> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hackutd.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The marketing site

> A redesign-every-year template on top of Harp's public API

Every hackathon needs a public website, and it should look different every year. Harp's answer is a deliberately minimal Next.js marketing template: a scaffold whose design you replace each iteration, built around a data layer you keep forever.

## The template, in two layers

| Layer           | What it is                                                                            | What you do with it                                |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Design (`app/`) | A basic page that proves the backend connection and shows what the public API returns | Replace it entirely with your year's themed design |
| Data (`lib/`)   | The API client, TypeScript types mirroring the Go structs, and formatting helpers     | Keep it                                            |

## How it talks to Harp

The site fetches live schedule, sponsor, and FAQ data from the [public content API](/harp/reference/public-api):

* Requests carry an `X-API-Key` header that must match the `PUBLIC_API_KEY` configured on the Go service.
* All fetches are server-only (Server Components). Importing the API client into a client component fails the build, and the site can't be a static export.
* Responses revalidate about every 5 minutes, so organizer edits in the portal reach the public site without a rebuild.

## Environment

| Variable              | Purpose                                       |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| `HARP_API_BASE_URL`   | Your Go service's base URL, no trailing slash |
| `HARP_PUBLIC_API_KEY` | Must match `PUBLIC_API_KEY` on the Go service |

## Deploying

The site deploys to Vercel as its own project, independent of the portal and backend. Set both environment variables for Production and Preview.

<Note>
  The marketing template currently lives at `client/marketing` inside the harp repo and is being extracted into a standalone `hackutd/harp-marketing` template repository. Once that lands, adopters will start from the template repo directly instead of the subdirectory.
</Note>