// portfolio

Charlie Mottl

Full-stack developer. System builder. I make things that work — and occasionally things that are just fun to build.

Node.js Backend Arch PostgreSQL Docker ESP32 Eagle Scout
// about

Hey, I'm Charlie

I'm 20 and have been writing code since 2020 — which means I've spent the better part of my early years building things instead of sleeping. No regrets.

My home base is Node.js and backend systems, but I genuinely don't have a comfort zone. One week it's a distributed FFmpeg job pipeline, the next it's reverse-engineering a game with MelonLoader or wiring up an ESP32 to do something it probably wasn't meant to do.

I care about practical stuff that actually holds up — clean APIs, reliable infrastructure, tools people can actually use.

Outside of code, I'm an Eagle Scout — 8 years in Boy Scouts, the highest rank you can earn. I served as Patrol Leader and filled in as SPL, but honestly my favorite role was Troop Historian: the guy behind the camera, documenting everything. It taught me more about leadership, showing up, and seeing things through than anything else. Same mindset I bring to every project.

Based in Southern California. Open to collaborating on interesting problems.

// projects

Things I've built

Built a dark-mode business site for my dad's forklift business in North Tustin. Full contact system, mobile-responsive layout, and a staff console — it runs clean and looks the part.

HTML/CSS Node.js Dark Mode

Family Location Tracker

Real-time location sharing for my family — because "where are you?" gets old fast. Supports People and Places tracking, map visualization, flexible geofencing, and live updates. Built for reliability, not flashiness.

WebSockets Maps Geofencing

FFmpeg Distributed Job System

Encoding heavy video locally is slow and annoying. So I built a scalable job server that auto-discovers worker machines, distributes FFmpeg workloads via Docker, and uses symlink tricks to keep paths sane. It hums along quietly and gets the job done.

Docker FFmpeg Distributed

Manga Bot

A Discord music bot with support for YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify. Built on DisTube with a clean orange-themed brand. Simple, reliable, and it doesn't randomly drop the queue.

Discord.js DisTube Node.js

IMDb Search API

A custom PostgreSQL-backed API for searching the full IMDb dataset using just title.basics.tsv.gz. Optimized for fast lookups and designed to slot easily into any frontend — no fuss.

PostgreSQL API Full-text Search

Minecraft Plugins & Mods

Sometimes you just want to automate breaking blocks. I've built BlockBreaker, AutoFarm, and advanced action bar tier systems in both Skript and Java. On a completely different note, I also modded Schedule I using MelonLoader + IL2CPP reverse engineering — nothing to do with Minecraft, just another rabbit hole that was too interesting to ignore.

Java Skript MelonLoader IL2CPP
// stack

What I work with

Languages

  • JavaScript (Node.js, Bun)
  • Python (MicroPython)
  • Java
  • SQL

Backend

  • Express, WebSockets
  • PostgreSQL, SQLite, ChromaDB
  • API Design, PeerJS
  • Auth & Sessions

DevOps & Infra

  • Docker
  • WireGuard, pfSense
  • FFmpeg pipelines
  • Snapcast

Embedded & Other

  • ESP32, ESP8266
  • Frontend: HTML/CSS, plain JS
  • Discord bots
  • Reverse engineering
// experience

Work history

Feb 2026
Present

Industrial Shelving Specialist

Laborer

Hands-on installation and assembly of industrial shelving systems. A different kind of building — physical, precise, and satisfying in its own way.

2024
2025

Freelance Developer

Independent

Took on client projects independently — including Pine Ridge Apartments and other web builds. Full ownership from scoping to deployment.

Jan 2023
Sep 2024

Support Team Lead

CloudExis LLC

Led the support team at a hosting/tech company. Handled escalations, coordinated the team, and kept things running smoothly — all while still actively building on the side.

// contact

Let's talk

Got something you're building and want another set of eyes — or hands — on it? Feel free to reach out. I'm currently open to work — dev projects, freelance, or honestly anything worth doing. Good work is good work.

[email protected]