
Mostly on a MacBook Pro now, with a Mac Mini (M4, 16GB, 512GB) at the desk. Very different setup from 2025.

A year is a long time in 2026. The AI coding tools I was running in May 2025 are mostly gone from my dock. Here's the toolkit I'd put on a fresh Mac today.

---

## 🧰 Core tools

- **[Homebrew](https://brew.sh)**. Still the package manager for everything.
- **zsh + [oh-my-zsh](https://ohmyz.sh)**. Config stays small; fast startup matters.
- **[iTerm2](https://iterm2.com)**. Still my daily terminal. [Ghostty](https://ghostty.org) is on the list to try.
- **[fnm](https://github.com/Schniz/fnm)**. Rust-based Node version manager. Drop-in replacement for nvm, ~10x faster shell startup.
- **[bun](https://bun.sh)** for anything where Node feels slow.
- **[uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)**. Python package and project manager. Quietly replaced pip and virtualenv for me.
- **[pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv)**. Kept around for legacy Python projects.

---

## 🤖 The 2026 AI coding stack

This is the section that aged fastest from the 2025 post, so it gets the most attention.

I used [Windsurf](https://windsurf.com) for about 5 months, then [Cursor](https://cursor.com) for another 5 or 6. Both were good. Both got replaced once terminal-native agents got good enough. Today I use three:

- **[Codex](https://openai.com/codex)** for long, delegated work. Parallel worktrees, multiple agents on different branches, while I do something else. Best when I want to come back to a finished result and review it.
- **[Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)** is my default for anything I want to stay in the loop on. Lives in the repo, plays well with MCP servers, fits the "agent operating inside my project" mode.
- **[Antigravity](https://antigravity.google)**. I open it sometimes as an IDE to _see_ the code an agent produced, scroll the diff, or make a focused manual edit. Not my daily editor.

Setting up a Mac today and only want to install one? Start with Claude Code.

---

## 📦 Daily drivers

- **[Raycast](https://www.raycast.com)**. Launcher and snippet expansion. The thing I open most after the browser.
- **[Rectangle](https://rectangleapp.com)**. Window snapping.
- **[Flycut](https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut)**. Clipboard manager.
- **[VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com)**. Plain editor when I don't want an agent in the way.
- **[Wispr Flow](https://wisprflow.ai)**. Voice-to-text everywhere. Faster than typing for messages and prompts.
- **[Notion](https://www.notion.so)**. Work and personal notes.
- **[Tailscale](https://tailscale.com)**. Private mesh between my machines.
- **[Chrome](https://www.google.com/chrome/)**. Default browser.
- **[Slack](https://slack.com)**, **[Discord](https://discord.com)**, **[WhatsApp](https://www.whatsapp.com)** for comms.
- **[Figma](https://www.figma.com)**. Design and the occasional spec.
- **[Spotify](https://www.spotify.com)** for music.

---

## ⚙️ CLI toolbelt

Stuff I install on every machine and then forget I'm using:

```sh
brew install gh ripgrep tmux tig htop jq pandoc \
  ffmpeg imagemagick whisper-cpp nmap ngrok \
  stripe cloudflare-wrangler render asc gemini-cli
```

- `gh` for GitHub from the terminal.
- `rg` for search. Replaced `grep` in my muscle memory.
- `tmux`, `tig` for sessions and a sane Git browser.
- `whisper-cpp` for local transcription.
- Cloud CLIs (`wrangler`, `render`, `stripe`, `asc`, etc.). Install the ones you actually deploy to.

---

## 🧠 Personal shell ergonomics

A few aliases and functions from my `.zshrc` that pull their weight:

```sh
# Project jumps
alias pj="cd ~/projects"

# npm shortcuts
alias nd="npm run dev"
alias nb="npm run build"
alias ni="npm install"

# Claude Code, too useful to type out
alias c="claude"
alias cladue="claude"   # because I mistype it constantly

# Quick git worktree on a new branch
wt() {
  local branch="$1"
  local dir="../$(basename "$PWD")__${branch//\//-}"
  git worktree add -b "$branch" "$dir" && cd "$dir"
}
```

The `wt` helper became essential once I started running multiple agents in parallel. Each one gets its own worktree.

---

## 🧷 System tweaks

Faster keyboard repeat:

```sh
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 1
```

Disable auto-correct (it fights you in the terminal):

```sh
defaults write -g NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false
```

---

## 🗝 Bonus setup

**Xcode Command Line Tools** (Git, compilers, etc.):

```sh
xcode-select --install
```

**Git identity:**

```sh
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
```

**SSH key for GitHub:**

```sh
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```

**Claude Code with MCP servers.** Once Claude Code is installed, wire up the MCP servers you actually use (Linear, GitHub, Playwright, etc.).

**Project folder:**

```sh
mkdir ~/projects
```

---

## 📚 Resources

- [Setting Up Mac for Development (2025)](https://amankumar.ai/blogs/setup-new-mac-tools) (previous edition)
- [ZSH Aliases for Productivity](https://amankumar.ai/blogs/zsh-aliases-productivity)
- [fnm](https://github.com/Schniz/fnm) · [uv](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv) · [Raycast](https://www.raycast.com)
- [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) · [Codex](https://openai.com/codex) · [Antigravity](https://antigravity.google)


The current toolkit and the AI coding stack I'd put on a fresh Mac today. A year after my 2025 setup.

Hey, I'm Aman

AI Engineer

Setting Up Mac for Development [May 2026]