Syntax YouTube Swag Giveaways — Official Rules

Last updated: November 3, 2026

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

THIS PROMOTION IS IN NO WAY SPONSORED, ENDORSED, ADMINISTERED BY, OR ASSOCIATED WITH YOUTUBE OR GOOGLE LLC. By entering, you release YouTube and Google LLC from any and all liability in connection with this promotion. Questions, comments, or complaints about a Giveaway must go to the Sponsor, not to YouTube.

The Sponsor is Functional Software, Inc. ("Sentry" or "Sponsor"), 45 Fremont Street, 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States. Contact: [email protected] or +1 855-380-4526.

2. Agreement to these Rules

These Official Rules ("Rules") apply to each skill-based giveaway or contest Sponsor announces in a video, livestream, Short, or community post on the official Syntax YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/@syntaxfm, and any Comment Pick on that channel, announced or not (each a "Giveaway"). By entering, you agree to these Rules and to the Sponsor's decisions, which are final and binding on all matters relating to a Giveaway. If the announcement for a particular Giveaway conflicts with these Rules, these Rules control unless the announcement expressly gives more favorable terms to entrants.

You must also comply with the YouTube Terms of Service and the YouTube Community Guidelines. Any entry that violates the YouTube Community Guidelines or Terms of Service will be disqualified.

3. Eligibility

To enter, you must:

reside in a country or territory where participation is lawful and to which Sponsor's fulfillment partner can lawfully and readily ship the prize, and not reside in an Excluded Location (below);
be at least eighteen (18) years old, or the age of majority where you live, whichever is older, when you enter;
have a valid YouTube account in good standing; and
not be located in, ordinarily resident in, or a national of a country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, and not appear on any U.S. government restricted-party list (including the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List).

Excluded Locations. Residents of the Province of Quebec (Canada), Italy, Brazil, and any country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions are not eligible. Sponsor may also exclude any other country or territory, for any Giveaway, where shipping is impractical, unreliable, or unreasonably costly, or where local law imposes registration, filing, or similar requirements. If an Excluded Location is added, it will be listed on this page or in the Giveaway announcement. If a potential winner turns out to be in an Excluded Location, that person is ineligible and the prize goes to the next eligible Entry.

Employees, officers, directors, contractors, and agents of Sponsor, its affiliates (including Syntax), and Micromerch are not eligible to win. Neither are members of their immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling, and their respective spouses) or people living in their households. A Giveaway is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

4. Giveaway Period

Most Giveaways happen on the spot, without notice. A Giveaway that is announced ahead of time runs from the announcement until the end time stated in it (the "Giveaway Period"). If no end time is stated, or the Giveaway happens on the spot:

for a livestream Giveaway, the Giveaway Period ends when the host says entries are closed, or when the livestream ends, whichever comes first; and
for a Giveaway in a recorded video or community post, the Giveaway Period ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the seventh (7th) day after the video or post is published.

A Comment Pick doesn't need an announcement. We may pick any comment posted on a Syntax video or livestream within thirty (30) days after it was posted.

Sponsor's clock, together with the timestamps YouTube records, is the official timekeeper for every Giveaway.

5. How to Enter

Entry is free. Every Giveaway uses one of the formats below. To enter, post a comment (or a live-chat message, for livestreams) on a Syntax video or livestream (an "Entry"). If a Giveaway is announced or the host gives instructions, follow them and enter during the Giveaway Period.

Format	What you do	How the winner is decided
Comment Pick	Leave a comment. Sometimes there's a prompt from the host; often there isn't.	Picked by the Syntax team (Section 6)
Trivia	Answer the trivia question asked by the host	Correct answers, judged under Section 6
First Correct Answer	Be the first to post the correct answer (e.g., a number, a word, or a solution)	The first correct Entry received, by YouTube timestamp

Entry limits. For Trivia and First Correct Answer, each person gets one (1) Entry per Giveaway from one (1) YouTube account. Only your first answer counts. Edited answers, later answers, and answers from multiple or shared accounts may be disqualified. For Comment Pick, just comment normally. Posting more comments won't improve your chances, and repetitive or spammy comments won't be picked.

What is not required. You do not need to like, subscribe, share, follow, or post more than once to enter or win. Doing those things will not improve your chances. Sponsor will never ask for payment, passwords, or financial information.

Invalid Entries. An Entry is void if it:

is posted outside the Giveaway Period, or not on a Syntax video or livestream;
violates the YouTube Community Guidelines or Terms of Service;
is spam, repetitive, automated, or submitted with a bot, script, or other automated means;
is obscene, defamatory, discriminatory, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, in Sponsor's reasonable discretion;
contains another person's personal information, or content you don't have the right to post; or
is removed by YouTube or held for review and not visible to Sponsor before the Giveaway Period ends.

Sponsor is not responsible for Entries lost to YouTube spam filtering, moderation, live-chat delays, or technical failures.

Your Entry content. You keep ownership of your Entry. By entering, you give Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, quote, and read your Entry and YouTube display name on Sponsor's YouTube channel and social media for purposes related to the Giveaway.

6. How Winners Are Picked

Winners are picked by the Syntax team (the "Judges"). We never pick winners at random.

