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Setting Up a New Mac for Development

Medium 21 items · 1 hour
testuser's avatar
testuser Published 2 weeks ago
Technical

This checklist walks you through the essential steps to prepare a new Mac for software development, from installing Homebrew and Git to configuring shells, version managers, and editor extensions. It’s for developers, students, and anyone who wants a reliable, repeatable dev environment on macOS.

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  1. Update macOS and install Xcode Command Line Tools — Install system headers and compilers required by many dev tools.
  2. Install Homebrew — Use the official install script at brew.sh for package management.
  3. Run brew update and brew doctor — Refresh formulas and check for common Homebrew issues.
  4. Install Git and essential build tools via Homebrew — brew install git git-lfs cmake make openssl as needed.
  5. Add Homebrew to PATH if required — Follow Homebrew's post-install message to update your shell profile.
  6. Configure Git (user.name, user.email, default branch) — Set global name/email and git config --global init.defaultBranch main.
  7. Generate SSH key and add it to your Git hosting account — Use ssh-keygen and paste the public key into GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket.
  8. Install a terminal emulator (iTerm2 or Warp) — Choose an emulator you like for tabs, profiles, and key bindings.
  9. Install and configure your shell and prompt (zsh, oh-my-zsh, starship) — Pick zsh or fish and add starship or a plugin manager for convenience.
  10. Install language version managers — Manage multiple runtimes with nvm/fnm, pyenv, and rbenv.
  11. Install nvm or fnm for Node — Use nvm or fast-node-manager to switch Node versions per project.
  12. Install pyenv for Python — Install pyenv to manage multiple Python interpreters cleanly.
  13. Install rbenv for Ruby — Use rbenv to install and switch Ruby versions per project.
  14. Install required Node/Python/Ruby versions and set defaults — Install the project versions and set a sensible global default.
  15. Install VS Code and set it as your default editor — Download from code.visualstudio.com and open code from terminal.
  16. Install recommended VS Code extensions — Examples: GitLens, Prettier, ESLint, Python, Docker — install what's needed.
  17. Clone or create dotfiles and symlink your configs — Use a dotfiles repo to manage .zshrc, .gitconfig, .vimrc, etc.
  18. Set macOS system preferences for development — Adjust UI and keyboard settings for a smoother dev workflow.
  19. Show filename extensions and hidden files — Enable Finder options to reveal extensions and dotfiles.
  20. Set key repeat rate and configure useful keyboard shortcuts — Speed up key repeat and add shortcuts for window management.
  21. Enable automatic macOS updates and App Store installs — Turn on auto-updates to stay secure and up to date.
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