Matt Parker / Case studies

Real problems.
Shipped answers.

Six pieces of public work, each told the same way: the problem, what I built, and what changed. The figures come from GitHub when this page is built, and every line of source is open.

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The studies

The problem, the build,
and what changed.

None of the figures here were typed in. Stars, downloads and release dates come from the same GitHub data that drives the rest of this site, and each study ends with the limit you'd find on your own.

01 Android / privacy

The Hush patch bundles

Java, Kotlin, the Morphe patcher, Gradle, a userscript for the web app

GitHub stars
1,201
Release downloads
155,988
Latest release
HushThreads v0.0.16
Source on GitHub Every Hush release

The problem

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and their siblings fill the feed with ads and suggested posts, and none of the apps has a setting that turns them off. The usual answers are a custom ROM or a modified APK from a stranger, and neither is something most people should install.

What I built

Patch bundles for the Morphe patcher. You bring the official APK, the patcher rewrites the app's own bytecode on your phone, and the result is the same app with a settings screen of its own: sponsored and suggested posts gone, analytics uploads stopped, and shared links stripped of their tracking tags. Each bundle pins one app version and ships with plain-language release notes. I walk every release through on real phones and an emulator before I tag it. Eight Android apps and the Facebook website so far.

What changed

People found them without any marketing. The three biggest bundles are the most starred repositories I have, the release downloads run well into six figures, and the issue trackers are where users and I work out what the next release carries.

The honest part. Every bundle is tied to one app version, so each app update means another release, and a patch can stop working when the app changes underneath it. The trackers show that work in the open, including the reports I haven't got to yet.

  • Java and Kotlin bytecode patching
  • Release engineering across nine repositories
  • Testing on phones and emulators
  • Public issue triage and support writing

02 Windows / storage

win11-nvme-driver-patcher

C#, .NET 10, WPF, a command line, an MSI for managed deployment

GitHub stars
82
Source on GitHub

The problem

Windows Server 2025 ships a newer NVMe driver path than Windows 11, and it's present but switched off on the client build. Enabling it by hand means registry work, a reboot, and no clean way back if the machine doesn't like it.

What I built

A desktop app and a matching command line that enable the Server 2025 NVMe driver on Windows 11. It elevates itself, logs every step, and ships with a tray helper and a watchdog build. An MSI installs the whole set per machine under Program Files for fleets that deploy through management tooling, and ARM64 builds exist as diagnostic builds until Microsoft ships the driver for that platform.

What changed

It is the most starred Windows-only project in my catalog. The README opens with a warning about where the gains show up, and the app carries a DiskSpd benchmark so people can measure their own drive before and after.

The honest part. The measured gains show up at high queue depths, the kind of load servers and heavy parallel I/O create. Ordinary desktop use may see little or no change, and the README says so before the download link.

  • Windows driver and registry internals
  • Making a risky change reversible and logged
  • Installer packaging for managed fleets

03 Windows / desktop

UniversalConverterX

C# and Python, a WinUI 3 shell, a loopback REST API, a PowerShell module

GitHub stars
10
Source on GitHub

The problem

Converting a file usually means uploading it to someone's website or keeping a dozen single-purpose tools around, each with its own quirks and its own idea of a preset.

What I built

A native Windows converter with thirteen built-in converter backends and a catalog of 212 adapters for outside engines, behind 465 reviewed presets. The desktop app, the command line, a loopback REST API and a PowerShell module all read the same engine catalog, so a format added once is available everywhere. Optional tools report their real readiness before a job starts, so a missing runtime shows up as a message instead of a vague failure.

What changed

Media, documents, archives, subtitles, fonts, ebooks, OCR and image enhancement in one window, and nothing leaves the PC. It's the tool I reach for first on my own machines.

The honest part. It's Windows only, and the outside engines are separate installs the app detects rather than bundles, so a fresh machine needs a few of them before every preset works.

  • Windows desktop development
  • One catalog behind a GUI, a CLI and an API
  • Readiness checks instead of silent failure

04 Security / PowerShell

Network Security Auditor

PowerShell 5.1, with a .NET 10 and WPF rewrite in progress

GitHub stars
10
Source on GitHub

The problem

Small IT teams get asked for a security posture report and have nothing between a free port scanner and an enterprise platform. The audit has to run with the access they already have, on machines where they can't install an agent.

What I built

A single-file PowerShell 5.1 tool with 74 automated checks mapped to 11 compliance frameworks and to MITRE ATT&CK and D3FEND. It runs headless from an RMM tool, writes multi-tier reports so a technician and an auditor read the same file, and exports SIEM content packs, CMMC self-assessments and OSCAL POA&M remediation plans. A C# rewrite with a WPF interface builds and is test-covered alongside it.

What changed

A technician can hand an auditor a report from a machine they already manage, without a platform purchase. This is the kind of tool I built because the practices I supported kept asking for it.

The honest part. The PowerShell script is still the production path. The rewrite is real and builds, but it hasn't replaced the script for every workflow yet, and the README is clear about which one to run.

  • PowerShell at scale
  • Security frameworks and ATT&CK mapping
  • Reports written for two audiences at once

05 Video / Python

OpenCut for Premiere Pro

Python, a local HTTP service, a Premiere Pro panel

GitHub stars
64
Source on GitHub

The problem

Caption generation, audio cleanup and effects for Premiere Pro mostly live in cloud services now. For many editors that means a subscription with a usage cap, and uploading footage they'd rather keep on their own drive.

What I built

A local service that Premiere talks to: transcription and captions, loudness and noise work, visual effects and social export for several platforms. The core local features need no subscription or API key, and there is no usage cap. The shipped route manifest counts 1,564 routes, each tagged as implemented, dependency-gated or a stub, and the suite runs over 14,500 tests.

What changed

An editor gets the cloud-tool feature set on their own machine, and the route manifest means the README can say exactly what works instead of what is planned.

The honest part. Cloud providers, downloads, telemetry and social uploads exist as optional, explicit network features. The core runs offline, but the project is large, and large projects carry stubs. The manifest labels each one.

  • Python services and media processing
  • Test discipline on a large codebase
  • A feature inventory that labels its stubs

06 Android / automation

OpenTasker

Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Room with SQLCipher, Android Keystore

GitHub stars
167
Source on GitHub

The problem

Tasker is the standard for phone automation and it's closed source. People who automate their phone around their location, their health data and their messages want to read the code that runs it.

What I built

An open-source automation engine for Android: profiles, contexts and tasks with 78 built-in actions, seven context families and engine-level flow control. The automation database is encrypted at rest with SQLCipher behind a Keystore-wrapped key, existing plaintext databases migrate once, and a wrong key fails closed. A task or profile can be previewed before it runs, with every branch decision, expanded input and blocker shown first.

What changed

A Tasker alternative people can audit, and the most starred Kotlin project in my catalog. The preflight review is the part I would show first. You see what an automation will do before it does it.

The honest part. It isn't a drop-in replacement. Plugins written for Tasker's condition protocol work, but someone moving a large Tasker setup still rebuilds it by hand.

  • Kotlin and Jetpack Compose
  • Encrypted storage design
  • Automation engine architecture

Work I can't show

The day job
stays private.

I support medical imaging systems for a living: PACS deployments, DICOM routing, hosted-service migrations, and the call when a clinic's workstation won't image before the doors open. That work belongs to the practices and vendors involved, and so does the managed-services and broadcast work before it. None of it appears here, and no customer data ever touches this site.

The Experience page describes that work in general terms, the resume puts dates on it, and I'm glad to walk through specifics in a conversation.

Experience Resume

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