hive/docs/bounty-program/game-master-manual.md

Game Master Manual

Operations guide for maintainers running the Integration Bounty Program.

Your Role

• Post bounty issues and set dollar values for Core Contributors
• Assign claimed bounties to contributors
• Review and merge bounty PRs (auto-triggers XP awards)
• Manage the Core Contributor role
• Monitor for gaming and low-quality submissions

Handling Bounty Claims

When someone comments "I'd like to work on this":

1. For difficulty:easy, assign immediately
2. For difficulty:medium/difficulty:hard, check if they've done easier bounties first
3. Assign via GitHub. If no PR within 7 days, unassign and re-open

Reviewing Bounty PRs

1. Verify the PR matches the bounty issue
2. Check quality gates (below)
3. A different maintainer must approve than the one who created the bounty
4. Apply the correct bounty:* label to the PR before merging
5. Merge — the GitHub Action auto-awards XP and posts to Discord
6. Close the linked bounty issue

Quality Gates — Integration Bounties

bounty:docs:

• Follows the tool README template
• Setup instructions are accurate (API key URL works)
• Function names match the actual code
• Not AI-generated without verification

bounty:test:

• Test report follows the template
• Includes logs, session ID, or screenshots
• Done with a real API key, not mocked
• Reports failures honestly

bounty:code:

• CI passes (uv run pytest tools/tests/test_credential_registry.py for health checks)
• Fix addresses root cause, not symptom
• New test added for bug fixes

bounty:new-tool:

• Full implementation: tool + credential spec + tests + README
• make check && make test passes
• Registered in _register_unverified() (not verified)

Quality Gates — Standard Bounties

bounty:small:

• Change is correct and doesn't introduce regressions
• CI passes
• Scope matches "small" — not padded into a bigger change

bounty:medium:

• CI passes
• Bug fixes include a regression test
• Docs/guides are accurate and follow existing style
• Not AI-generated without verification

bounty:large:

• Design was discussed in the issue before implementation
• CI passes, new tests cover the change
• Benchmarks included for performance work (before/after)
• Architecture docs reviewed by a second maintainer

bounty:extreme:

• Maintainer pre-approved the design proposal before work began
• CI passes, comprehensive test coverage
• Documentation updated to reflect the change
• Reviewed by at least two maintainers

Rejecting Submissions

1. Leave specific, constructive feedback
2. Request changes (don't close the PR)
3. 7 days to address. No response → close PR, unassign bounty

Never merge low-quality work just to be nice.

Core Contributor Promotion

Core Contributor unlocks monetary rewards. The bar must be high.

Promote when:

• Active for 4+ weeks with contributions across 3+ bounty types
• PRs are consistently clean
• At least one maintainer vouches for them

How: Discuss with maintainers → assign role in Discord → announce in #integrations-announcements → add to #bounty-payouts

Don't promote if they only do easy bounties, have been active < 4 weeks, or show signs of gaming.

If a Core Contributor is inactive 8+ weeks, reach out privately first, then remove the role if no response.

Dollar Values

Post dollar values in #bounty-payouts (Core Contributors only):

Integration bounties

Bounty Type	Dollar Range
bounty:test	$10–30
bounty:docs	$10–20
bounty:code	$20–50
bounty:new-tool	$50–150

Standard bounties

Bounty Type	Dollar Range
bounty:small	$5–15
bounty:medium	$20–50
bounty:large	$50–150
bounty:extreme	$150–500

Payout: PR merged → verify quality → record in #bounty-payouts → process payment.

XP is always awarded regardless of budget. Money is a bonus layer.

Anti-Gaming

Pattern	Response
Splitting one change across multiple PRs	Reject extras, warn
AI-generated without verification	Reject, explain why
Claiming many bounties, completing few	Unassign after 7 days

First offense: warning. Second: 2-week cooldown. Third: permanent removal.

Keeping It Fresh

• Aim for 10+ unclaimed bounties at all times
• Unassign stale claims (>7 days)
• Shoutout exceptional contributions in announcements
• Post milestones ("10th tool promoted to verified!")