The Courier hackathon offers over $1K in prizes for building a cool project that integrates with the Courier API. The goal is to infiltrate an enemy Discord server, send encrypted messages to civilians, and alert them about the situation so they can escape. To achieve this, participants must create a Discord bot using Node.js and the Courier API, which will automate sending daily automated messages encrypted in Morse code. The bot will use the Morse API to translate English messages into Morse code, and then send these messages through the Courier API to reach the enemy server. Participants will also need to set up an automation that runs this process every day, using the Courier Automations API. By completing this challenge, participants can win prizes such as $1000 in cash and a Keychron Keyboard, and have their project showcased on the Courier website.