Solving puzzles

Pull a puzzle into a local directory, solve it in your own editor, run its tests without touching the network, and submit when you're happy.

The loop

cg puzzle import ./puzzle temperatures    # pull it down; becomes the active puzzle
$EDITOR "$(cg puzzle where)/data/solution.py"  # solve it
cg puzzle play                            # run every test case, locally
cg puzzle submit                          # graded submission

That's the whole thing. The rest of this page is what to do when it isn't that simple.

Importing

cg puzzle import ./puzzle temperatures
cg puzzle import ./puzzle 10075
cg puzzle import ./puzzle "Temperatures"

The target directory comes first and is required, matching cg contribution import and cg contribution create. PUZZLE is then resolved in order of preference: numeric puzzle ID, exact pretty ID, exact title, case-insensitive title. If you've attempted the puzzle before, your existing saved answer is imported in whatever language you last used; otherwise you get a placeholder in --language (default Python3).

Importing also makes that directory the active puzzle, so everything afterwards finds it without --puzzle-dir — see active working directories.

cg puzzle where           # prints just the resolved path -- built for $(...)
cg puzzle description     # the problem statement, rendered, no network needed

where writes nothing but the path to stdout, so it composes:

$EDITOR "$(cg puzzle where)/data/solution.py"
cd "$(cg puzzle where)"

It exits non-zero if no working directory can be found, rather than printing prose a shell would happily substitute into a path.

Running tests

cg puzzle play            # every downloaded test case, entirely locally
cg puzzle play 3          # just test 3
cg puzzle play 1 2 5      # a few
cg puzzle play --show-stdout

play never touches the network. Output is compared exactly as CodinGame compares it, so a pass here means a pass there — see output comparison. Captured stdout is only printed for failures unless you ask for it.

There's also a server-side equivalent:

cg puzzle play-server     # the IDE's "Test" button

This durably saves your code on the server, as a side effect of running. It's not a submission and it isn't graded, but it does overwrite what CodinGame has stored for this puzzle and language. Prefer cg puzzle play unless you specifically need the server's own runner.

Submitting

cg puzzle submit

A real, permanent, graded submission, validated against the puzzle's hidden validator test cases. There's no undo. For a puzzle with many heavy validators this can take a while — the server runs your code once per validator.

Switching language

cg puzzle set-language C++

CodinGame keeps your latest source per language, so this restores your previous C++ work if you had any. It refuses if data/solution.<ext> holds edits the server doesn't have; submit them first or pass --force. See languages.

When local and server disagree

cg puzzle status            # local summary; no network
cg puzzle status --refresh  # also check against the server, and fetch live progress/score
cg puzzle diff              # unified diff, local vs the server's last-submitted answer
cg puzzle discard-local     # throw local edits away, take the server's copy

There is no merge machinery here, deliberately — a puzzle has exactly one editable file, so there's nothing three-way to resolve. Look at the diff, then keep one side or the other.

Recovering

cg puzzle repair

Rebuilds .meta/ — the test-session handle, downloaded test cases, cached statement — from puzzle.json, without touching data/. Use it after a fresh clone (.meta/ is gitignored) or if anything in the cache looks wrong. Deleting .meta/ and repairing is always safe.

cg puzzle activate ./other-puzzle   # switch which one commands act on
cg puzzle activate                  # ...or activate the current directory
cg puzzle deactivate                # back to the configured default
cg puzzle delete

delete removes the local directory only, and deactivates it if it was active. There's no server-side counterpart — the puzzle exists independently of you and isn't yours to remove. Prompts unless --force.

Full reference

Every flag of every command: cg puzzle reference.