Isaac
Contact

Isaac Dolphin. I create products,
and occasionally
documentation.

(don't get too used to the latter.)

Full-stack TypeScript engineer at Raytheon UK who keeps writing software in the evenings, too. Currently working on Volken (early-stage MCP infrastructure), blitzing through Union (an operations system for a local non-profit), and learning from the mistakes of Cograph. Just left Staffordshire with a 1st. Looking to start something of my own, and the right people to do it with.

Isaac, half-smile, hand on chin.
MeSpring 2026Jazz Bar, Cheltenham
Travel, Chania
TravelAutumn 2025Chania, Crete
Two black cats on a bed.
CatsWinter 2026Olive and Ivy

On the bench

3 projects

  1. #1
    2026
    Early development

    Volken

    An MCP-based deployment layer for enterprise AI tooling. Two commands take an MCP server from local to a production endpoint, with auth, secrets, observability, and auto-stop compute. Detects the runtime (TypeScript, Python, Go), writes the deploy config, and puts the server behind an MCP-aware gateway. For developers who'd rather ship a tool than spend a week becoming a platform engineer to host one.

    TypeScript · Next.js · Hono · MCP · Fly.io · PostgreSQL (Neon) · Docker · GitHub Actions · Redis · Inngest

    Read the case study
    A page of working notes for the Volken project.
    NotesApr 2026Current concept, week four
  2. #2
    2025
    Open source

    Cograph

    A code-analysis tool that uses agentic AI to write its own documentation. Walks a codebase, infers module relationships with a small agent loop, and renders a living document where the dependency graph is the index page and clicking a node lands you on the source. The agent only comments on structure the parser already proved is there. Fewer hallucinations, more truth. Public on GitHub.

    TypeScript · NestJS · Next.js · Claude API · Neo4j · PostgreSQL · MCP · GraphQL (Apollo)

    Read the case study
    Early sketch of the Cograph dependency graph view.
    PrototypeOctober 2025first dependency graph concept
  3. #3
    2025–26
    In private use · public release Aug/Sept 2026

    Union

    An operations system for Gloucestershire Bundles, a local charity. Bundles distributes clothing and household goods to families in need. I'm IT trustee on their board; Union replaces a stack of spreadsheets and group-chat decisions with something the small staff and rotating volunteers can use without it becoming a second job. Currently in private use with Bundles. Opens up to all volunteers and partner professionals in late August or early September.

    TypeScript · Next.js · PostgreSQL (Supabase) · Vercel

    Read the case study
    An in-progress screenshot of the Union scheduler view.
    BuildApr 2026Realising the sheer amount of items

About

who, where, what for

On the desk

I'm a full-stack TypeScript engineer at Raytheon UK, working across defence systems and customers. Mostly on enterprise data-heavy systems, in a high-assurance environment where a bug isn't a hotfix. I came in through the degree apprentice route in 2022 and graduated this year from the University of Staffordshire with a 1st in BSc Digital Technology Solutions.

The work I care most about, though, is what's outside the day job. There are three projects on the bench right now. Volken, the early-stage bet on MCP infrastructure. Cograph, the open-source code-analysis tool that uses agentic AI to write its own documentation. And Union, the operations system I'm building for Gloucestershire Bundles, where I'm IT trustee on the board.

The honest version of what's next: I want to be a founder. The projects on this site are partly the rehearsal for it. Hard problems with real stakes, people who care about how it gets made, and the room to commit to it properly. That's the work I'm pointing at.

I care about software that doesn't talk down to its users, and writing that doesn't either. The rest of the site is the working evidence.

Off the desk

The cats run the house. Two of them, both vocalists, both lap fixtures who consider the laptop a particularly warm cushion. They get what they want, and this is usually for me to stop typing for a minute.

The thing keeping the laptop closed for longer stretches is travel, and particularly Italy. Napoli especially. I'd happily eat my way across most of the Mediterranean given the chance; the food, the scenery, the way time runs slower somewhere with that much sun on it. The best version of me is the one halfway through a long lunch.

Off-screen I'm cooking or baking, volunteering, or chasing down whatever new music I haven't heard yet. The shape of life I'm working toward is full and varied: a city's worth of momentum, with quiet time to actually think. Busy in the way that feels alive, not the way that feels relentless.

The thread underneath: I want what I do to be useful. Tech for good when I can swing it. Helping the people around me get better at what they do, and trying to do the same myself. The best kind of work is the kind that lifts more than just me out of the room.

Skills & Stack

stack and approach

Languages
TypeScript · PythonSQL · Cypher · Kotlin
Frontend
React · Next.js · Tailwindshadcn/ui · Framer Motion · Monaco · MDX · Chakra UI · MUI · Vue
Backend & data
Node.js · NestJS · PostgreSQL · PrismaHono · GraphQL · Drizzle · Neo4j · Redis · Supabase · Inngest · Celery · MongoDB · Octokit
Cloud & infra
Vercel · Docker · GitHub ActionsAWS (EC2, DynamoDB, RDS) · GCP · Fly.io · Cloudflare · Turborepo · Supabase
Testing
Jest · PlaywrightCypress
AI & tooling
Claude Code · Claude API · MCP · Anthropic SDKGitHub Copilot · Cursor · Figma
Approach
Architecture and design first. Everything else gets pulled in when the shape of the problem demands it, not because a checklist says it should be there.

How I got here

the route

  1. 2022–26
    Raytheon UKSoftware Engineer (defence)Started as a degree apprentice in 2022, kept on full-time after graduating in 2026. Four years of full-stack TypeScript on enterprise data-heavy systems, where a bug isn't a hotfix. Shipped a Python service that scaled from 70 to 2,000 daily jobs. Led a UI redesign that hit 93% user satisfaction.
  2. 2022–26
    University of StaffordshireBSc Digital Technology Solutions1st Class with Honours, done alongside the day job at Raytheon. The degree apprentice route, where the lectures and the deliverables compete for the same evenings. Elected student representative three years running.
  3. 2021–22
    University of WarwickBSc Cyber SecurityCame in on the traditional route after college, convinced cyber security was the niche I'd build on. A Raytheon recruiter headhunted me a year in for the degree apprenticeship, and the domino effect from saying yes is most of what came after. Enjoyed Warwick and the Cyber First days, but turned out that building products was the part that fit.
  4. 2019–21
    Gloucestershire CollegeBTEC Level 3 IT (Software Engineering)D*D*D*, the highest grade in the cohort. Two years that turned 'I quite like making websites' into wanting to build software properly.

Currents

in motion

Things flowing through. Hackathons, certifications, courses. The work that doesn't have a case study yet because it's still in the room.

  1. 5 May – 11 Jun 2026Upcoming

    Google Cloud Rapid Agent Hackathon

    Five weeks. Building an agentic something against the Google Cloud agent stack. Working notes will appear on the bench afterwards if anything earns a longer write-up.

  2. Sitting in 2026In progress

    AWS Solutions Architect Associate

    I'll sit the exam at some point this year, but I'm not doing the standard flashcards-and-practice-exam route. The material lands better when I've actually built the thing it describes, so I'm working through the syllabus by spinning up small services that exercise each pattern. The services are the study notes.

Get in touch

no forms, just email

The shortest path is an email. I reply when I have something useful to say back, which is most of the time. Whether you're hiring, looking for a co-founder, want to collaborate on something, or just want to say hello, the address below is the place to start.

isaac_dolphin@outlook.com