MacOS

Command Line Interface

Tools I recommend you install on MacOS

Summary

Tool	Purpose	Example
Powerlevel 10k	Zsh theme for speed and flexibility	`p10k configure`
nvm	Node Version Manager	`nvm install stable`
node	JavaScript runtime	`node --version`
npm	Node package manager	`npm install -g pnpm`
pnpm	Disk space efficient package manager	`pnpm --version`
bun	Fast all-in-one JavaScript runtime	`bun --version`
rustup	Rust toolchain installer	`rustup default stable && rustupupdate`
cargo	Rust package manager	`cargo install just`
just	Command runner	`just`
eza	Modern replacement for `ls`	`eza`
fd	Simple, fast alternative to `find`	`fd pattern`
ripgrep	Fast alternative to `grep`	`rg pattern`
ast-grep	Structural search and replace	`ast-grep`
bat	`cat` clone with syntax highlighting	`bat file.txt`
zoxide	Smarter `cd` command	`z directory`
git-delta	Syntax-highlighting pager for git	`delta`
uv	Fast Python package manager	`uv tool install httpie`
pre-commit	Git hook management framework	`pre-commit install`
httpie	Modern command-line HTTP client	`http GET example.com`
lazygit	Terminal UI for git	`lazygit`
fzf	Command-line fuzzy finder	`fzf`
jq	Command-line JSON processor	`jq .`

Powerlevel 10k

Powerlevel10k is a theme for Zsh. It emphasizes speed, flexibility and out-of-the-box experience.

Terminal

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

Fonts can be downloaded and installed via this tip's link.

Manual font installation

Download these four ttf files:
Double-click on each file and click "Install". This will make MesloLGS NF font available to all applications on your system.
Configure your terminal to use this font:
- iTerm2: Type p10k configure and answer Yes when asked whether to install Meslo Nerd Font. Alternatively, open iTerm2 → Preferences → Profiles → Text and set Font to MesloLGS NF.
- Apple Terminal: Open Terminal → Preferences → Profiles → Text, click Change under Font and select MesloLGS NF family.
- Hyper: Open Hyper → Edit → Preferences and change the value of fontFamily under module.exports.config to MesloLGS NF.
- Visual Studio Code: Open File → Preferences → Settings (PC) or Code → Preferences → Settings (Mac), enter terminal.integrated.fontFamily in the search box at the top of Settings tab and set the value below to MesloLGS NF. Consult this screenshot to see how it should look like or see this issue for extra information.
- Ghostty: Open Menu → Open Configuration (Linux) or Ghostty → Settings... (Mac) and add the following line:
```
font-family = "MesloLGS NF"
```

Node Version Manager: Node, NPM, and Bun

Learn how to install the npm with nvm!

Terminal

nvm on
nvm install stable
nvm use stable
node --version
npm --version
npm               # to see if there is a version to upgrade to
npm install -g bun
# npm install -g bun@1.2.4  # (to upgrade or use a specific version of `bun`)
npm install -g pnpm
# npm install -g pnpm@9.0.0  # (to upgrade or use a specific version of `npm`)
bun --version
pnpm --version

Rust

Learn how to install the rustup utility and the cargo package manager!

Terminal

rustup default stable
rustup update

Rust Tools

Terminal

cargo install just --locked
cargo install eza --locked
cargo install fd-find --locked
cargo install ripgrep --locked
cargo install ast-grep --locked
cargo install bat --locked
cargo install zoxide --locked
cargo install git-delta --locked

Python

My recommendation for new Python projects is to use uv package manager, which is an extremely fast Python package and project manager, written in Rust..

Learn how to install the uv package manager!

Python tools

Terminal

uv tool install --python 3.14 pre-commit --with pre-commit-uv
uv tool install --python 3.14 httpie

The documentation for httpie calls to install with pip, but on MacOS, there is a openssl issue, so we install with uv tool, which uses a python installation it manages, not the system python.

Terminal

/Users/iancleary/.local/share/uv/tools/httpie/lib/python3.9/site-packages/urllib3/__init__.py:35: NotOpenSSLWarning: urllib3 v2 only supports OpenSSL 1.1.1+, currently the 'ssl' module is compiled with 'LibreSSL 2.8.3'. See: https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/issues/3020

Again, when using uv tool, this issue goes away, since we are not using the system python installation.

Go tools

Terminal

go install github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit@latest

Use p to pull Use Shift + P to push to the current branch

MacPorts

Terminal

sudo port install fzf
sudo port install jq

Development Applications and Tools

Tools I recommend you install on MacOS

ZSH Configuration

.zshrc configuration recommendations