Setting up a new Mac for work

Using Homebrew and the terminal

Mac
Homebrew
It can be tedious setting up a new computer. In this blog, I share my tricks for a more enjoyable experience
Author

Daniel S. Mazhari-Jensen

Published

June 5, 2026

Congrats with the your Mac!

It’s great getting a new computer - it’s faster, has more CPU/GPU, and it’s a great way to “start fresh”. However… fresh starts can be tedious, cumbersome and frustrating if you have to make a comprehensive setup. This blog post is for future me (and maybe you), if you need to start from scratch with your Mac OS.

Setting up a Mac

We need some basic functionality:

  1. Xcode A framework?
  2. Curl Internet API from the terminal
  3. Homebrew The package manager for Mac OS

For all the tools, we’ll use the terminal. Mac OS is a unix system and uses zsh as default.

A terminal uses an IDE (iTerm2) and a coding language underneath (bash/zsh). It’s benefinical to learn quickly!

Step 1: Xcode-select

Xcode-select —install

git —version

Step 2: Homebrew

/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL …

Follow “Next Steps”

echo >>

Step 3: Happy brew install

brew install gh

gh auth login

brew tap r-lib/rig

brew install —cask rig

rig add release

brew install —cask quarto

brew install —cask positron

brew install —cask zsh

brew install —cask iterm2

Bonus: Making the terminal a nicer placer to be

https://dev.to/gabriel_perez_337aabb5cfd/supercharge-your-mac-terminal-a-step-by-step-guide-to-iterm2-oh-my-zsh-powerlevel10k-41am

https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k

open -e ~/.zshrc open -e ~/.p10k.zsh

plugins=(git)

source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh

# User configuration
[[ ! -f ~/.p10k.zsh ]] || source ~/.p10k.zsh

brew install zsh-autosuggestions brew install zsh-syntax-highlighting brew install autojump

brew install just

brew install uv

brew install –cask raycast

install –cask discord

install –cask espanso

Future hotkeys to practice:

brew update brew outdated brew upgrade

upgrade_oh_my_zsh

I use a system-wide hotkey (ctrl + `) to open iTerm2 from anywhere.

option + space = Reycast

Minimize current window: Press Command (⌘) + M.

espanso restart # after adding things in match

terminal tricks

j espanso

will jump to the folder for making espanso scripts.