My Mac Setup

My Mac Setup
setup
macos
development-environment
productivity
tools
Author

Nipun Batra

Published

June 12, 2021

Setting up a new Mac

Here is a screenshot.

This guide covers how I set up a new Mac for development. I use Homebrew as my package manager - it makes it easy to install and maintain all packages.

1. Core System Setup

Install Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

Install Homebrew

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Essential CLI Tools

# Version control
brew install git

# Git credential manager
brew tap microsoft/git
brew install --cask git-credential-manager-core

# File operations
brew install wget

# Fuzzy finder
brew install fzf

# Better find alternative
brew install fd

# Better grep alternative
brew install ripgrep

# Smart cd command
brew install zoxide

2. Terminal Setup

Install Ghostty

Ghostty is a modern, fast terminal emulator with excellent graphics protocol support.

brew install --cask ghostty

Install Oh My Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install Powerline Fonts

git clone https://github.com/powerline/fonts
cd fonts
./install.sh
cd ..
rm -rf fonts

Configure in Terminal preferences: - Font: Roboto Mono Light for Powerline, 18pt

Install Monokai Theme

git clone git://github.com/stephenway/monokai.terminal.git
cd monokai.terminal
open monokai.terminal
cd ..
rm -rf monokai.terminal

Set as default theme in Terminal preferences.

Terminal Image Viewers

# Fast image viewer using kitty protocol
brew install viu

# Versatile image viewer
brew install chafa

Usage:

viu image.jpg
viu -w 80 image.png
chafa image.jpg

File Manager with Preview

Yazi - modern terminal file manager with image preview:

brew install yazi ffmpegthumbnailer font-symbols-only-nerd-font

Key bindings: | Key | Action | |—–|——–| | j/k | Navigate files | | Enter / l | Open file/directory | | h | Parent directory | | Space | Select/deselect | | T | Toggle preview | | q | Quit |

Preview Tools for Yazi

brew install poppler    # PDF preview
brew install w3m bat    # HTML and text preview
brew install p7zip      # Archive preview
brew install jq         # JSON preview

Yazi Configuration

Create ~/.config/yazi/yazi.toml:

[preview]
tab_size = 2
max_width = 900
max_height = 900
cache_dir = ""
image_filter = "triangle"
image_quality = 75
sixel_fraction = 15
ueberzug_scale = 1
ueberzug_offset = [ 0, 0, 0, 0 ]

[opener]
edit = [
  { run = '${EDITOR:-vim} "$@"', block = true, desc = "Edit with default editor" },
]
open = [
    { run = 'mpv "$@"', for = "unix", desc = "Play with mpv" },
    { run = 'open "$@"', for = "mac", desc = "Open with default app" },
    { run = 'xdg-open "$@"', for = "linux", desc = "Open with default app" },
]

[plugin]
prepend_previewers = [
  { name = "*.ipynb", run = "nbpreview" },
  { name = "*.html", run = "lynx -dump" },
]

Jupyter Notebook Preview in Yazi

Install the nbpreview CLI tool and Yazi plugin:

# Install nbpreview CLI
uv tool install nbpreview

# Install the Yazi plugin
ya pack -a AnirudhG07/nbpreview

This enables previewing .ipynb files directly in Yazi’s preview pane with syntax highlighting, images, and formatted output.

Ghostty Configuration

Create ~/.config/ghostty/config:

keybind = shift+enter=text:

window-padding-x = 5
window-padding-y = 10

This configuration: - shift+enter keybind: Sends a literal newline character (useful for multi-line input in REPLs) - window-padding: Adds comfortable padding around the terminal content (5px horizontal, 10px vertical)

3. Python Environment with uv

Install uv

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Verify:

uv --version

Install Python 3.12

uv python install 3.12

Note: PyTorch GPU wheels are available only up to Python 3.12.

Create Global Environment

uv venv ~/.uv/nb-base --python 3.12
source ~/.uv/nb-base/bin/activate

Auto-activation (optional):

echo 'source ~/.uv/nb-base/bin/activate' >> ~/.zshrc

Install Core Packages

uv pip install -U pip setuptools wheel
uv pip install -U \
    jupyterlab ipykernel \
    numpy pandas scipy \
    matplotlib seaborn \
    scikit-learn \
    tqdm requests

Install PyTorch (Mac)

For Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) with Metal Performance Shaders:

uv pip install torch torchvision torchaudio

Verify:

python -c "import torch; print(f'PyTorch {torch.__version__}'); print(f'MPS available: {torch.backends.mps.is_available()}')"

Note: Macs don’t support CUDA. Apple Silicon uses MPS for GPU acceleration; Intel Macs use CPU only.

