Setting the Stage

Lienzo - Just as a painter relies on clean brushes and a well-prepared canvas, a software developer's artistry is deeply influenced by their chosen tools and materials. The right environment, frameworks, and applications provide the backdrop upon which code, like paint strokes, transforms into software masterpieces.

Automated Setup

The easiest way to set up this development environment is to use the automated setup script. For detailed instructions, please refer to the dotfiles repository README.

The automated script will guide you through an interactive setup process, allowing you to choose which tools to install. It handles all the steps described below in the correct order, making it the recommended approach for most users.

Foundational Dependencies

MacOS

xcode-select --install

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Build Essentials: A package of packages used for building software

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Git: A version control system.

sudo apt-get install git

ZSH: A shell we'll be extending to make our terminal more helpful

sudo apt-get install zsh

sudo chsh -s $(which zsh) $USER

Core Setup

MacOS

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

eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

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

eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Configure Your Tools

Before installing software, you need to decide which tools you'd like to use. The following categories of tools are available:

Essential Tools

These core command-line utilities form the foundation of your development environment:

• Stow: Symlink management for dotfiles
• Tmux: Terminal multiplexer for multiple sessions
• Neovim: Modern, enhanced Vim text editor
• Prettierd: Daemon for the Prettier code formatter
• Stylua: Lua code formatter
• YT-DLP: Media downloader
• FFmpeg: Media processing library
• LibYAML: YAML parser and emitter
• Silver Searcher (ag): Fast code search tool
• Ripgrep: Fast file content searcher
• Wget: File downloader
• JQ: JSON processor
• Git-Delta: Syntax-highlighting pager for git
• Mise: Modern runtime version manager

If installing manually, you can install essential tools with Homebrew:

Install all essential tools at once with Homebrew

brew install stow tmux neovim prettierd stylua yt-dlp ffmpeg libyaml the_silver_searcher ripgrep wget jq git-delta mise

Or install them individually:

• Install Stow for managing symlinks

brew install stow

• Install Tmux for terminal multiplexing

brew install tmux

• Install Neovim text editor

brew install neovim

• Install code formatters (Prettierd, Stylua)

brew install prettierd stylua

• Install media tools (yt-dlp, ffmpeg)

brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg

• Install search and utility tools

brew install libyaml the_silver_searcher ripgrep wget jq git-delta

• Install Mise runtime version manager

brew install mise

Development Editors & Environments

These are the programs where you'll spend most of your development time:

Visual Studio Code: A versatile code editor.

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

GitKraken: A powerful Git GUI client for version control.

brew install --cask gitkraken

Ghostty: A highly customizable terminal emulator.

brew install --cask ghostty

Browsers

Essential browsers for development and testing:

Firefox: The main browser for research with ad-blockers and extensions.

brew install --cask firefox

Chrome: A clean testing environment with minimal extensions.

brew install --cask google-chrome

Development Tools

Specialized tools for container and cloud development:

Rancher Desktop: Container management platform.

brew install --cask rancher

Kubectx: Tool for switching Kubernetes contexts.

brew install kubectx

Kube-ps1: Kubernetes prompt for bash and zsh.

brew install kube-ps1

Productivity Applications

Tools to help organize your work:

Obsidian: A powerful note-taking app for thoughts, ideas, and code snippets.

brew install --cask obsidian

MeetingBar: A handy tool for tracking meetings in your menu bar.

brew install --cask meetingbar

Utility Applications

Additional utilities to enhance your workflow:

Swish: Window management through gestures.

brew install --cask swish

Discord: Communication platform for communities.

brew install --cask discord

Raycast: Productivity launcher and replacement for Spotlight.

brew install --cask raycast

AnyDesk: Remote desktop software.

brew install --cask anydesk

HiddenBar: Cleanup your menu bar icons.

brew install --cask hiddenbar

1Password: Password manager and secure information storage.

brew install --cask 1password

Setting Up Language Environments

With mise (the modern runtime version manager), you can easily manage multiple programming language versions:

Activate mise:

eval "$(mise activate bash)"

Set up Node.js:

mise use --global node@22.15.1

Set up Python:

mise use --global python@3.12

Set up Ruby:

export RUBY_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--with-libyaml-dir=$(brew --prefix libyaml)"

mise use --global ruby@3.4.4

Shell Configuration

Terminal Enhancements

We'll set up several tools to make your terminal more powerful and user-friendly:

Install colorls for enhanced directory listings:

mise exec ruby -- gem install colorls

Install aider for AI-assisted coding:

mise exec python -- python -m pip install -U aider-chat

Install oh-my-zsh framework for managing zsh configuration:

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

Install spaceship prompt for an enhanced terminal experience:

Clone the spaceship prompt repository

git clone https://github.com/spaceship-prompt/spaceship-prompt.git "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/spaceship-prompt" --depth=1

Link the theme file

ln -sf "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/spaceship-prompt/spaceship.zsh-theme" "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/spaceship.zsh-theme"

Install zsh plugins for syntax highlighting and autosuggestions:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

Setup tmux plugin manager for extending your terminal multiplexer:

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

Nerd Fonts: Fonts with glyphs for shell and editors.

