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Contestant Guideline

This guide explains the core contestant workflow in FCTF:

  • Solving challenges
  • Managing running instances
  • Creating and tracking support tickets
Audience

This page is written for contestants and team captains during live competition.

Part 1: Challenge Workflow​

Step 1. Sign In​

  1. Open the Contestant Portal URL provided by the organizer.
  2. Sign in with your assigned username and password.
  3. Confirm your team context after login (top-right profile area).

Step 2. Choose a Challenge​

  1. Open Challenges from the top navigation.
  2. Select a category (for example Web or Pwn).
  3. Select a challenge to open its detail panel.

Contestant challenge detail screen

Step 3. Start (Deploy) a Challenge Instance​

For deploy-required challenges, click [+] Start Challenge.

Important information shown in challenge detail:

  • pts: challenge point value
  • Time: countdown time limit after instance is ready
  • Attempts: maximum allowed flag submissions
  • Deploys: current deploy count over max deploy count (for example 0/1)

[ATTACHMENTS] contains downloadable challenge files. PDF statements are shown directly in the built-in viewer.

Step 4. Access the Challenge Runtime​

After deployment succeeds, the portal shows [YOUR ACCESS TOKEN] and protocol-specific access information.

Challenge pending deploy state

Challenge running state with token

Challenge ready notification popup

4a) Access by HTTP​

Use the format:

http://<gateway-host>:<http-port>?fctftoken=<YOUR_TOKEN>

Example challenge target (web):

Access challenge via HTTP

4b) Access by TCP (if protocol is TCP)​

Use terminal access:

nc <gateway-host> <tcp-port>

When prompted, enter your token to authenticate.

Step 5. Submit Flag​

  1. Enter your flag in [SUBMIT FLAG].
  2. Click [SUBMIT].
  3. Review verdict and continue:
  • correct: score awarded
  • incorrect: attempts reduced and cooldown may apply
  • already_solved: no additional score
  • ratelimited: wait and retry later

Part 2: Manage Instances​

Open Instances from the top navigation.

Contestant instances page

The table shows challenge instances in statuses such as:

  • Pending
  • Running
  • Deleting or terminal cleanup states

Main actions:

  • [GO]: open challenge detail directly
  • [STOP]: stop the running instance (confirmation required)
  • [REFRESH]: reload current instance status from server

Part 3: Ticket Support (CRUD)​

Step 1. View Ticket List​

Open Tickets from navigation.

Contestant ticket list

The ticket list includes:

  • ID
  • Title
  • Type (Question, Error, Inform)
  • Date
  • Status (Open or Closed)

Step 2. Create a Ticket​

Click + NEW TICKET and complete:

  • Title: short and specific issue summary
  • Type: issue category
  • Description: detailed problem context

Create ticket modal

Step 3. View Ticket Detail and Replies​

From the list, click VIEW on a ticket row.

In detail view, contestants can review:

  • Original title and description
  • Ticket status
  • Organizer reply (if available)

Step 4. Delete Ticket​

Contestants can delete only eligible open tickets.

Safety rule:

  • Tickets that are closed or already answered by organizers cannot be deleted.

Quick Best Practices​

  1. Stop unused instances to free resources.
  2. Keep ticket descriptions reproducible and concise.
  3. Track cooldown and attempts before repeated submissions.
  4. Use action logs as evidence when reporting runtime issues.