macOS Setup — Homebrew Edition

A centralized, reproducible macOS environment managed entirely through Homebrew — one package manager to rule them all.

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Prerequisites — Install Homebrew

Homebrew is the backbone of this setup. Install it first before running anything else.

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

Apple Silicon users: After installation, follow the instructions in the terminal to add Homebrew to your PATH.

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Interactive Installation

Once Homebrew is installed, run the setup script to interactively select and install what you want:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Black0S/My-MacOS-Setup/main/install.sh)"

The script presents a terminal GUI — use SPACE to select, / to filter by category or name, ENTER to install.

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Package Catalogue

🌐 Browsers

App	Brew Name	Description
Zen Browser	zen-browser	Privacy-focused Firefox-based browser
Firefox	firefox	Mozilla's open-source browser
Firefox Developer Edition	firefox-developer-edition	Firefox with enhanced dev tools
Firefox Nightly	firefox-nightly	Bleeding-edge Firefox builds
Google Chrome	google-chrome	Google's browser
Chrome Canary	google-chrome-canary	Nightly Chrome builds for developers
Opera	opera	Feature-rich Chromium browser
Opera GX	opera-gx	Gaming-focused Opera variant
Opera Developer	opera-developer	Experimental Opera builds
Min	min	Minimalist, distraction-free browser
Brave	brave-browser	Privacy-first browser with built-in ad blocking
Arc	arc	Innovative sidebar-based browser by The Browser Company
Vivaldi	vivaldi	Highly customizable Chromium browser
Microsoft Edge	microsoft-edge	Microsoft's Chromium browser
Tor Browser	tor-browser	Anonymous browsing via the Tor network
LibreWolf	librewolf	Hardened, privacy-focused Firefox fork
Orion	orion	WebKit browser with Firefox & Chrome extension support
Mullvad Browser	mullvad-browser	Privacy browser co-developed with the Tor Project
Waterfox	waterfox	Independent Firefox-based browser
Helium	helium	Chromium-based browser, no telemetry, no ads, uBlock Origin built-in

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🖥 Terminals

App	Brew Name	Description
Ghostty	ghostty	Fast, feature-rich terminal emulator
iTerm2	iterm2	Powerful macOS terminal replacement
Warp	warp	AI-powered modern terminal
Alacritty	alacritty	GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal
Kitty	kitty	GPU-based terminal with extensible protocol
Hyper	hyper	Electron-based, hackable terminal
Wave	wave	Open-source AI-integrated terminal
Tabby	tabby	Highly configurable modern terminal
Termius	termius	SSH client and terminal manager
Rio	rio	Hardware-accelerated terminal emulator

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📝 Editors & IDEs

App	Brew Name	Description
Visual Studio Code	visual-studio-code	Extensible code editor by Microsoft
Cursor	cursor	AI-first VSCode fork
Windsurf	windsurf	Codeium's AI-native editor
Zed	zed	Blazing-fast collaborative editor
Nova	nova	Native macOS code editor by Panic
Sublime Text	sublime-text	Lightweight, extensible text editor
JetBrains Toolbox	jetbrains-toolbox	Unified manager for all JetBrains IDEs
Neovim	neovim	Hyperextensible Vim-based editor
Helix	helix	Post-modern modal text editor
Micro	micro	Modern, intuitive terminal-based editor

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🐳 Containers & Virtualisation

App	Brew Name	Description
OrbStack	orbstack	Lightweight Docker & Linux VM manager
Docker Desktop	docker	Official Docker Desktop for Mac
Podman Desktop	podman-desktop	Daemonless, rootless container engine
Rancher Desktop	rancher	Kubernetes and container management
Lima	lima	Linux virtual machines for macOS (CLI)

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🎬 Media Players

App	Brew Name	Description
IINA	iina	Modern open-source media player
VLC	vlc	Universal, open-source media player
MPV	mpv	Scriptable, minimalist media player