For macOS:

curl -fLo "$HOME/Library/Fonts/AnonymiceProNerdFontMono-Regular.ttf" https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/raw/master/patched-fonts/AnonymousPro/Regular/AnonymiceProNerdFontMono-Regular.ttf

For Linux:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/share/fonts"

curl -fLo "$HOME/.local/share/fonts/AnonymiceProNerdFontMono-Regular.ttf" https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/raw/master/patched-fonts/AnonymousPro/Regular/AnonymiceProNerdFontMono-Regular.ttf

fc-cache -f -v

Git Configuration

Setting up Git

Git is essential for version control. Let's configure it for use with GitHub:

Configure git user details if not already set:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"

git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Set default branch to main:

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Configure git to use global gitignore:

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore

Generate SSH key for GitHub:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"

Start SSH agent:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

Create SSH config:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh

echo "Host github.com" > ~/.ssh/config

echo "    AddKeysToAgent yes" >> ~/.ssh/config

echo "    UseKeychain yes" >> ~/.ssh/config

echo "    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519" >> ~/.ssh/config

Add key to keychain (platform-specific):

For macOS, add SSH key to the keychain with this terminal command

ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

For Linux, add SSH key to the agent with this terminal command

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add SSH key to GitHub:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

ssh -T git@github.com

Dotfiles Setup

Managing Configuration Files

Dotfiles help maintain consistent configurations across different machines:

Dotfiles: My preferred starting point for configuration files.

Clone the repository if you haven't already:

git clone https://github.com/lelopez-io/.dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles

Change to the dotfiles directory:

cd ~/.dotfiles

Use stow to create symlinks:

stow . --adopt

At this point, you can either:

Option 1: Keep changes from your existing configs:

git add . && git commit -m 'feat: adopt existing configs'

Option 2: Discard changes and use repo versions:

git restore .

stow . --restow

Set up additional symlinks:

ln -sf "$HOME/.dotfiles/.gitignore" "$HOME/.gitignore"

ln -sf "$HOME/.dotfiles/.env.aider" "$HOME/.env.aider"

Final Configuration Steps

After installing all components, you need to complete a few final steps to get everything working properly:

Install Tmux Plugins

tmux

Initialize Neovim Plugins

nvim

Configure Visual Studio Code

Launch VS Code and configure settings:

code

Option 1: Sign in to sync settings (recommended if you have existing settings):

• Click on the account icon in the bottom-left corner
• Select "Sign in to Sync Settings"
• Follow the prompts to sign in with your Microsoft or GitHub account
• Your previously saved settings, extensions, and preferences will be automatically restored

Option 2: Apply settings manually (for first-time setup):

• Open the settings JSON by pressing Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Linux)
• Type "Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)" and select it
• Copy the contents from the repository's settings file
• Paste these settings into your settings JSON file and save

Remap Caps Lock to Control

1. Reconfigure the Caps Lock key to function as Control:

   For macOS:

   • Open System Settings (or System Preferences)
   • Navigate to Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Modifier Keys
   • Change Caps Lock to Control
   • Click OK to apply the changes

   For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

   • Open Settings
   • Navigate to Keyboard → Additional Layout Options
   • Find "Caps Lock behavior" and select "Make Caps Lock an additional Ctrl"
   • Close the settings window

   Benefits of remapping Caps Lock:

   • Ergonomics: Reduces finger stretching by placing Control in the home row
   • Efficiency: Repurposes a rarely used key for frequent terminal and editor commands
   • Consistency: Follows Unix/Linux tradition of Control in the Caps Lock position
   • Vim/Terminal usage: Makes Control commands more accessible

Configure Raycast

1. Disable Spotlight's keyboard shortcut:

   • Open System Settings (or System Preferences)
   • Navigate to Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Spotlight
   • Uncheck "Show Spotlight search" or change its shortcut
   • Click OK to apply the changes

2. Set up Raycast as your productivity launcher:

   • Launch Raycast from your Applications folder
   • Follow the initial setup wizard
   • Configure hotkey (recommended: Cmd+Space to replace Spotlight)
   • Enable features during setup:
     • File search
     • Application launcher
   • Import your settings (if you have existing ones):
     • Open Raycast preferences
     • Go to Advanced
     • Click "Import Settings"
     • Select your settings backup file

That's it! Your development environment should now be set up and ready to go. If you encounter any issues, please refer to the specific tool's documentation or check for errors in the console output.

Additional Specialized Tools

For more specialized development needs, you can extend your setup with additional tools and languages. Here are some examples:

Additional Programming Languages

Extend your development capabilities with these programming languages:

Go:

mise use --global go@latest

Rust:

mise use --global rust@stable

Java:

mise use --global java@temurin-17

PHP:

mise use --global php@8.1

Cloud Development Tools

Essential tools for working with cloud providers:

AWS CLI:

brew install awscli

Azure CLI:

brew install azure-cli

Google Cloud SDK:

brew install --cask google-cloud-sdk