Set up an OSX machine from zero to awesome. Uses Homebrew (and cask, fonts, etc). Focused on Ruby/Rails development, includes rvm, xquartz, editor fonts, sublime text, and many tools.

osx-setup.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Generic macOS workstation setup
#
# A pragmatic, public bootstrap for developer / technical-productivity Macs.
# It installs Homebrew, common CLI utilities, runtimes, terminal/editor/agentic
# coding apps, viewers, media tools, and a curated font set.
#
# Philosophy:
# - Open-source / cross-platform first.
# - Commercial apps only when explicitly useful/common for this workflow.
# - Excludes project/hobby/local-infra apps (games, CAD/3D printing,
#   electronics, Home Assistant, OBS, Syncthing, etc.).
#
# Usage:
#   bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://gist.githubusercontent.com/somebox/6b00f47451956c1af6b4/raw/osx-setup.sh)"
#
# Environment flags:
#   INSTALL_CASKS=0   # install CLI tools only
#   INSTALL_FONTS=0   # skip fonts
#   APPLY_DEFAULTS=1  # apply a small set of macOS defaults (off by default)

set -euo pipefail

INSTALL_CASKS="${INSTALL_CASKS:-1}"
INSTALL_FONTS="${INSTALL_FONTS:-1}"
APPLY_DEFAULTS="${APPLY_DEFAULTS:-0}"

bold() { printf '\033[1m%s\033[0m\n' "$*"; }
ok()   { printf '\033[1;32m✓ %s\033[0m\n' "$*"; }
warn() { printf '\033[1;33m! %s\033[0m\n' "$*"; }

if [[ "$(uname)" != "Darwin" ]]; then
  echo "This script is macOS-only." >&2
  exit 1
fi

bold "macOS workstation setup"

# --- Xcode command line tools ---
if xcode-select -p >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  ok "Xcode Command Line Tools installed"
else
  warn "Installing Xcode Command Line Tools (a GUI prompt may appear)..."
  xcode-select --install || true
  warn "Re-run this script after Command Line Tools finish installing."
  exit 0
fi

# --- Homebrew ---
if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  ok "Homebrew installed"
else
  warn "Installing Homebrew..."
  /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
fi

# Apple Silicon vs Intel brew shellenv
if [[ -x /opt/homebrew/bin/brew ]]; then
  eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
elif [[ -x /usr/local/bin/brew ]]; then
  eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"
fi

BREWFILE="$(mktemp)"
trap 'rm -f "$BREWFILE"' EXIT

cat > "$BREWFILE" <<'BREWFILE'
# --- Cross-platform base utilities ---
brew "bat"                  # cat with syntax highlighting
brew "chezmoi"              # dotfile manager
brew "cloc"                 # count lines of code
brew "d2"                   # diagrams from text
brew "direnv"               # per-directory env vars
brew "eza"                  # modern ls replacement
brew "fastfetch"            # system info summary
brew "fd"                   # friendly find
brew "fzf"                  # fuzzy finder
brew "gh"                   # GitHub CLI
brew "git"                  # version control
brew "git-filter-repo"      # rewrite git history safely
brew "gnupg"                # gpg crypto tools
brew "gping"                # ping with graph
brew "grc"                  # colorize command output
brew "htop"                 # fancy top with color TUI
brew "jq"                   # JSON processor
brew "just"                 # command runner
brew "lazygit"              # git TUI
brew "lynx"                 # terminal web browser
brew "most"                 # pager with colors
brew "nmap"                 # network scanner
brew "pinentry"             # gpg password prompts
brew "pv"                   # pipe progress viewer
brew "pwgen"                # password generator
brew "ripgrep"              # fast grep
brew "rsync"                # file sync/copy
brew "sevenzip"             # 7z archive tool
brew "sqlite"               # sqlite database CLI
brew "starship"             # fast shell prompt
brew "tig"                  # git history TUI
brew "tldr"                 # short command examples
brew "tree"                 # directory tree view
brew "trippy"               # network route TUI
brew "trufflehog"           # secret scanner
brew "uv"                   # fast Python package tool
brew "vim"                  # terminal editor
brew "watch"                # repeat command viewer
brew "wget"                 # download files
brew "yq"                   # YAML processor
brew "zoxide"               # smarter cd

# --- Shell / terminal niceties ---
brew "asciinema"            # terminal recorder
brew "cmatrix"              # terminal screensaver
brew "cowsay"               # silly text cows
brew "figlet"               # ASCII art text
brew "glances"              # system monitor TUI
brew "lolcat"               # rainbow text output
brew "multitail"            # tail many logs
brew "sl"                   # steam locomotive joke
brew "tty-clock"            # terminal clock
brew "wtfutil"              # personal dashboard TUI

# --- Runtimes + build basics ---
brew "cmake"                # build system generator
brew "deno"                 # TypeScript runtime
brew "go"                   # Go compiler/toolchain
brew "ninja"                # fast build tool
brew "node"                 # JavaScript runtime
brew "pipx"                 # Python CLI app installer
brew "python@3.13"          # Python runtime
brew "rustup"               # Rust toolchain installer

# --- DevOps / containers ---
brew "docker-compose"       # compose CLI plugin/tool
brew "kubernetes-cli"       # kubectl

