← Blog · updated Sep 16, 2026
Sniper mode: hunt fresh bounties before the competition shows up
SNIPER tags issues with a confirmed bounty that's under 48 hours old and has 0-1 competing pull requests. It carries a +20 scoring bonus and triggers priority alerts, because a bounty this fresh is the closest thing to a guaranteed shot you'll find.
Why freshness beats everything else
A $200 bounty posted 2 hours ago with zero competing PRs and the same $200 bounty from 5 days ago with 8 people already attempting it are not the same opportunity, even though the payout is identical. Competition accumulates fast on anything visible in a public search — sniper mode exists specifically to catch a bounty in that narrow window before it does.
How the scoring bonus works
Sniper status adds +20 points on top of the base signals every bounty gets scored on (confirmed marker, dollar tier). That's usually enough by itself to push a fresh, low-competition bounty into WORK territory (70+) even before factoring in anything else about the issue.
How fast do alerts actually fire?
On the next hourly scan after a bounty crosses the sniper threshold — not the instant it's posted, but still far ahead of manually refreshing GitHub search every few minutes across five platforms.
FAQ
What exactly counts as sniper? Under 48h old, 0-1 competing PRs, confirmed bounty. All three together, not just one.
How big is the scoring bonus? +20 points, usually enough on its own to reach WORK.
Is the alert instant? No — next hourly scan cycle, so under an hour's delay in the worst case.
Try the radar at /app/See also: How to find profitable GitHub bounties · Best GitHub bounty finder tools