IdeaX Pitch Timer

Real-time pitch competition timer and queue system built with Next.js, Firebase Realtime Database, and Tailwind CSS.

Pages

Route	Purpose
/control	MC Control Panel — manage teams, control timer
/pitch	Pitching Room Display — large countdown for projector
/waiting	Waiting Room Display — queue + mirrored timer for waiting area

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Setup

1. Clone & Install

cd pitch-timer
npm install

2. Create a Firebase Project

1. Go to Firebase Console
2. Create a new project (or use existing)
3. Go to Build → Realtime Database → Create Database
   • Start in test mode for MVP (or set rules to allow read/write)
4. Go to Project Settings → General → Your apps
5. Click Add app → Web → Register app
6. Copy the config object shown

3. Configure Environment Variables

cp .env.local.example .env.local

Open .env.local and fill in your Firebase config values:

NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_API_KEY=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_DATABASE_URL=https://YOUR_PROJECT-default-rtdb.firebaseio.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_APP_ID=...

⚠️ NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_DATABASE_URL is required — it's the Realtime Database URL,
not the Firestore URL. Format: https://YOUR_PROJECT-default-rtdb.firebaseio.com

4. Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules (MVP)

In Firebase Console → Realtime Database → Rules, use:

{
  "rules": {
    ".read": true,
    ".write": true
  }
}

For production, restrict .write to authenticated users only.

5. Run Locally

npm run dev

Open:

• http://localhost:3000/control — MC Panel
• http://localhost:3000/pitch — Pitching Room
• http://localhost:3000/waiting — Waiting Room

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Deploy to Vercel

1. Push this project to a GitHub repo
2. Go to vercel.com → Import project
3. Add all NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_* variables in Vercel → Settings → Environment Variables
4. Deploy — Vercel auto-detects Next.js

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How It Works

• All state lives in Firebase Realtime Database at /session
• /control drives the countdown — it runs a 1-second setInterval that decrements timeRemaining in Firebase when the timer is running
• /pitch and /waiting are read-only — they subscribe to Firebase via onValue() and reflect any change instantly, with no page refresh needed
• If a display page is refreshed or loses connection briefly, it resyncs automatically from Firebase — no state is lost

Audio (Pitch Page)

The /pitch page plays audio beeps using the Web Audio API:

• 1-minute warning: 3 short beeps at 880 Hz
• Time up: Two-tone alert (440 Hz + 880 Hz)

Important: Click anywhere on /pitch before the event starts to initialize the AudioContext (browser security requires a user gesture first).