Overview

Mac setup, without the drift.

This repo is the public version of a personal rebuild guide. It keeps the stack honest: Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, zsh, Keyboard Maestro, VS Code, Codex, Claude, Antigravity, Obsidian, Logseq, MailMate, Shottr, Kap, Rectangle Pro, and the backup flow that fits NFS plus Google Drive.

Open Installer Run Verification
0 Homebrew formulae tracked in the repo
0 apps wired into the install data
0 presets exposed in the installer

Future-Self Flow

The quickest rebuild path is short on purpose. Anything not scriptable is called out explicitly.

  1. Install Homebrew and use the interactive installer to pick Minimal, Workstation, or Full.
  2. Run ./scripts/apply-macos-defaults.sh for Dock and Launchpad defaults.
  3. Restore app state for Vivaldi, Keyboard Maestro, Rectangle Pro, VS Code, Obsidian, and Karabiner.
  4. Run ./scripts/verify-setup.sh workstation and finish the remaining manual checks.

What This Site Optimizes For

It is not a generic “best Mac apps” list. It is a crisp rebuild guide for one specific working setup.

Bundle-first installs

Presets and group slices are generated from the same data source as the repo Brewfiles.

Minimal zsh

Only the useful parts stay. Legacy plugin habits do not get carried forward.

Keyboard-first workflow

Keyboard Maestro takes the launcher and clipboard role. Alfred and Raycast stay out.

Public and maintainable

The Pages site, scripts, and generated artifacts can be validated in CI before publishing.

Page Map

Use the site as either a linear checklist or a reference library.

Homebrew

Interactive installer with preset matching, group toggles, and copy-ready commands.

macOS Defaults

Trackpad, Dock, Launchpad, and the manual system settings that still need clicking.

Browser

Vivaldi as the default browser and DuckDuckGo as the default search engine.

Terminal

Dark zsh setup, minimal plugins, and no legacy shell extras.

Coding

VS Code, Codex, Claude, Antigravity, Volta, and the core development restore checklist.

Apps

The current app roster plus the exclusions that keep the stack from drifting again.

Backup

Kopia-based backup guidance for Google Drive, NFS mirrors, and versioned config exports.

Audit

Validation notes for the current package list, including replacements for stale projects.

Restore State

The manual bits that matter after installation: sync, licenses, shortcuts, and profile imports.

Post-Install

Scripts and checks to confirm the machine actually matches the documented setup.

Search

Site-wide search for pages, groups, bundles, and individual Homebrew package names.