Cuemaster Operator Guide
NORTHSTAR SHOW SYSTEMS
Cuemaster Operator Guide
Runtime dashboard reference for show operators
v1.0 — May 2026
Cuemaster Operator Guide
Cuemaster is the live runtime dashboard for Northstar Show Systems. It runs in a web browser at http://10.0.0.1:3000 on the operator station iPad (or any device connected to TrueNorth). This guide covers every screen and control available to the operator.
Accessing Cuemaster
Connect to the TRUENORTH Wi-Fi network and navigate to http://10.0.0.1:3000 in Safari or any modern browser. No login is required. Cuemaster auto-reconnects if the connection drops (every 2 seconds).
Show controls
The show controls at the top of the dashboard mirror the physical Bridge buttons:
| Button | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Show Start | Transitions show state from STOPPED to RUNNING | Blocked during maintenance. Fires the boot sequence if one is configured. |
| Show Stop | Transitions show state to STOPPED | Cancels all running sequences. Always available (panic stop). |
| Show Reset | Transitions to RESETTING for 5 seconds, then STOPPED | Cancels all sequences. Always available. |
Maintenance mode
Maintenance mode is activated by the physical key switch on the Bridge (MAINT_ON/MAINT_OFF) or the admin keyboard chord Ctrl + Alt + Space + Enter (all four keys held simultaneously). A 2-second flash banner confirms activation.
When maintenance is active:
- Show Start is blocked (Bridge button and Cuemaster button both return 423).
- Manual triggers from Cuemaster return 423.
- New schedule-fired sequences are suppressed.
- In-flight sequences continue to completion.
- Show Stop and Show Reset always work (panic-stop affordances).
There is no clickable toggle in the Cuemaster UI. This is intentional — the operator station has a touchscreen, and a toggle could be fat-fingered mid-show.
Tabs
Overview
High-level show status: current state (STOPPED / RUNNING / RESETTING), maintenance flag, node online count, active sequence count, and recent activity.
Nodes
Grid of node cards. Each card shows the node name, IP address, building color band, online/offline badge, RSSI signal strength bars, and uptime. Nodes are polled every 5 seconds. A node is considered online if its last successful poll was within 15 seconds. Nodes start as unknown (rendered as offline) until the first poll completes.
Groups
Lists all configured groups with their member channels. Each group has a trigger button that fires all member channels in parallel (one HTTP call per channel, not serialized). Disabled during maintenance.
Sequences
Lists all configured sequences. Each sequence card shows the name, step count, and loop count. A trigger button starts the sequence; a running indicator and abort button appear while active. Multiple concurrent runs of the same sequence are allowed.
Schedules
Lists all configured schedules with their trigger mode (interval, specific times, or daily), active window, and active days. Each schedule has an enable/disable switch that writes to runtime-overrides.json (persisted across restarts). Schedules pause while maintenance is active.
Activity
Scrolling log of all operator-relevant events: triggers, show state transitions, schedule firings, maintenance toggles, sequence starts and completions. The last 50 entries load on page open; older entries are available via pagination (up to 1000 in the in-memory ring buffer). New entries stream in via WebSocket.
Touch targets
All interactive elements in Cuemaster are at least 44 × 44 pixels to support reliable touch input on the operator iPad. There are no hover-only affordances.