 90 days after the programme and credit in Elixpo's public contribution records. See After the programme.
What is your policy on AI tools?
Contributors may use AI tools to learn but must understand, test and be able to explain everything they submit, and disclose meaningful use in pull requests. Proposals written by AI are not accepted, and mentors review all work personally. See the AI policy.
Is anything in the programme commercial?
No. No Google Summer of Code idea involves payments, pricing or paid features, and Elixpo does not currently accept sponsorship funds. Some hosted Elixpo services offer optional paid plans; Google Summer of Code work does not involve them. See Money and commercial interests.
What mentoring experience do the organisers have?
Elixpo's maintainers ran Hacktoberfest participation in 2024 and 2025. Ayushman Bhattacharya is a member of GitHub's Maintainer Advisory community, a maintainer of pollinations/pollinations, Hacktoberfest project administrator and student coordinator since 2024, GDG on Campus organiser at JIS University in 2025–26 (21 events), and a mentor in GirlScript Summer of Code 2025, OSCI 2025 and ESSOC 2026. See Mentoring experience.
Are the commitments written down?
Yes. Every mentor and administrator signs a public commitment, published on the agreements page, and everyone follows the Code of Conduct.
How can we contact the organisers?
Write to gsoc@elixpo.com. The organisation administrators and the programme coordinator read it; individual addresses are on the mentors page.