Setting up a Mac in 2026

· 9 min read · #howto#macbook#setup

It is the time to reset my MacBook. Last 2 times were: in 2025 and in 2024.

The plan is still the same as in recent years:

  1. Configure MacOs to my preferred defaults
  2. Install Homebrew
  3. Install basic tools
  4. Install my dotfiles from https://github.com/korya/dotfiles
  5. Install all required tools
  6. Install Tailscale
  7. Other configurations

But this year, I actually asked ClaudeCode to make it a single script and after a couple of iterations, we got to a working version.

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/korya/dotfiles/master/.korya.d/install-dotfiles.sh)

tl;dr Main Differences from 2025

The main change in my behaviours in the last 12 months is that I don’t code manually anymore. I work with ClaudeCode almost exclusively for software development; this includes coding, troubleshooting, optimizing, deploying and monitoring.

I will likely write about my hate-and-love experience with ClaudeCode in a separate post. Let me summarize it here as “it works as long as you watch it”.

The bottom line though is that I stopped using IDEs for coding. I love the Cursor’s autocompletion but I use it a few time a month, and this is an overkill. So I gave Zed another try and it works just fine for my basic needs. It is fast, easy to use and has a great vim mode.

I did install Codex as well, although I don’t use it. The reason is that I am afraid I am getting addicted to ClaudeCode so I need to dillute it a bit.

The main changes from the last year are:

  • removal of VSCode, Cursor and Windsurf (not bundled by default anymore)
  • addition of ClaudeCode and Codex Note: i’ve some basic skills as well but later moved them to korya/swd-skills
  • I’ve added the Zed editor as an experiment
  • per-session history in zsh: bf5a9a7
  • mprocs a cool utililty
  • a single script for bootstrapping a MacBook

Configure MacOS

::: info Below are the details done by the install-dotfiles.sh script :::

Change MacOS hostname

By default, MacOS sets the hostname to a ridiculous value based on your name. Something as “Dmitri’s MacBook Pro”. I prefer to name my machines after latin or greek gods. Easy to remember and easy to identify them in the office network.

NEW_HOSTNAME="mercury"
sudo scutil --set ComputerName "${NEW_HOSTNAME}"
sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "${NEW_HOSTNAME}"

Generate SSH Key

Generate SSH key for the machine:

ssh-keygen -o -a 256 -t ed25519 -C "${USER}@$(hostname -s)-$(date +'%d-%m-%Y')"

MacOS UI Settings

The only changes I make to the default settings are:

  • Trackpad:

    • Enable Tap to click. I like tapping rather than clicking.

  • Dock:

    • Move the dock to the left. The real estate at the center of the screen is very precious and hence, I try to free it up for the content that requires my attention at this current moment. Dock is very useful and should be available fast when needed. But not that important to be at the bottom of the screen.

    • Turn on magnification effect on the Docker and set it to the mid level.

    • Auto-hide the dock. I don’t need to see it all the time.

    • Clean it up. Remove all these stock apps from the dock. Keep Finder, Launchpad, Safari (later will be replaced with Chrome) and Notes.

  • Desktops:

    • Disable Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use. I don’t want to be distracted by the changes in the desktops order.

  • Input languages:

    • Open Keyboard group then click Edit to the right of Input Sources:
      • add Russian and Hebrew

  • Time format:

    • In Date & Time, turn on 24-hour time and Show 24-hour time on Lock Screen

  • Shortcuts:

    • On the same screen, Keyboard, ensure that 🌐 is set to Change Input Source
    • On the same screen, Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts:
      • In Modifier Keys, change Caps Lock to Escape
      • In Mission Control, enable shortcuts for switching to Desktops: ^1, ^2, etc.

Install Homebrew

Homebrew is my default package manager in MacOS.

Follow the instructions at https://brew.sh/. At this moment, they are:

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

Then configure Homebrew temporarily:

eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Note: This must be done manually until the dotfiles are installed.

Install Basic Tools

We install some super basic tools (GNU core utils and others), see .korya.d/Brewfile

New tools:

  • mprocs is a super cool tool for running multiple processes in parallel. It is especially useful for complex setup requiring multiple multiple backends, databases, a frontend dev server, etc. Combined with just it is super powerful. Not all my projects have just run that runs mprocs that runs the setup using other just commands. 🤯
  • uv is a modern package manager for Python.
  • vp is a modern build tool for web full stack projects.
  • infisical is a modern and easy-to-use secrets management tool.

