Apache Community Development - GSoC
Currently happening
Proposal Review
Google is sponsoring the
2026 Summer of Code
and
The Apache Software Foundation
(ASF) registered as a mentoring organization.
This page is your entry point to the ASF GSoC program.
Please watch this page for updates concerning our participation in 2026.
Mentors: read this
Navigate to the
mentor documentation
Students: read this
Learn
about GSoC
Decide if you are
eligible
for GSoC?
Review
Advice for Students
to make sure you really want to apply to GSoC.
Watch
GSoC video presentation
for students.
Examine the list of
available ASF GSoC 2026 projects
NOTE
that you can search the issue tracker for GSoC projects by
filtering using the “
gsoc2026
” label, this allows you to narrow down the list
to the projects you are interested in.
Or simply use this link
If you do not see any interesting projects from the proposed ideas, we encourage you to contact one of the Apache Project’s mailing list and propose a new idea. But these ideas have to be vetted on the project dev list. The ASF does not encourage and will not respond to your personal new open source project ideas which are unrelated to any Apache projects.
Applying for GSoC
Details are announced now and we are in the project discussion phase. We encourage you to discuss you application with the project community.
In order to apply we ask that you create
a list of deliverables, quantifiable results for the Apache community,
a detailed description / design document,
an approach,
an approximate schedule and
something of a background text.
We also need you to let us know what other commitments you
have for the period of GSoC, for example, do you have any exams or a part
time job? In other words - sell yourselves, as if this was an actual job.
In drawing up your proposal you should work with your chosen projects
community.
One of our evaluation criteria is that you have already engaged
with the community to ensure that you understand the needs of the project
and the commitment you need to make to your mentors.
Once open applications are made through the
GSoC site
Application template
This is just a suggested template, feel free to add and remove sections as appropriate. Be brief, don’t write a large essay!
About me
What relevant experience have you got, including university, work and hobby activities?
Background
What exists already? What is the identified need? What can you reuse, what needs to he replaced?
Example: Apache Foo has already got support for HTTP client requests, but this does not work well with OAuth-based services. The main interface for requests can be reused, but this project proposes to replace the backend code with a modular approach based on Apache Bar.
Design / description of work
Brief list of things you will do / create, in some rough chronological order.
Show which bits are essential, and which are optional. Highlight what is new, what are modifications, and how your work fits into the existing architecture.
Example:
Investigate REST client libraries
Develop JavaScript functions for browsing files (optional)
Integrate with Apache Foo’s request system (essential)
Results for the Apache community
Benefit of your work to Apache $Project users and developers. What will be the legacy of your work after you finish?
Deliverables
Including milestones, components, documentation, tests.
Scheduling
Not too detailed, but some milestones and checkpoints. Rough estimates per work item (weeks/days). Remember to leave time for slack and bugfixing!
Other commitments
Exams, part time work, holidays, lectures.
Community engagement
In particular with Apache $Project, including project mailing lists, wikis, issue trackers, test systems.
This should show a rough understanding of working with open source communities. You should be engaged with the rest of the community both before coding start (e.g. to develop this proposal) and during the project.
Include any planned user testing, prototypes, code review.
Contacting the ASF
The ASF is not just one project, it is a federation of projects, see the
lists at
and
. Each of our
projects has its own community of users, contributors and committers. GSoC
students will usually be interacting with just one of these communities.
Each of the proposed subjects (link to be provided if we are confirmed as a
mentoring organisation) applies to a single ASF project. You will need to
engage with that project community.
Please contact
dev@community.apache.org
if you have questions/difficulties.
ASF GSoC 2026 Timeline
Below is a timeline of events for The Apache Software Foundation’s
involvement in GSoC. Unless otherwise stated deadlines are 24:00 UTC on the
date indicated.
Student Application and Selection
2026-02-20: Potential GSoC contributors discuss application ideas with mentoring organizations
2026-03-16: GSoC contributor application period begins
2026-03-31: GSoC contributor application deadline
2026-04-01: Proposals to ASF projects must be reviewed roughly and have a potential mentor so that we know how
many slots to request. Proposals that don’t have a mentor at this point will be down-rated.
2026-04-20: Proposal scoring must be completed. Proposals without a score will be rejected, no exceptions.
2026-04-30: Accepted student proposals announced on the Google Summer of Code site.
GSoC is underway
2026-05-01: Community bonding start
2026-05-24: Community bonding end
2026-05-25: Coding start
2026-07-06: Mentors and GSoC contributors can begin submitting Phase 1 evaluations
2026-07-10: Phase 1 Evaluation deadline (standard coding period)
Wind down
2026-08-24: GSoC contributors submit their final work product and their final mentor evaluation (standard coding
period)
2026-08-24: ASF Mentors evaluations can be submitted
2026-08-31: ASF Mentors final evaluations deadline
Extended coding period
2026-08-24: GSoC contributors with extended timelines continue coding
2026-11-02: Final date for all GSoC contributors to submit their final work product and final evaluation
2026-11-09: Final date for mentors to submit evaluations for GSoC contributor projects with extended deadlines
Organization Vouching
The ASF currently has no policy establishing the criteria on what basis to vouch for another organization. Until one is established the ASF therefore doesn’t vouch for any organization.
Useful Links
Summer of Code home
Official Google Summer of Code 2026 Timeline, FAQs
GSoC discussion list
Python notes on expectations
#gsoc on Freenode