Modern macOS Dev Setup (2026 Edition) 🚀

A comprehensive, cutting-edge automated developer setup for macOS with modern tools, parallel installation, and complete automation.

Features ✨

Core Improvements (2026)

• ⚡ Parallel Installation: 3-5x faster setup through concurrent operations
• 🎯 Progress Tracking: Real-time progress indicators with time estimates
• 🔄 Auto-Retry Logic: Resilient against network failures with exponential backoff
• 🔐 Complete Automation: SSH/GPG keys + GitHub CLI authentication out-of-the-box
• ✅ Idempotent: Run multiple times safely without side effects

Modern Tools Stack

• Package Management: Homebrew with declarative Brewfile
• Shell: Zsh + Oh My Zsh + Starship prompt
• Version Management: Mise (unified Node/Python/Ruby/etc)
• Python: UV (10-100x faster than pip)
• Shell History: Atuin (SQLite-backed, searchable, synced)
• Terminal Multiplexer: Zellij (modern tmux alternative)

Rust CLI Tools (Replacing Unix classics)

• eza → modern ls with icons & git status
• bat → modern cat with syntax highlighting
• ripgrep → faster grep with smart defaults
• fd → modern find with intuitive syntax
• dust → modern du with tree visualization
• procs → modern ps with better output
• zoxide → smarter cd with frecency
• git-delta → beautiful git diffs
• btop → modern htop with graphs

Terminals & Editors

• Ghostty - GPU-accelerated terminal
• Warp - Modern terminal with AI
• Cursor - AI-native code editor
• VS Code with essential extensions

AI Development Tools

• Claude Code (Anthropic)
• Open Code
• Antigravity (Google's AI IDE)

Productivity & Browsers

• Raycast - Spotlight replacement
• Arc - Modern browser with workspaces

Quick Start ⚡️

Clone the repository and run the automated setup:

git clone git@github.com:paul-phan/dev-setup.git
cd dev-setup
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh

What it does:

• ✅ Installs Xcode CLI Tools & Homebrew
• ✅ Installs all modern tools (UV, Mise, Atuin, Zellij, Carapace, etc)
• ✅ Sets up shell (Zsh + Oh My Zsh + Starship + powerful autocompletion)
• ✅ Generates SSH & GPG keys automatically
• ✅ Configures GitHub CLI authentication
• ✅ Installs VS Code extensions (parallel)
• ✅ Configures macOS system defaults
• ✅ Shows real-time progress with time estimates

Time: ~10-15 minutes

Post-Setup Steps

After running the setup script:

1. Restart your terminal to load new shell configuration
2. Install Cursor IDE (optional): https://cursor.sh/download
3. Install Antigravity (optional): https://antigravity.google/download
4. Configure Raycast: Open from Applications and set as Spotlight replacement

Autocompletion Features 🎯

Your terminal now has cutting-edge autocompletion powered by modern tools:

What You Get:

1. Carapace - Smart completions for 1000+ commands

   • Knows valid flags, arguments, and values for git, docker, npm, kubectl, etc.
   • Context-aware (suggests only valid options)
   • Faster than traditional completion scripts

2. zsh-autosuggestions - Fish-like inline suggestions

   • Gray text appears as you type (from your history)
   • Press → or Ctrl+Space to accept

3. zsh-syntax-highlighting - Real-time validation

   • Green = valid command
   • Red = invalid/not found
   • Helps catch typos before hitting Enter

4. Atuin - Magical history search

   • Press ↑ for fuzzy history search
   • SQLite-backed, searchable, synced across machines

5. fzf - Fuzzy finder integration

   • Ctrl+R - Search command history
   • Ctrl+T - Find files (with preview!)
   • Alt+C - Change directory (fuzzy)

How It Works:

# Start typing, see suggestions appear in gray
git com█          # Shows: git commit (from history)
                  # Press → to accept

# Tab completion with Carapace
git <Tab>         # Shows all git subcommands
git commit -<Tab> # Shows all commit flags with descriptions

# Fuzzy history search (Atuin)
↑                 # Opens interactive search
# Type: "docker run" → finds all docker run commands

# Fuzzy file finder (fzf)
Ctrl+T            # Opens file browser with preview
                  # Type to filter, Enter to select

# Fuzzy directory changer
Alt+C             # Opens directory browser
                  # Jump to any directory quickly

Pro Tips:

# Accept partial suggestion (zsh-autosuggestions)
Alt+→             # Accept one word from suggestion

# Navigate completion menu
Tab               # Open menu
Tab Tab           # Cycle through options
Shift+Tab         # Reverse cycle
Ctrl+N/P          # Next/Previous in menu

# Search while in completion menu
/pattern          # Filter completions (with Carapace)

---

Modern Tools Usage 📚

Mise - Unified Version Manager

# Install Node.js
mise use --global node@20

# Install Python
mise use --global python@3.12

# Install multiple versions
mise use node@18 node@20 python@3.11 python@3.12

# Auto-switch based on .tool-versions
cd my-project  # Automatically uses versions from .tool-versions

UV - Fast Python Package Manager

# Create virtual environment (10-100x faster than venv)
uv venv

# Install packages (blazing fast)
uv pip install requests pandas numpy

# Install from requirements.txt
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Atuin - Magical Shell History

# Search history interactively
atuin search

# Search for specific command
atuin search "git commit"

# Sync history across machines (optional)
atuin login
atuin sync

Zellij - Modern Terminal Multiplexer

# Start session
zellij

# Create new pane: Ctrl+p then n
# Switch panes: Ctrl+p then arrow keys
# Create new tab: Ctrl+t then n

Customization 🛠️

• Dependencies: Edit Brewfile to add/remove apps or tools
• Shell: Edit .zshrc (user config) or .aliases (shortcuts)
• Git: Edit .gitconfig
• Setup Script: Modify setup-2026.sh for custom automation

Troubleshooting 🔧

Setup fails during Homebrew installation

# Clean up and retry
rm -rf /opt/homebrew
./setup-2026.sh

SSH key not working with GitHub

# Verify SSH key is added to ssh-agent
ssh-add -l

# Test GitHub connection
ssh -T git@github.com

VS Code extensions not installing

# Ensure VS Code CLI is in PATH
which code

# If not found, open VS Code and run:
# Cmd+Shift+P → "Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH"

What's New in 2026 Edition 🆕

• ⚡ 3-5x faster setup through parallel installation
• 🎯 Progress tracking with real-time status updates
• 🔄 Auto-retry logic for network-related failures
• 🔐 Automated SSH/GPG key generation & GitHub setup
• 🎯 Cutting-edge autocompletion: Carapace (1000+ commands), zsh-autosuggestions, fzf, Atuin
• 📦 Modern tools: UV, Mise, Atuin, Zellij, Carapace
• 🦀 Rust CLI tools: fd, dust, procs, btop, git-delta
• 🤖 Cursor IDE support (AI-native editor)
• 🌐 Arc browser (modern browser with workspaces)
• ✅ Idempotent design - run multiple times safely
• 📝 Better logging - detailed logs in ~/.setup-logs/

Credits

2026 comprehensive rewrite with modern tools, parallel installation, and complete automation.

Based on the original dev-setup by Donne Martin.