Day 6 of HCode updates, and Day 6 of self updates.
I slept like a log after exams got done. Pure post-exam effect.
But once I got up with a fresh mind and proper focus, I went straight back to testing the abilities of HCode.
And the timing was perfect, because today I had a CTF event: DarkCTF on the CTF7 platform.
How the Day Started
I started the event normally and solved 7 challenges on my own.
But by then most of the other teams had already solved a lot more, first bloods were already gone, and realistically it was impossible to break into the top 3.
At that point, staying in the event just for name sake did not feel useful.
So I changed the plan.
Instead of chasing a dead leaderboard, I used that chance to test HCode properly in a live CTF setting.
What I Tested in HCode
I connected GitHub, Gemini, and Cerebras APIs into my HCode ACE setup.
Then I created skills and installed tools related to the CTF workflow.
And then I started feeding it the same types of challenges I had been solving manually.
That is where things got interesting.
The Surprising Part
ACE solved the CTF challenges accurately in one shot.
For all 7 challenge types I had already worked through, it got to the right path on the first try.
That honestly surprised me.
Because when I solved those challenges myself, I usually needed around 2 to 4 submission attempts per challenge before landing the correct answer. ACE was much cleaner in terms of solving path.
The only tradeoff was time.
I was solving them faster manually, around 3 to 4 minutes in my own flow, while ACE was taking around 6 minutes on average for one solve.
So the picture right now looks like this:
- I was faster.
- ACE was more accurate in one-shot solving.
- HCode as a testing surface actually held up better than I expected.
That is a very interesting result.
Why I Stopped the Test
I basically left the CTF in the middle because only the top 3 positions actually mattered for prizes, and everything after that felt like it was just for the scoreboard.
So I used the rest of that time to test HCode instead.
And then I had to stop that testing too, for a much more predictable reason:
free-tier limits.
Bruh, I am not rich.
I use free resources wherever I can.
My GitHub Copilot usage got burned way faster than expected. Inside VS Code it feels like each action is tiny, but the actual usage adds up brutally fast. My March quota is basically done.
Gemini daily quota also got completed.
Cerebras context usage got eaten too.
And no, I am not casually going to overuse paid models or sit here burning ChatGPT and Claude usage like I have unlimited money.
So yes: the testing ended partly because the system worked, and partly because my credits said “that is enough for today.”
Sob sob.
What This Means for HCode
Today was actually one of the most useful testing sessions so far.
Not because it was perfect, but because it showed me something concrete:
- ACE can be genuinely useful in real challenge-solving flows.
- HCode can act as more than just a UI shell.
- Tooling + skills + model connections can create serious value when they are wired together properly.
There is still a lot to improve, obviously.
But this was the kind of session that makes me feel like HCode is moving from “interesting project” to something with real capability.
Signing Off
That is all for today.
Day 6 gave me exactly what I needed: real testing, real surprise, and real limits.
That is a good development day.
See you in the next update.
— Vasanth