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🚀 Productivity & Launchers

App	Brew Name	Description
Raycast	raycast	Productivity launcher and command palette
Alfred	alfred	Powerful launcher with Powerpack workflows
Rectangle	rectangle	Window manager with keyboard shortcuts
Ice	ice	Open-source menu bar manager
Bartender	bartender	Advanced menu bar organizer
Maccy	maccy	Lightweight open-source clipboard manager
PopClip	popclip	Instant text-selection actions toolbar
Lungo	lungo	Prevent Mac from sleeping
Yoink	yoink	Improved drag-and-drop shelf

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🔐 Security & Privacy

App	Brew Name	Description
1Password	1password	Premium password manager
Bitwarden	bitwarden	Open-source password manager
Little Snitch	little-snitch	Outbound network traffic monitor
Proxyman	proxyman	HTTP/HTTPS traffic debugger
Wireshark	wireshark	Network protocol analyser
Sentinel	alienator88-sentinel	Gatekeeper status manager

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🗂 Files & Archives

App	Brew Name	Description
Keka	keka	File archiver supporting many formats
The Unarchiver	the-unarchiver	Multi-format archive extractor
Cyberduck	cyberduck	FTP/SFTP/cloud storage browser
Transmit	transmit	Fast, native file transfer app
Pearcleaner	pearcleaner	Open-source app uninstaller

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🛠 Developer Tools

App	Brew Name	Description
TablePlus	tableplus	Modern GUI for databases
Insomnia	insomnia	API design and testing client
Postman	postman	API development platform
Fork	fork	Fast and friendly Git client
SourceTree	sourcetree	Atlassian's free Git GUI
Tower	tower	Professional Git client
Dash	dash	Offline API documentation browser
DevUtils	devutils	All-in-one developer toolkit
Stats	stats	macOS system monitor in the menu bar

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🎨 Design & Screenshots

App	Brew Name	Description
Figma	figma	Collaborative interface design tool
Sketch	sketch	Native macOS UI design app
CleanShot X	cleanshot	Screenshot and screen recording tool
Shottr	shottr	Fast screenshot tool with annotations

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📚 Knowledge & Notes

App	Brew Name	Description
Obsidian	obsidian	Markdown-based personal knowledge base
Notion	notion	All-in-one workspace and notes

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⌨️ macOS Utilities

App	Brew Name	Description
KeyClu	keyclu	Keyboard shortcut cheat sheet overlay
Karabiner-Elements	karabiner-elements	Powerful keyboard remapper
BetterTouchTool	bettertouchtool	Custom gestures and automation

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🐚 CLI Tools & Shells

Tool	Brew Name	Description
Nushell	nushell	Modern shell with structured data pipelines
Fish	fish	Smart, user-friendly shell
Starship	starship	Cross-shell minimal prompt
tmux	tmux	Terminal multiplexer
Lazygit	lazygit	Terminal UI for Git commands
bat	bat	cat clone with syntax highlighting
eza	eza	Modern replacement for ls
fd	fd	Fast, user-friendly find alternative
fzf	fzf	Command-line fuzzy finder
ripgrep	ripgrep	Lightning-fast recursive grep
zoxide	zoxide	Smarter cd with frecency
gh	gh	Official GitHub CLI
htop	htop	Interactive process viewer
bottom	bottom	Cross-platform system monitor TUI
jq	jq	Command-line JSON processor
yq	yq	Command-line YAML/JSON processor
mas	mas	Mac App Store command-line interface

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Quick Install (no GUI)

# Browsers
brew install --cask firefox google-chrome brave-browser arc zen-browser

# Terminals
brew install --cask ghostty iterm2 warp alacritty

# Editors
brew install --cask visual-studio-code cursor zed
brew install neovim

# Containers
brew install --cask orbstack podman-desktop

# Media
brew install --cask iina vlc
brew install mpv

# CLI essentials
brew install nushell starship bat eza fd fzf ripgrep zoxide lazygit gh

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Maintenance

brew update && brew upgrade   # Update Homebrew and all packages
brew cleanup                  # Remove old versions
brew doctor                   # Diagnose issues
brew leaves                   # List explicitly installed packages

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Why Homebrew?

• Reproducible — same commands, same environment on any Mac
• Auditable — everything is declared, nothing is hidden
• Maintainable — one command updates it all
• Scriptable — trivial to automate, version-control, or share

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Use the interactive install script to pick only what you need — no bloat, no surprises.