Mac Vibe Coding Setup

Everything you need for AI-assisted development on macOS

setup areas

~2h

total setup time

∞

vibe unlocked

Shell & Terminal Emulator

Install Homebrew essential

The missing package manager for macOS — install this before anything else.

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

After install, run the two export PATH commands it gives you, or add them to your ~/.zshrc

Switch to iTerm2 essential

Far superior to the default Terminal. Split panes, search, profiles, themes, hotkey window.

brew install --cask iterm2

Enable "Hotkey Window" in Preferences → Keys → Hotkey so you can summon the terminal anywhere with a keystroke

Install Oh My Zsh essential

zsh is the default shell on Mac, Oh My Zsh turbocharges it with plugins, themes, and autocomplete.

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install Powerlevel10k theme essential

The best terminal prompt — shows git branch, node version, last command status, execution time, and more.

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git \ ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k # Then set in ~/.zshrc: ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k" # Run the config wizard: p10k configure

Install the "MesloLGS NF" font it recommends — needed for icons to render correctly

Essential zsh plugins essential

Add to your plugins=() in ~/.zshrc

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions \ ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git \ ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting # In ~/.zshrc set: plugins=(git node npm brew z zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Install useful CLI tools quality of life

brew install eza # better ls with icons + colors brew install bat # better cat with syntax highlighting brew install fzf # fuzzy finder — supercharges Ctrl+R history brew install ripgrep # blazingly fast grep (rg command) brew install fd # fast modern find replacement brew install zoxide # smarter cd that learns your dirs (z command) # Add to ~/.zshrc: eval "$(zoxide init zsh)" [ -f ~/.fzf.zsh ] && source ~/.fzf.zsh

Add aliases to ~/.zshrc: alias ls='eza --icons' and alias cat='bat'

Set up iTerm2 color scheme aesthetic

Download "Catppuccin Mocha" or "Tokyo Night" from iterm2colorschemes.com. Import via Preferences → Profiles → Colors → Color Presets.

Your AI-Powered IDE

Install Cursor AI-first 🔥 recommended

The definitive vibe coding IDE. Built on VS Code, deeply integrated with Claude and GPT-4. Tab autocomplete predicts entire functions, Composer writes multi-file features from a prompt.

brew install --cask cursor # or download from cursor.com

Enable "Cursor Tab" in Settings → Features, set model to claude-sonnet-4 in Composer

Alternative: VS Code + GitHub Copilot solid choice

If you prefer staying in VS Code, pair it with Copilot. More mature extension ecosystem.

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Must-have Cursor/VS Code extensions essential

ESLint

Catch errors as you type

Prettier

Auto-format on save

GitLens

Supercharged git blame

Error Lens

Errors inline in code

Thunder Client

API testing in editor

Auto Rename Tag

HTML tag sync rename

Path Intellisense

Autocomplete file paths

Dotenv

.env file highlighting

Install Claude Code AI-first

Anthropic's agentic CLI tool. Reads your entire codebase, writes and runs code, fixes bugs autonomously.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code # then in any project: claude

Set a beautiful font aesthetic

brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono brew install --cask font-fira-code

In settings.json: "editor.fontFamily": "'JetBrains Mono', Menlo, monospace" and "editor.fontLigatures": true

Configure settings.json essential

Press ⌘⇧P → "Open User Settings JSON"

{ "editor.fontFamily": "'JetBrains Mono', Menlo, Monaco, monospace", "editor.fontSize": 14, "editor.fontLigatures": true, "editor.formatOnSave": true, "editor.tabSize": 2, "editor.wordWrap": "on", "editor.minimap.enabled": false, "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true, "editor.guides.bracketPairs": true, "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "MesloLGS NF", "workbench.colorTheme": "One Dark Pro Darker" }

Runtime Environments

Node.js via nvm essential

Never install Node directly — use nvm to manage multiple versions without conflict.