Register Jupyter Kernel

python -m ipykernel install --user --name nb-base --display-name "Python (nb-base)"

Verify Installation

which python
python --version
jupyter kernelspec list

Expected output:

/Users/<user>/.uv/nb-base/bin/python
Python 3.12.x
nb-base   /Users/<user>/.local/share/jupyter/kernels/nb-base

Update Packages

source ~/.uv/nb-base/bin/activate
uv pip list --outdated
uv pip install -U <package-name>

4. Applications

Development

brew install --cask visual-studio-code
brew install --cask texstudio

Productivity

brew install --cask firefox
brew install --cask zoom

Media

brew install --cask vlc
brew install --cask obs

Media Processing

brew install ffmpeg
brew install imagemagick
brew install ghostscript
brew install pandoc

5. VSCode Configuration

Set Python Interpreter

  1. Open any .ipynb file
  2. Kernel picker -> Select Another Kernel -> Jupyter Kernel -> Python (nb-base)

Or use Command Palette: - Cmd + Shift + P -> Select Python Interpreter -> ~/.uv/nb-base/bin/python

Workspace Settings

Create .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/Users/<user>/.uv/nb-base/bin/python",
  "jupyter.jupyterServerType": "local"
}

6. LaTeX Setup

Install TinyTeX via Quarto

First, install Quarto.

quarto install tool tinytex

Install Essential LaTeX Packages

# Core collections
tlmgr install collection-fontsrecommended collection-latexrecommended \
    collection-fontsextra collection-latexextra

# Graphics and plotting
tlmgr install pgfplots tikz-cd pgf pgfgantt tikzscale tikz-3dplot

# Fonts
tlmgr install psnfss type1cm cm-super sourcesanspro sourcecodespro \
    lato roboto fira libertine

# Beamer and presentations
tlmgr install beamertheme-metropolis beamer-verona pgfopts appendixnumberbeamer

# Bibliography
tlmgr install biblatex biber logreq natbib

# Math and symbols
tlmgr install amsmath amscls amsfonts mathtools unicode-math \
    stmaryrd bbm-macros dsfont

# Tables
tlmgr install booktabs multirow longtable array tabularx \
    threeparttable siunitx

# Figures and floats
tlmgr install adjustbox collectbox subcaption wrapfig float caption placeins

# Code listings
tlmgr install listings minted fancyvrb

# Utilities
tlmgr install underscore ucs xstring etoolbox xifthen \
    enumitem parskip geometry fancyhdr hyperref cleveref \
    todonotes comment csquotes microtype

# PDF and graphics
tlmgr install pdfpages dvipng epstopdf graphicx xcolor

# Algorithms
tlmgr install algorithm2e algorithms algorithmicx

# Icons
tlmgr install fontawesome5 academicons

# Misc
tlmgr install appendix blindtext lipsum standalone

Find Missing Packages

tlmgr search --global --file "/sourcesanspro.sty"

7. macOS Customization

Dock Settings

Disable magnification:

defaults write com.apple.dock magnification -bool false
killall Dock

Enable auto-hide with fast animation:

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.1
killall Dock

For near-instant animation:

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.01
killall Dock

Revert auto-hide:

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool false
killall Dock

Dock Position

# Left
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string left && killall Dock

# Bottom (default)
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string bottom && killall Dock

# Right
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string right && killall Dock

8. Package Lists

View Installed Packages

# Homebrew formulae
brew leaves > brew.txt

# Homebrew casks
brew list --cask > casks.txt

My Current Formulae

boost
cmake
ffmpeg
fish
git
graphviz
ilmbase
imagemagick
pandoc
r
rtmpdump
swig
vim
wget

My Current Casks

anydesk
arduino
audacity
firefox
google-chrome
inkscape
keycastr
mactex
notion
obs
pdf-expert
pycharm
rstudio
simplenote
texstudio
visual-studio-code
vlc
zoom