Other tools from last years worth a highlight:

  • just is a modern replacement for make
  • ag is a super-fast “grep”
  • fzf is an interactive Unix filter for command-line that can be used with any list; files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits, etc. fzf stands for fuzzy finder. There are infinite ways to use it. Read https://github.com/junegunn/fzf?tab=readme-ov-file#examples for some insights. The most essential use is the integration in your shell:
  • zellij is a modern alternative to GNU screen and tmux
  • bat is a great substitution for cat (make sure to add alias cat=bat)

Install my dotfiles

Now that the basic tools are installed (including git), the dotfile can be installed from Github.

My dotfiles are available at https://github.com/korya/dotfiles

cd ~
git init .
git remote add origin https://github.com/korya/dotfiles
git pull origin master

Unfortunately, all conflicts need to be resolved manually.

Install Rerquired Tools

Producivity Tools

fzf is an interactive Unix filter for command-line that can be used with any list; files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits, etc. fzf stands for fuzzy finder.

There are infinite ways to use it. Read https://github.com/junegunn/fzf?tab=readme-ov-file#examples for some insights. The most essential use is the integration in your shell:

  • Use <CTRL-R> to search command history.
  • Use <CTRL-T> to find a file.
  • Use [PATTERN]**<TAB> to run fuzzy completion.
brew install fzf
# To install useful key bindings and fuzzy completion:
$(brew --prefix)/opt/fzf/install --all

zellij is a modern alternative to GNU screen and tmux:

brew install zellij

iTerm2

iTerm2 is the best terminal emulator available for MacOS for now.

brew install --cask iterm2

Configure iTerm2:

  1. Copy profiles JSON to Downloads folder

    cp ~/.korya.d/iTerm2-Profiles.json ~/Downloads/

  2. Import it:

    1. Open Settings
    2. Select Profiles tab
    3. Click Other Actions… dropdown
    4. Then Import JSON Profiles
    5. Select the file from Downloads folder
    6. Set the imported Default profile as default
    7. Delete the old default profile

Fancy (Nerd) Fonts

Install Nerd Fonts (used by LazyVim and OhMyZsh):

brew install font-hack-nerd-font

In iTerms’ Setting:

  1. Update the Default profile:
    1. Goto Profiles
    2. Select the Default Profile
    3. Goto Text tab
    4. Select Hack Nerd Font Mono
    5. Set size to 14
  2. Repeat the steps for Hotkey Window profile

Docker

Docker Desktop Docker is the easiest and the most reliable way to ship reproducible software:

brew install --cask docker
brew install docker-credential-helper

Bitwarden

I use Bitwarden as my password manager. Migrated to it recently from LastPass and it is great!

brew install --cask bitwarden

Install Tailscale

Tailscale is one of the best software I’ve discovered in the recent years. I’ve been using it for a very long time. I think that I’ve discovered it in some newsletter early on after they made their product available. I gave it a try and it just worked, and it just made my life so much easier. I recommend everyone to try it out. It is an amazing product that just works!

brew install --cask tailscale

Configuration:

  1. Grant all required permissions:

    1. Unblock the app in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General
    2. Grant Sharing permissions in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy

  2. Login to Tailscale

  3. Enable run on start up

  4. Configure password-less SSH; e.g.

    cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh '<YOUR IP>' tee ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Other Configurations

Git

Recommended default settings for Git:

  • credential.helper=osxkeychain uses the MacOS KeyChain for storing Git credentials.
  • pull.rebase=true uses git rebase instead of the default git merge when pulling from a remote.
  • fetch.prune=true runs git remote prune on every fetch and will automatically delete inaccessible Git objects in your local repository that aren’t on remote. In short, all branches and their commits that are merged into master on Github gets deleted automatically in your local repo.
  • diff.colorMoved=zebra uses a different color in git diff for code that just moved within a file. This makes it easier to distinguish moved code from other changes.
git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain
git config --global pull.rebase true
git config --global fetch.prune true
git config --global diff.colorMoved zebra

Vim

vim +PlugInstall +PlugUpgrade +PlugUpdate

NeoVim

# Start neovim
nvim
# Install and sync all plugins

Upload SSH Key to Github

Then upload the generated SSH key to Github:

  1. Open Settings / SSH and GPG keys in Github: https://github.com/settings/keys
  2. Create a new SSH key:

    1. Click New SSH key

    2. Enter a title for the new key:

      awk '{ print "Developer key for " $3 }' ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy

    3. Paste the public key from ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub:

      pbcopy <~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

    4. Click Add SSH key

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