Crunch Compete

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name: crunch-compete description: Use when working with Crunch competitions - setting up workspaces, exploring quickstarters, testing solutions locally, or submitting entries.

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Cruncher Skill

Guides users through Crunch competition lifecycle: setup, quickstarter discovery, solution development, local testing, and submission.

Prerequisites

Python 3.9+ with venv module (included in standard Python)

pip for package installation

Package Installation

This skill installs Python packages from PyPI into isolated virtual environments:

| Package | Source | Purpose | |---------|--------|---------| | crunch-cli | PyPI | CrunchDAO competition CLI (setup, test, submit) | | jupyter | PyPI | Notebook support (optional) | | ipykernel | PyPI | Jupyter kernel registration (optional) | | Competition SDKs (e.g. crunch-synth, birdgame) | PyPI | Competition-specific libraries (varies) |

Agent rules for package installation:

Always use a virtual environment — never install into system Python

Only install known packages listed above or referenced in competition docs (PACKAGES.md)

Ask the user before installing any package not listed here

All packages are from PyPI — no custom URLs, no --index-url overrides, no .whl files from unknown sources

Credentials

Submission Token (required for setup & submit)

How to get: User logs into CrunchDAO Hub, navigates to the competition's submit page (/competitions//submit), and copies their token

How it's used: Passed once via --token during crunch setup

Persistence: After setup, the CLI stores the token in the project's .crunch/ config directory. All subsequent commands (crunch test, crunch push, crunch download) authenticate automatically — no need to pass the token again

If token expires: Run crunch update-token inside the project directory to refresh it

Agent rules for tokens:

Always ask the user to provide the token — never assume, guess, or reuse tokens from other projects

Never write tokens into source files, scripts, notebooks, or any committed file

Never log or echo tokens in shell output (use --token placeholder in examples shown to user)

Tokens are user-specific and project-scoped — each crunch setup call requires the user to supply one

GitHub API (optional, unauthenticated)

Used only for browsing quickstarter listings via api.github.com (public repo, no auth needed)

Rate-limited to 60 requests/hour per IP; sufficient for normal use

Network Access

| Operation | Requires network | Endpoint | |-----------|-----------------|----------| | crunch setup | Yes | hub.crunchdao.com | | crunch push | Yes | hub.crunchdao.com | | crunch download | Yes | hub.crunchdao.com | | crunch test | No | Local only | | crunch list | Yes | hub.crunchdao.com | | pip install | Yes | pypi.org | | Quickstarter browsing | Yes | api.github.com |

Quick Setup

Each competition needs its own virtual environment (dependencies can conflict).

mkdir -p ~/.crunch/workspace/competitions/
cd ~/.crunch/workspace/competitions/
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate 
pip install crunch-cli jupyter ipykernel --upgrade --quiet --progress-bar=off
python -m ipykernel install --user --name  --display-name "Crunch - "
Get token from: https://hub.crunchdao.com/competitions//submit
crunch setup   --token 
cd -

For competition-specific packages and full examples, see references/competition-setup.md.

Core Workflow

1. Discover

crunch list                    # List competitions

2. Explain

Read the quickstarter code (main.py or notebook) and competition's SKILL.md/README.md. Provide walkthrough covering: Goal, Interface, Data flow, Approach, Scoring, Constraints, Limitations, Improvement ideas.

3. Propose Improvements

Analyze current approach, cross-reference competition docs (SKILL.md, LITERATURE.md, PACKAGES.md), generate concrete code suggestions:

Model: mixture densities, NGBoost, quantile regression, ensembles

Features: volatility regimes, cross-asset correlation, seasonality

Architecture: online learning, Bayesian updating, horizon-specific models

4. Test

crunch test                    # Test solution locally

5. Submit

crunch test                    # Always test first
crunch push -m "Description"   # Submit

Phrase Mapping

| User says | Action | |-----------|--------| | what competitions are available | crunch list | | show quickstarters for | Fetch from GitHub API | | set up | Full workspace setup | | download the data | crunch download | | get the quickstarter | crunch quickstarter --name | | explain this quickstarter | Structured code walkthrough | | propose improvements | Analyze and suggest code improvements | | test my solution | crunch test | | compare with baseline | Run both, side-by-side results | | submit my solution | crunch push |

Important Rules

Entrypoint must be main.py (default for crunch push/crunch test)

Model files go in resources/ directory

Respect competition interface and constraints (time limits, output format)

Ask before installing new packages

Reference

CLI commands: references/cli-reference.md

Setup examples: references/competition-setup.md

Python 3.9+ with venv module (included in standard Python)

pip for package installation