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash # Reload shell (source ~/.zshrc), then: nvm install --lts nvm use --lts nvm alias default 'lts/*'

Python via pyenv essential

Manages Python versions cleanly — never touches your system Python that macOS depends on.

brew install pyenv # Add to ~/.zshrc: export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv" export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH" eval "$(pyenv init -)" # Install latest Python: pyenv install 3.12 pyenv global 3.12

Verify with: which python3 — should show ~/.pyenv/shims/python3, not /usr/bin/python3

Docker Desktop essential

Run databases, services, and entire stacks locally without polluting your machine.

brew install --cask docker

Set memory limit to 8GB in Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources

Essential Applications

Raycast 🔥 game changer

Replace Spotlight with Raycast. Instant app launcher, clipboard history, window management, snippets, and AI queries — all from one hotkey.

brew install --cask raycast

Enable Clipboard History (⌘⇧V), Window Management, and AI Chat extension

Arc Browser recommended

The best browser for developers — tab management, split view, built-in note spaces.

brew install --cask arc

TablePlus recommended

Beautiful native database GUI. Works with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, Redis, and more.

brew install --cask tableplus

Rectangle essential

Window snapping on Mac. Essential when juggling IDE + terminal + browser.

brew install --cask rectangle

Git Setup

Configure Git globals essential

git config --global user.name "Your Name" git config --global user.email "you@email.com" git config --global init.defaultBranch main git config --global pull.rebase false git config --global core.editor "cursor --wait" git config --global diff.colorMoved default git config --global merge.conflictstyle diff3

SSH key for GitHub essential

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@email.com" # Hit enter 3x for defaults # Copy to clipboard: cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy # Paste at: github.com → Settings → SSH keys → New SSH key # Test it: ssh -T git@github.com

Install GitHub CLI essential

brew install gh gh auth login # Then use like: gh repo clone owner/repo gh pr create --title "feat: add thing" --body "..." gh pr list

Install lazygit 🔥 must-have

Terminal UI for git that makes staging, rebasing, and cherry-picking delightfully visual.

brew install lazygit # Add alias to ~/.zshrc: alias lg='lazygit'

Create a global .gitignore essential

cat >> ~/.gitignore_global << EOF .DS_Store .env .env.local node_modules/ __pycache__/ *.pyc .venv/ .cursor/ EOF git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Vibe Coding Workflow Tips

Set up a CLAUDE.md in every project AI-first

Acts as persistent context for Claude Code and Cursor — tells the AI your stack, conventions, and preferences.

# CLAUDE.md example ## Project: [Name] ## Stack: Next.js 14, TypeScript, Tailwind, Prisma, PostgreSQL ## Conventions - Use named exports, not default exports - All components in /components, typed with TypeScript - API routes in /app/api following REST conventions - Always use Zod for input validation ## Commands - Dev: `npm run dev` - DB migration: `npx prisma migrate dev`

Use .cursorrules for Cursor AI behavior AI-first

# .cursorrules You are an expert in TypeScript, React, and Next.js 14 App Router. - Prefer functional components with hooks - Use Tailwind for all styling, never inline styles - Always add TypeScript types, never use `any` - Write self-documenting code, minimal comments - Use early returns to avoid nested conditionals - Always handle loading and error states

Set up useful shell aliases quality of life

# Add to ~/.zshrc # Navigation alias ..='cd ..' alias ...='cd ../..' # Dev shortcuts alias ni='npm install' alias nr='npm run' alias nrd='npm run dev' # Git shortcuts alias gs='git status' alias ga='git add .' alias gc='git commit -m' alias gp='git push' alias gl='git log --oneline --graph --color' # Quick edit configs alias zshrc='cursor ~/.zshrc' alias reload='source ~/.zshrc'

Enable macOS developer settings do these first

# Show hidden files in Finder defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES # Show file extensions always defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true # Faster key repeat defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 2 defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15 # Disable autocorrect defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false killall Finder && killall SystemUIServer

Install tldr for quick command help quality of life

brew install tldr # Example: tldr git rebase tldr docker

Track your setup progress. Click items to mark complete.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Install Homebrew

Install iTerm2

Install Oh My Zsh + Powerlevel10k

Add zsh plugins (autosuggestions + syntax highlight)

Configure macOS dev defaults

Phase 2 — IDE & AI

Install Cursor (or VS Code)

Install JetBrains Mono font

Configure settings.json in IDE

Install Claude Code CLI

Install essential IDE extensions

Phase 3 — Dev Tools

Install Node via nvm

Install Python via pyenv

Install Docker Desktop

Install Raycast (replace Spotlight)

Install Rectangle for window management

Phase 4 — Git

Configure git globals (name, email, defaults)

Create SSH key and add to GitHub

Install GitHub CLI (gh)

Install lazygit

Create global .gitignore

Phase 5 — Workflow

Add shell aliases to ~/.zshrc

Create a CLAUDE.md template for projects

Create a .cursorrules template

Install useful CLI tools (eza, bat, fzf, ripgrep)

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