From Zero to Hero: Automating Mac Development Setup in Minutes

Terminal setup automation

Introduction

Getting a new MacBook is exciting, but setting up a development environment can be a tedious, time-consuming process. As developers, we've all been there – spending hours installing tools, configuring shells, setting up IDEs, and tweaking our terminals to perfection.

What if you could transform your fresh MacBook into a fully-equipped development powerhouse with just one command? That's exactly what the mac-setup project delivers.

The Magic of make all

Imagine this: You unbox your new MacBook, clone a single repository, and type:

git clone https://github.com/tlopez92/mac-setup.git
cd mac-setup
make all

That's it. In minutes, your machine is ready for serious development work across .NET, Azure, Node.js, Python, and even AI development. No more hunting for download links, no more forgetting crucial tools, no more configuration headaches.

What Makes This Setup Special?

This isn't just another dotfiles repository. It's a comprehensive, modular development environment installer that covers everything from basic utilities to cutting-edge AI tools.

🚀 Core Development Infrastructure

The foundation begins with Homebrew, macOS's missing package manager, followed by Git for version control. But the real magic starts with the terminal setup:

  • Oh My Zsh: Transforms your shell into a powerful, extensible command center
  • Powerlevel10k: A blazing-fast theme that provides instant visual feedback about your Git status, Node version, and more
  • WezTerm: A GPU-accelerated terminal emulator that's both beautiful and performant
  • Zoxide: A smarter cd command that learns your habits and lets you jump to directories with minimal typing

💻 Development Environments

The project installs both Visual Studio Code and JetBrains Rider, giving you best-in-class editors for web development and .NET work respectively. But it goes further:

  • Node.js via NVM: Easily switch between Node versions for different projects
  • .NET SDK: Full support for C# and F# development
  • Python 3.12: Ready for data science, scripting, and web development
  • Bun: The incredibly fast JavaScript runtime that's changing how we think about performance
  • Ruby via rbenv: For Rails development or scripting needs

🤖 AI-Powered Development

Here's where it gets really exciting. The setup includes cutting-edge AI tools that are revolutionizing how we code:

  • Claude Code: Anthropic's AI coding assistant that can help write, debug, and explain code
  • GitHub Copilot CLI: AI pair programming right in your terminal
  • Ollama: Run large language models locally for privacy-conscious AI development
  • Windsurf: An AI-first development environment that understands your codebase

🔧 Essential Developer Tools

Beyond the basics, you get a complete toolkit:

  • Raycast: A productivity launcher that replaces Spotlight with superpowers. While the free version is incredibly powerful, Pro users get AI commands, cloud sync, and unlimited clipboard history
  • OrbStack: Lightning-fast, lightweight containers and Linux machines on macOS
  • Postman & Insomnia: API development and testing made easy
  • PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB: Popular databases ready to go
  • Docker Desktop: Containerization for consistent development environments

📊 DevOps and Cloud Ready

With tools like the Azure CLI, AWS CLI, and kubectl, you're immediately ready for cloud development and Kubernetes work. The setup even includes Terraform for infrastructure as code.

Modular Installation

Not everyone needs everything. The project brilliantly offers targeted installations for specific tools:

make homebrew      # Package manager foundation
make zsh           # Enhanced shell setup
make wezterm       # Terminal emulator
make vscode        # Visual Studio Code
make rider         # JetBrains Rider IDE
make dotnet        # .NET development stack
make nvm           # Node.js version manager
make python        # Python development
make docker        # Containerization
make postgresql    # PostgreSQL database
make redis         # Redis database
make mongodb       # MongoDB database
make raycast       # Productivity launcher
make claude-code   # AI coding assistant
make ollama        # Local AI models
# ... and many more individual tools

This modularity means you can install exactly what you need without bloating your system with tools you won't use.

Why This Matters

Time Savings

Setting up a development environment manually can take 4-6 hours. This project reduces it to minutes.

Consistency

Every machine gets the same configuration, eliminating "works on my machine" issues.

Best Practices Built-In

The configurations include years of collective wisdom from the development community – aliases, shortcuts, and settings that make you more productive from day one.

Future-Proof

With AI tools and modern runtimes included, you're not just ready for today's development – you're prepared for tomorrow's.

The Developer Experience Revolution

This project represents more than just automation; it's about respecting developers' time and mental energy. Instead of spending your first day with a new machine in setup hell, you can start building immediately.

The inclusion of AI tools is particularly forward-thinking. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into development workflows, having Claude Code, Copilot, and Ollama ready to go means you're immediately able to leverage these productivity multipliers.

Getting Started

Ready to revolutionize your Mac setup? Here's all you need:

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/tlopez92/mac-setup.git

  2. Navigate to the directory:

    cd mac-setup

  3. Run the installer:

    make all

  4. Grab a coffee ☕ – Your Mac is transforming into a development powerhouse.

Conclusion

The mac-setup project is a game-changer for developers who value their time and want to start productive work immediately. By automating the tedious setup process and including modern tools like AI assistants and cloud CLIs, it ensures you're not just ready for today's development challenges, but tomorrow's as well.

Whether you're a seasoned developer setting up a new machine or someone just starting their coding journey, this project eliminates the barriers between you and productive development. It's open source, actively maintained, and continuously evolving with the development ecosystem.

Stop wasting time on setup. Start building amazing things. Your future self will thank you.

Check out the mac-setup project on GitHub and star it if you find it useful. Contributions and suggestions are always welcome!