🏆 Track: Build a Messaging Agent using Photon 2.0

A track for builders who see a future where AI coexists with us

We’re inviting teams who believe AI isn’t a utility tool but a being that lives with us - present in our conversations, attuned to context, and trusted to act with taste. Build agents that don’t merely assist, but participate. Shape a future where human intention and machine intuition compound.

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New: the Photon 2.0 beta goes live October 15, 2026 at photon.co/beta, and it’s free to use. Give your agent a phone number and a native presence everywhere people already talk: iMessage, SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Telegram, email, and phone calls. Be among the first teams to build on it.

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What you can build

• Agents that join human-to-human conversations naturally to suggest, support, or participate
• AI companions that understand social context, emotion, and tone
• Multi-agent systems that collaborate with humans and each other toward shared goals
• Agents that talk: voice agents on a Photon phone number that answer and place real calls, then keep the conversation going over text
• Tools that let agents seamlessly exist across interfaces, from iMessage and SMS to WhatsApp, Telegram, email, and phone calls

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Examples

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Requirements

Build on the Photon 2.0 beta and ship where people already live:

• Photon 2.0 beta - Photon’s open source framework that brings agents to every messaging channel. Sign up at the dashboard, create a project, and add the channels you want. No promo code needed: the beta is free to use.
• Texting: connect your agent to iMessage through the dashboard, and add SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Telegram, or email if you want more reach. iMessage is still the flagship channel for text agents.
• Voice: phone calls run on an SMS number, not on iMessage. Add an SMS number to your project, set up a Voice profile, and connect it over SIP to Retell, ElevenLabs, LiveKit, or Twilio. Calls and group chat on iMessage both need a dedicated iMessage line, so for the hackathon, build voice on SMS.
• Docs: Photon 2.0 beta docs (still being written) and cookbooks with step-by-step voice setup for Retell, ElevenLabs, LiveKit, and Twilio. SDK reference: https://photon.codes/docs/spectrum-ts/introduction

To qualify for the prize, your project must be built on Photon 2.0 and live on at least one Photon channel. iMessage is home base for text agents; voice agents live on an SMS number.