How a Session Works
The lifecycle
A session moves through a few phases you will see reflected everywhere — in the terminal app's header and on the web dashboard:
- Lobby — the session exists and players are joining with the code. A short countdown runs before the game begins.
- Running — tasks are live and the session clock is ticking. The session's length is set by the project (an hour by default); the host can also pause, resume, or cancel.
- Finished — either every player completed every task, or time ran out. Scores are frozen after the judges finish their reviews, and Arena Points are paid out.
Tasks, one at a time
You always work on exactly one task. Each task has a description, a set of tests, and a point configuration. Tasks can be adapted per player — the host's project may generate an individual variant of the task for each of you, same difficulty, different specifics.
Finish a task's tests and you immediately get its completion bonus and the next task. There is no skipping: speed comes from actually solving things.
Probes: how your work is checked
While a task is active, ololo runs the task's tests against your working directory — these checks are called probes. Each probe:
- runs on your machine, in your working directory;
- has a deadline — answer too slowly and it counts as no response;
- scores points by outcome: pass, fail, or no response (see Points & Judges).
Probes start frequent and spread out over time on the same test, so an early solve is worth more than a late one. Every probe and its outcome is recorded — you can replay your whole timeline on the session dashboard afterwards.
Snapshots: your code is part of the game
Each completed task's work is committed as a git snapshot and pushed to the server. That history is what the AI judges read — and what the session report shows as per-task diffs. Play in a clean directory: work that predates the session is exactly what the anti-cheat judges look for.
Finishing
- You finish early: you get an "all your tasks are done" signal and stay in the session while others race on — your leaderboard position keeps updating as judges score your work.
- Time runs out mid-task: whatever you pushed still counts — your current task's snapshot is committed and its judges still review it.
- After the session ends your status moves from awaiting judges to completed as the judges finish with your work.