01. The Challenge

Cobra Firing Systems builds the wireless pyrotechnic firing hardware used by professional firework display companies worldwide. The web platform Cobra Show Creator and Cobra Show Operator is how operators script shows, sync them to music, and control firing modules in real time during live events.

That use case has unforgiving constraints: scripts must export with millisecond accuracy, the UI has to stay responsive when handling thousands of cues, operators often work in remote field locations with no internet, and the Operator app needs to maintain a stable WebSocket connection to the desktop controller application during a live show where any lag or dropped event has real world consequences.

The legacy frontend wasn't built for any of that. It needed to be rebuilt without breaking the workflows of an active customer base running live shows.

02. The Solution

I joined the team to help rebuild the platform on a modern foundation and ship the features that this kind of operational control software actually requires.

Specific parts I worked on:

• Migrated the legacy frontend to a Vue 3 application with proper component testing (Vitest), making the codebase maintainable enough to ship features weekly instead of quarterly

• Built the Cobra Show Operator UI from the ground up, including real time monitoring of script firing and connected hardware modules over WebSocket to the desktop controller

• Implemented millisecond accurate time synchronization between the desktop application and the UI, so operators can plan and execute precisely timed pyromusical sequences

• Built offline first persistence using IndexedDB with sync on reconnect, so operators don't lose work in the field when the network drops

• Architected the RMA system that the operations team uses to manage customer return claims

• Designed and built features like the audio player, automated script generation, and waveform based event editing

Stack: Vue 3, TypeScript, Node.js, WebSockets, IndexedDB, Vitest.

03. The Result

• Improved Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP) by ~80% through frontend rendering and resource optimization, on a product where UI responsiveness directly impacts whether operators can run a show safely

• The platform is now the pyrotech industry's most used show control software used daily by professional firework display companies worldwide

• 3+ years on the team and counting