Setup checklist

new-mac-dev-setup-checklist.md

New Mac Development Setup Checklist

Usability Tools To Reinstall Early

• BetterDisplay
• AltTab
• Ghostty
• Firefox
  • Recreate custom userChrome.css in the active Firefox profile:
    • Set toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets to true in about:config.
    • Add chrome/userChrome.css with:

.tabbrowser-tab {
    min-width: initial !important;
}
.tab-content {
    overflow: hidden !important;
}

Core System Setup

• Install Xcode Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install
• Install Homebrew for Apple Silicon
• Use zsh as the default shell.
• Enable Git credential helper: git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain
• Set Git identity:
  • user.name = Oscar Sims
  • user.email = email

Developer Apps

• Visual Studio Code
• Docker Desktop
• Insomnia
• Figma
• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Ghostty
• Claude
• Codex
• Gemini
• OpenCode

Other Apps

• Spotify
• Affinity

Language Runtimes And Toolchains

• Node via nvm
• Global npm packages:
  • @google/gemini-cli
  • @openai/codex
  • http-server
  • npm
• Claude CLI at ~/.local/bin/claude
• OpenCode binary at ~/.opencode/bin/opencode

Shell PATH And Aliases

Current ~/.zshrc adds:

• nvm
• ~/bin

Docker aliases:

alias dcu='docker compose up -d'
alias dcd='docker compose down && docker volume prune -f 1> /dev/null'
alias dcb='docker compose build'
alias dcb_pnc='docker compose build --pull --no-cache'
alias dc='docker compose'

VS Code Extensions

dan-c-underwood.arm
danielgavin.ols
docker.docker
eamodio.gitlens
ms-azuretools.vscode-containers
ms-azuretools.vscode-docker
ms-dotnettools.csdevkit
ms-dotnettools.csharp
ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime
ms-python.debugpy
ms-python.python
ms-python.vscode-pylance
ms-python.vscode-python-envs
ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers
ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh
ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-edit
ms-vscode.cmake-tools
ms-vscode.cpp-devtools
ms-vscode.cpptools
ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack
ms-vscode.cpptools-themes
ms-vscode.makefile-tools
ms-vscode.remote-explorer
ms-vsliveshare.vsliveshare
rust-lang.rust-analyzer
tamasfe.even-better-toml
twxs.cmake
vitest.explorer
vue.volar
ziglang.vscode-zig

VS Code Settings Worth Recreating

• Disable minimap.
• Open untrusted files without workspace trust friction.
• Git autofetch on.
• Git confirm sync off.
• Explorer confirm delete off.
• Startup editor set to none.
• Diff editor not side-by-side.
• Font family: Menlo, Monaco, 'Courier New', monospaces
• Rust analyzer inlay hints disabled.
• Copilot enabled for code, disabled for plaintext, markdown, and SCM input.

Custom keybindings:

• cmd+d: copy line down.
• ctrl+tab: next editor.
• ctrl+shift+tab: previous editor.

macOS Usability Preferences

• Appearance: Dark mode.
• Show all filename extensions.
• Natural scrolling disabled.
• Dock animation likely customized to feel instant. Check/recreate Dock animation speed and auto-hide delay settings on the new Mac.
• Dock:
  • Auto-hide enabled.
  • Positioned on the left.
  • Tile size 55.
• Finder preferred view style: icon view.
• Login items detected:
  • BetterDisplay
  • GeminiAppLauncher

SSH And Accounts

• Recreate or copy SSH config/keys securely.
• Re-authenticate:
  • Google Cloud SDK
  • Docker Desktop
  • GitHub / Git credential helper
  • VS Code extensions and settings sync, if desired
  • Claude, Codex, Gemini, OpenCode, etc