OpenAI 2026 hackathon

DDAG — Dynamic Database API Gateway

Turn PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server into secure, governed REST APIs in minutes—with OAuth2, RBAC, caching, audit trails, observability, and automatic OpenAPI documentation.

Solo project by Heri Riski A · 0 likes · 0 comments

Archive position — measured, not model output

0 likes on Devpost

2,264 of the 7,856 archived projects have more likes, and 5,592 share exactly 0 — so this project's #3,656 place in the like-ranked listing is a tie-break inside that group, not a ranking.

Projects (log scale)

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Likes on Devpost. ▲ marks this project's group.

Show the figures
LikesProjectsShare of archive
05,59271.2%
11,75822.4%
22853.6%
3–41321.7%
5–9751.0%
10+140.2%
Devpost like counts for all 7,856 archived projects, captured when this archive was built.

Executive Summary

What the company appears to be

DDAG — Dynamic Database API Gateway — is a self-hosted platform that allows administrators to expose database operations as secure REST APIs without building dedicated backend services for each endpoint. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Oracle, and SQL Server through a shared connector architecture.

What changed

The project was submitted as part of the OpenAI 2026 hackathon on Devpost. The author describes it as a tool that reduces engineering overhead by centralizing API creation, security, observability, and governance around database access.

Single most important open question

Is there any evidence of real-world usage or traction beyond the hackathon submission?

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What The Product Actually Is

The description states that DDAG is a self-hosted database API gateway. It turns parameterized SQL into managed REST APIs, with support for:

  • OAuth2 and JWT validation
  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Query timeouts, row limits, and safe parameter binding
  • Caching and connection pooling
  • Audit trails and Prometheus metrics
  • Automatic OpenAPI documentation generation

It supports PostgreSQL as its primary database and uses a shared connector architecture for MySQL/MariaDB, Oracle, and SQL Server.

Inference The product appears to be a middleware or gateway that abstracts database interactions into HTTP endpoints while enforcing access control and operational policies. It is not a database itself but a tool for publishing database operations as APIs.

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Positioning & Claim Evolution

The author positions DDAG as a solution to the problem of repeated engineering work when exposing databases via APIs. The claim evolution shows:

  • Initial framing: Teams often build separate backend services for each database endpoint.
  • Problem identification: This leads to scattered credentials, policies, and audit records.
  • Solution proposition: A single platform that governs database API publishing without requiring new backend code.
  • Value proposition: Consistent, governed way to publish database operations as secure APIs.

Inference The positioning suggests DDAG is aimed at internal teams or developers who need to quickly expose database data for automation, reporting, or partner access — not end-users or public-facing APIs.

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Target Customer & ICP

The description states that DDAG targets teams needing to expose database data to:

  • Internal applications
  • Automation tools
  • Partners
  • Reporting systems

It is described as a tool for administrators who define database connections, SQL templates, and access policies.

Inference The primary customer segment likely includes DevOps engineers, platform engineers, or internal developers working in organizations with complex database infrastructures. The ICP seems to be teams that want to reduce API development overhead while maintaining governance.

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Business Model & Pricing Evidence

There is no evidence of pricing, licensing, or monetization strategy in the description.

Not evidenced.

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Technical & Delivery Signals

The project is built using:

  • Backend: Go
  • Frontend: Vue 3 + Vite
  • Database: PostgreSQL (for metadata), Redis (caching/runtime coordination)
  • Deployment: Docker Compose, containerized for server environments
  • Technology stack includes: OAuth2, JWT, gRPC, Kubernetes, OpenAPI/Swagger, Prometheus

It supports multiple SQL dialects via a shared connector architecture and implements:

  • Control-plane and data-plane separation
  • Safe parameter binding
  • Caching logic based on operation type
  • Structured logging and request correlation
  • Audit trails and metrics collection

Inference The technical design shows an emphasis on modularity, security, and observability. The use of Go and containerization suggests a focus on performance and deployment flexibility.

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Traction & Maturity Signals

There is no evidence of revenue, customers, or adoption beyond the hackathon submission.

Not evidenced.

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Competitive Context

The description does not mention competitors directly. However, based on its functionality — turning databases into secure APIs with governance — it likely competes with:

  • API gateways (e.g., Kong, Apigee)
  • Database abstraction layers or middleware
  • Internal developer platforms that provide API scaffolding

It also overlaps conceptually with tools like PostgREST or Hasura, which also expose databases as REST APIs.

Inference DDAG appears to be a niche solution focused on self-hosted, governed access to SQL databases. Its competitive edge may lie in its multi-database support and fine-grained policy enforcement.

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Key Risks & Red Flags

  • No traction or revenue evidence: The project is only described as a hackathon submission.
  • Limited scope: Only one team member (Heri Riski A) is listed, raising questions about scalability or long-term maintenance.
  • Self-hosted model: May limit adoption in enterprise settings where managed services are preferred.
  • Security complexity: Implementing RBAC, JWT validation, audit trails, and rate limiting across multiple databases adds risk of misconfiguration or vulnerabilities.
  • Lack of testing for other DBs: While MySQL/Oracle support is mentioned, live integration testing is listed as a future priority — suggesting early-stage maturity.

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Diligence Questions To Ask The Founders

  1. What is the current status of MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server connector implementations?
  2. How does DDAG handle schema changes or migration in the underlying databases?
  3. Are there any plans for managed cloud offerings or SaaS versions?
  4. Has the team considered integrating with existing identity providers (e.g., Okta, Auth0)?
  5. What are the performance benchmarks for typical query loads?
  6. How is data encryption handled at rest and in transit?
  7. Is there a roadmap for supporting non-SQL databases (e.g., NoSQL)?

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Investment/Partnership Verdict

Not evidenced.

The project description indicates that DDAG is a hackathon submission with no verified traction, revenue, or customer base. It describes a technical solution to a known problem but lacks any evidence of commercial viability or market validation.

Given the lack of data on usage, funding, or product-market fit, there is insufficient basis for an investment or partnership decision at this stage.

Confidence level Low — based entirely on self-reported information with no external corroboration.

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Source

Submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon on Devpost. Project home on DevPost.

The analysis above was generated by a language model from the project's own one-line description. It is not independent research and contains no verified traction, revenue or customer data.