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Fresh Mac Setup

This is everything I install and setup on a fresh Mac machine.

Things I Install

  1. Little Snitch
  2. SoundSource
  3. TailScale
  4. iStat Menus
  5. Starship
  6. Slack
  7. Discord
  8. Homebrew
  9. Magnet
  10. brew install sox (for the play command)
  11. VS Code
  12. GitHub CLI
  13. Affinity Suite
  14. nvm
  15. Karabiner Elements
  16. Daisy Disk
  17. Docker
  18. Autodesk Fusion
  19. Bambu Studio
  20. AWS CLI

Things I Setup

  1. GitHub SSH key

    1. generate key

    2. Add to config:

      Host github.com
      HostName github.com
      User git
      AddKeysToAgent yes
      UseKeychain yes
      IdentitiesOnly yes
      IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_github
    3. Upload pub key to GitHub

  2. Faster Dock:

    defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -int 0
    defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.1
  3. App Switcher on all screens: defaults write com.apple.dock appswitcher-all-displays -bool true

  4. Copy all VS Code settings and extensions by copying the following folders (then run the Custom UI Style: Reload command):

    • ~/.vscode
    • ~/Library/Application Support/Code
  5. Copy Affinity settings from:

    • ~/Library/Application Support/Affinity Designer 2
    • ~/Library/Application Support/Affinity Photo 2
  6. Copy Fonts from ~/Library/Fonts

  7. Copy Quick Actions from ~/Library/Services

    • Then enable them all in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Finder (or other locations)
  8. Install VS Code CLI with the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command in VS Code

  9. Copy Terminal settings: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Terminal.plist

  10. Copy Karabiner Elements settings: ~/.config/karabiner

  11. Copy zshrc: ~/.zshrc

  12. Copy ThreadKeeper Fusion plugin and saved threads: ~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns/ThreadKeeper

  13. Setup git.

    1. Setup user: git config --global --edit
    2. Fix push default: git config --global push.default current
    1. Fix branch order sort: git config --global branch.sort -committerdate
    2. Prevent auto branch tracking: git config --global branch.autoSetupMerge false
  14. Setup commit key signing (https://electrovir.com/2025-09-08-commit-signing)

  15. Disable key-hold accents: defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

  16. Disable automatic sleeping: sudo pmset -a sleep 0

  17. Install the latest git: brew install git

  18. Install the latest bash: brew install bash

  19. Copy Bambu Studio configs: ``