# --- Networking ---
brew "mtr"                  # traceroute + ping
brew "speedtest-cli"        # internet speed test

# --- Media / conversion / viewer support ---
brew "exiftool"             # inspect media metadata
brew "ffmpeg"               # audio/video Swiss army knife
brew "flac"                 # FLAC audio tools
brew "imagemagick"          # image conversion tools
brew "lame"                 # MP3 encoder
brew "mp3info"              # MP3 metadata tool
brew "mpg123"               # MP3 player
brew "mpg321"               # MP3 player fallback
brew "vorbis-tools"         # Ogg/Vorbis tools
brew "yt-dlp"               # video/audio downloader

# --- macOS app management ---
brew "mas"                  # Mac App Store CLI

# --- Common macOS apps: productivity, dev, terminal, viewers, agentic coding ---
# Open-source / cross-platform first. Commercial exceptions intentionally kept:
# 1Password, Claude/Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Obsidian, Docker Desktop, Spotify.
cask "1password"            # password manager
cask "1password-cli"        # 1Password terminal CLI
cask "audacity"             # audio editor
cask "claude"               # Claude desktop app
cask "claude-code"          # Claude coding agent
cask "cursor"               # AI code editor
cask "db-browser-for-sqlite" # SQLite GUI browser
cask "docker-desktop"       # Docker Desktop app
cask "firefox"              # open-source browser
cask "ghostty"              # minimalist powerful terminal
cask "handbrake-app"        # video transcoder
cask "inkscape"             # vector graphics editor
cask "obsidian"             # local markdown notes
cask "opencode-desktop"     # agentic coding desktop
cask "qlmarkdown"           # QuickLook markdown preview
cask "signal"               # secure messaging
cask "spotify"              # music streaming
cask "stats"                # menu bar system stats
cask "visual-studio-code"   # code editor
cask "vlc"                  # media player

# --- Fonts ---
# Curated favorites for terminal, IDEs, and UI work. Keep this list selective;
# Ghostty bundles JetBrains Mono Nerd Font glyphs, but these are preferred
# across editors, terminals, and design/dev workstations.
cask "font-departure-mono"  # retro monospace terminal font
cask "font-maple-mono"      # clean coding monospace
cask "font-monaspace"       # GitHub coding font family
cask "font-mononoki-nerd-font" # compact nerd font
cask "font-inconsolata"     # classic monospace
cask "font-source-code-pro" # Adobe coding font
cask "font-inter"           # readable UI sans
cask "font-inter-tight"     # compact UI sans
cask "font-lexend"          # accessibility-focused sans
cask "font-league-spartan"  # bold geometric display font
cask "font-exo"             # geometric tech sans
cask "font-grandstander"    # playful display font
cask "font-doto"            # dotted display font
cask "font-powerline-symbols" # terminal prompt symbols

BREWFILE

if [[ "$INSTALL_CASKS" != "1" ]]; then
  warn "INSTALL_CASKS=0 set; removing casks from temporary Brewfile."
  sed -i.bak '/^cask /d' "$BREWFILE"
fi

if [[ "$INSTALL_FONTS" != "1" ]]; then
  warn "INSTALL_FONTS=0 set; removing font casks from temporary Brewfile."
  sed -i.bak '/^cask "font-/d' "$BREWFILE"
fi

warn "Running brew bundle..."
brew bundle --file="$BREWFILE" --no-upgrade || {
  warn "brew bundle reported errors. Some GUI casks may require interactive sudo."
  warn "Re-run manually with: brew bundle --file=$BREWFILE"
}

# --- Optional macOS defaults ---
if [[ "$APPLY_DEFAULTS" == "1" ]]; then
  warn "Applying small set of macOS defaults..."
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 2
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
  defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true
  defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
  defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
  defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
  killall Dock >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
  killall Finder >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
fi

cat <<'NEXT'

Done.

Recommended next steps:
  1. Open a new shell.
  2. Authenticate GitHub CLI: gh auth login
  3. Configure your dotfiles (optional): chezmoi init --apply <your-repo>
  4. If you installed fzf: $(brew --prefix)/opt/fzf/install

This gist is intentionally generic. Personal/project-specific setup belongs in
your private dotfiles repo.
NEXT

Please note the following issues/concerns/errors upon install:

1. Pouring qt-5.11.0.high_sierra.bottle.tar.gz ==> Caveats We agreed to the Qt open source license for you. If this is unacceptable you shoulduninstall.`

This formula is keg-only, which means it was not symlinked into /usr/local, because Qt 5 has CMake issues when linked.

If you need to have this software first in your PATH run: _echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/qt/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc_

For compilers to find this software you may need to set: LDFLAGS: _-L/usr/local/opt/qt/lib_ CPPFLAGS: _-I/usr/local/opt/qt/include_ For pkg-config to find this software you may need to set: _PKG_CONFIG_PATH: /usr/local/opt/qt/lib/pkgconfig_

2. Pouring lua-5.3.4_4.high_sierra.bottle.tar.gz ==> Caveats Please be aware due to the way Luarocks is designed any binaries installed via Luarocks-5.3 AND 5.1 will overwrite each other in _/usr/local/bin_.

This is, for now, unavoidable. If this is troublesome for you, you can build rocks with the --tree= command to a special, non-conflicting location and then add that to your **$PATH**.

3. Error: Cask 'font-droid-sans' is unavailable: No Cask with this name exists. Did you mean one of these? **font-droid-sans-mono-for-powerline font-droidsansmono-nerd-font-mono font-droidsansmono-nerd-font**

4. Error: Cask **'google-drive'** is unavailable: No Cask with this name exists. Did you mean “google-drive-file-stream”? y

5. Error: Cask **'picturelife'** is unavailable: No Cask with this name exists.

Updated with modern dev environment (docker, ghostty, claude, etc.) and removed outdated osx and libs from the old days :)