Bret Comnes

Professional software engineer experienced in full-stack product development, infrastructure, operations, platform engineering, and cloud architecture. Specialized in open-source tooling in JavaScript, TypeScript, and Go.

Socket Inc

Member of Technical Staff • May 2026 - Present

Tech lead of Developer Surfaces: Socket’s public customer-facing API, GitHub App, and integrations ecosystem.

Member of Technical Staff • Nov 2021 - Present

Developed Socket.dev’s GitHub App, a primary driver of sales and platform adoption and a contributing factor in a $20M Series A raise.
Business intelligence, data pipelines, and analysis.
Employee #5.

Littlstar → Rad.live

Principal Engineer • 2021

Designed and implemented an NFT minting and auction platform in approximately 10 weeks (Next.js/GraphQL).
See Littlstar portfolio for more information.

Senior Software Engineer • 2019 - 2021

Developed full IAC provisioning and deployment pipelines with Terraform and GitHub Actions targeting AWS.
Developed Little Core Labs’ peer-to-peer content delivery system.
Implemented a rebrand of Littlstar to Rad.live.
Redesigned and relaunched the product website using Next.js and SWR.
Designed and implemented an organizational microservice pattern.
Developed an organizational strategy for JWT authorization across microservices.

Hyperdivision Software Engineer • 2019 🇩🇰

Led development of Heimdall, a cryptographically secure, peer-to-peer ledger and proposal system for managing cryptographic assets in cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial technologies (Electron, Node.js, JavaScript).
Developed security-critical native and WebAssembly Node.js cryptography bindings (prebuildify, libsodium, wat2js).

Netlify

Platform Engineering • 2018 - 2019

Joined Netlify’s DevOps-focused platform team.
Maintained and developed Netlify’s CI build environment, built with Docker, Go, Jenkins, and Kubernetes.
Launched Netlify’s selectable build-image infrastructure and interface.
Developed and maintained Netlify’s OpenAPI Go client, and architected and rewrote the JavaScript client.
Performed 24-hour on-call duties.
Monitored and maintained the health of Netlify’s multi-cloud infrastructure using Humio and Datadog.
Scaled and deployed infrastructure with GitOps via Ansible, Bash, and Terraform.
See Netlify portfolio for more examples.

Product Engineering • 2017 - 2018

Planned, designed, implemented, tested, and iterated on new features for Netlify’s React-based web app.
Supported, maintained, tested, and released Netlify’s open-source JS and Go libraries.
Architected and built Netlify’s next-generation, extensible CLI.
See Netlify portfolio for more examples.

ZHealth Software Engineer • 2016 - 2017

Developed EtchCV, a structured documentation suite for cardiac surgeons and hospitals.
Designed and implemented APIs and microservices.
Developed cross-platform desktop software using Electron, HTML, CSS, and SVG, powered by React and Redux.
Implemented continuous Electron app delivery using Travis CI, AppVeyor, and S3/AWS.

Jaguar Land Rover OS & Application Engineering • 2015 - 2016

Developed mobile apps, infotainment systems, and OS software using JavaScript, Node.js, HTML, and CSS.
Targeted in-vehicle embedded systems, fully utilizing the onboard CAN bus.
Architected a single sign-on service and documentation server for internal documents and project planning using Express.js.

Portland State University

Office of Information Technology ARC HPC Operations & Python Development • 2013 - 2015

Developed web applications and performed systems programming with Python and Django.
Developed custom database monitoring tools that tracked MySQL and Postgres usage metrics.
Built, automated, and monitored PSU’s research servers, HPC Linux clusters, and colocated infrastructure.
Initiated efforts to automate cluster deployment and management using Ansible.
Introduced new users to ARC’s resources and shared Unix computing environments and trained them in their use.

PSU Physics Department Lab Instructor & TA+RA • 2012 - 2014

Wrote custom control software and a web application that enabled remote viewing and operation of a scanning electron microscope over the internet using React, WebSockets, and WebRTC.
Taught PSU’s general physics labs and assisted in the upper-division experimental physics labs.
Developed two novel labs on microcontrollers and FPGAs, covering topics ranging from basic concepts to advanced subjects such as PID control theory.
Taught introductory electronics and debugging skills to students.

Wiley Textbook Development Consultant • 2012

Developed interactive figures and demos for an interactive calculus textbook published by Wiley Publishing.

HSU Gravitational Research Laboratory Research Assistant • 2009 - 2011

Designed and machined custom experimental instruments and developed the lab’s data collection, automation, and analysis software to study the gravitational inverse-square law at submillimeter distance scales.

National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Arecibo Guest Researcher • 2009

Trained on and operated the world’s largest radio telescope at the time, and analyzed the collected data to search for previously undiscovered galaxies.

Education

Humboldt State University B.S. Physics 2011
Portland State University M.S. Applied Physics 2015 (completed coursework; degree not awarded)

Media

Socket - GitHub App Improvements 2022-07-26
JS Party – Episode #227: JS logging & error handling 2022-05-27
JS Party – Episode #219: Making moves on supply chain security 2022-03-24
Netlify Blog: A more flexible build architecture with updated Linux 2019-03-14
Netlify Blog: Fearless deploys for your lingering processes 2018-11-28
Netlify Blog: Netlify CLI 2.0 now in Beta 🎉 2018-09-10
Netlify Blog: Buy and secure a custom domain through Netlify 2018-06-19
Netlify Blog: Netlify now shows your deploy status on its favicon 2018-05-22
Netlify Blog: Introducing Site Dashboards 2017-08-22
Netlify Blog: Introducing Audit Log 2017-07-27

Community

Datcast Podcast (2018 - 2019)
PDX Node Meetup organizer (2015 - 2017)
Node School Organizer & Mentor (2016)
Code for Portland Organizer & Mentor • Open Civic Data Initiative (2014 - 2015)
WebRTC Camp Speaker (2013)
Indieweb Camp Organizer & Mentor (2012 - 2014)