MacOS setup

My installation steps for setting up a new Mac computer.

Essentials

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

# bat - better cat
brew install bat

Better Shell

# Oh my zsh
sh -c "$(wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

# Powerlevel10k theme
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

# Change theme in .zshrc
ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

# Syntax highlighting and auto suggestions
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

# Activate the plugin in ~/.zshrc:
plugins=(git zsh-syntax-highlighting zsh-autosuggestions)

Development

brew install git-delta
brew install httpie
brew install rbenv
brew install php
brew install yarn
brew install sass
brew install jq
      

Install Homebrew packages from list

Making a list of installed software

brew leaves > brews.txt

Next, I include installed casks in the same list:

brew list --cask >> brews.txt

This appends the cask list to brews.txt, giving me a complete list of all the packages I've explicitly installed.

Reviewing package descriptions

It is a good idea to check if you still need all packages on your new computer. I review my packages as follows:

cat brews.txt | xargs brew desc –eval-all

This command provides a short description for each package in your list.

Reinstalling on a new machine

Transfer your brews.txt file to the new computer, install Homebrew, and run:

xargs brew install < brews.txt

This installs all the packages listed in your file.