Comment Pick: We pick comments we like, for whatever reason they stand out. It might be a useful tip or correction, kindness toward another community member, something that made us laugh, or just a great comment. There's no scoring formula. Picks are up to the Judges, can happen on any video or livestream, and may happen often, rarely, or never. Most comments and most videos won't have a winner.
Trivia: The first correct answer wins, unless the host says otherwise.
First Correct Answer: The first correct answer wins, based on YouTube's timestamp. The Judges decide what counts as correct.

The host may say how many winners there will be. If not, there's one (or, for Comment Pick, as many or as few as we like). The Judges' decisions are final.

A person may win no more than one (1) prize per thirty (30) day period across all Giveaways.

7. Prizes

Each prize is Syntax- or Sentry-branded merchandise (for example, a hat, t-shirt, can cooler, or keycaps), as described by the host or in the announcement, if there is one. The approximate retail value ("ARV") of any single prize will not exceed fifty U.S. dollars ($50 USD). The ARV of any prize is available on request.

Prizes are awarded "as is," with no warranty, and sizes, colors, and styles depend on availability. Prizes cannot be transferred, assigned, or exchanged for cash. Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater ARV if the announced prize is unavailable. Prizes are fulfilled and shipped by Sponsor's merchandise partner, Micromerch. Sponsor covers standard shipping to the winner's address in an eligible country. Winners are responsible for any customs duties, import VAT or GST, and other taxes or fees their country charges on the prize. If a winner refuses or doesn't pay those charges, or customs holds or rejects the shipment, the prize is forfeited and Sponsor has no further obligation.

8. Winner Notification and Prize Claim

How we contact you. A potential winner may be announced on the livestream or video. Sponsor also posts a reply to the winning comment from the official Syntax channel only. That reply tells you to email [email protected] to verify that you own the winning account. Attach a screenshot of your YouTube account dashboard (such as YouTube Studio) taken while you're logged in, with your channel name and handle visible. You may blur any other personal information in the screenshot.

Beware of impostors. Syntax and Sentry will never contact you first through a direct message, a different YouTube account, Telegram, WhatsApp, or any other app. We will never ask for payment, a shipping fee, passwords, or financial information. Report impersonators to YouTube.

Claiming your prize. To claim, the potential winner must, within seven (7) days of the announcement:

email Sponsor as instructed;
provide a shipping name, address, email address, and (if the carrier requires it) phone number; and
if requested, confirm eligibility and sign a short declaration of eligibility and release.

If a potential winner doesn't respond in time, can't be verified, is ineligible, or doesn't comply with these Rules, that person forfeits the prize. Sponsor may then award it to another eligible Entry (the next correct Entry, for Trivia and First Correct Answer) or decline to award it. Sponsor will try to ship prizes within six (6) weeks of verification and is not responsible for lost, stolen, or delayed shipments once a prize has been handed to the carrier.

9. Publicity

Unless prohibited by law, winners agree that Sponsor may announce their YouTube display name and read or display their winning Entry on Sponsor's channels, without further compensation. Sponsor won't publish a winner's real name, address, or contact details without separate consent.

10. Privacy

Sponsor collects the personal information a winner provides (name, shipping address, email, phone if needed, and the account-verification screenshot) only to verify eligibility, ship the prize, and keep records required by law. We process it to administer the Giveaway you entered and to comply with legal obligations. Sponsor shares it only with service providers that help fulfill prizes, namely Micromerch (our merchandise fulfillment partner) and its shipping carriers. Sponsor does not use Giveaway information for marketing unless you separately opt in. Sponsor is based in the United States. If you live elsewhere, including the UK, the EEA, or India, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States. It will also go to any other country where Micromerch or its carriers handle your shipment, as needed to deliver your prize. Sponsor deletes winner contact details within twelve (12) months of the Giveaway, unless law requires a longer period. Otherwise, information is handled under Sentry's Privacy Policy at sentry.io/privacy. Public comments are also subject to the Google Privacy Policy. You may have rights under local law to access, correct, or delete your information. To use them, contact [email protected].

11. Releases and Limitation of Liability

By entering, you agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Sponsor, its parents, affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (the "Released Parties"), and YouTube and Google LLC, from any claims, losses, or damages arising from your participation in a Giveaway or from accepting, using, or misusing a prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for: (a) technical failures of YouTube, networks, or devices; (b) comments or chat messages that are delayed, filtered, hidden, or removed by YouTube; (c) human or technical errors in announcing or administering a Giveaway; or (d) lost, late, or misdirected prize shipments. To the extent permitted by law, the Released Parties' total liability is limited to the ARV of the prize at issue.

12. Sponsor's Rights

Sponsor may disqualify any person who tampers with a Giveaway, acts in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive way, harasses others, uses multiple accounts, or violates these Rules, the YouTube Terms of Service, or the Community Guidelines. Sponsor will remove the Entries of any such person. If fraud, technical problems, or other causes beyond Sponsor's control impair a Giveaway's integrity, Sponsor may cancel, suspend, or modify it, and may award prizes from the eligible Entries received before the problem began. Any changes will be posted on this page.

13. Disputes and Governing Law

These Rules are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute will be resolved individually, without resort to any class action, exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California. Nothing in these Rules limits rights you have under the mandatory consumer-protection laws of your place of residence.