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Developer stack

Terminal, editor, runtimes, containers and a launcher: a Mac ready to code.

Developer

The minimum that turns a Mac fresh out of the box into a comfortable development machine.

Install order

  1. Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install. Homebrew needs them to build packages from source.
  2. Homebrew, with the one-line command on brew.sh.
  3. Everything else in one go, with the commands in the Installation section below.
  4. mise needs one line in your shell to take effect: echo 'eval "$(mise activate zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc, then open a new Terminal window.

Raycast and Spotlight

In macOS Tahoe, Spotlight gained clipboard history and quick actions, so try it for a week before replacing it. If you still prefer Raycast, set the shortcut that opens it in Raycast’s own settings.

Apps in this stack

  • Homebrew · package manager Free

    The package manager almost everything else is installed with. It officially supports macOS Sequoia 15 or later, and installs to /opt/homebrew on Apple silicon.

  • Ghostty · terminal Free

    Fast terminal with a native macOS interface and GPU acceleration. Free and open source (MIT). Needs macOS 13 or later.

  • Visual Studio Code · editor Free

    Microsoft's open-source code editor.

  • mise · runtimes Free

    Installs and switches the versions of Node, Python, Go and hundreds of other tools per project, and handles environment variables and tasks. Free and open source (MIT).

  • OrbStack · containers Freemium

    Runs Docker containers and Linux machines as a replacement for Docker Desktop. Free for personal use, paid for commercial use. Needs macOS 14 or later.

  • Raycast · launcher Freemium

    Launcher with clipboard history, snippets and window management in the free plan; Pro adds AI features and sync.

Installation

The apps available on Homebrew install with a single Terminal command. If you do not have Homebrew yet, start at brew.sh.

brew install mise
brew install --cask ghostty visual-studio-code orbstack raycast

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