If you've ever done a timed C++ coding assessment on a platform like HackerRank or DevSkiller, you know the friction isn't really the algorithm — it's the loop. Download a zip with a weird filename, unzip it, hunt for the project root, configure CMake, build, run GTest, fix one failing test, repeat... and somewhere in there you've burned ten minutes of your one-hour window just fighting the harness instead of writing code.
These platforms' in-browser editors are fine for quick problems, but for anything involving multiple files (headers, sources, a real test suite), I'd rather work in my own terminal and editor. The catch is that you still have to get the project out of the browser sandbox, build it locally with the exact same toolchain (CMake + GTest), and then package it back up in a way the grader will accept.
So I wrote three small bash scripts to remove that friction entirely. Sharing them here in case they save someone else the same ten minutes.
The workflow
Download the project archive from the platform (zip or tar.gz, filename is whatever the platform gives you — often randomized)
