macbook-setup

A boring, rerunnable, inspectable macOS provisioning system for Apple Silicon Macs.

Quick Start

One command on a bare Mac (installs Xcode Command Line Tools, clones this repo, runs bootstrap):

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/peytonmscott/macbook-setup/main/install.sh)"

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/peytonmscott/macbook-setup.git ~/Developer/macbook-setup
cd ~/Developer/macbook-setup
./bootstrap.sh

After the first run, your role and Git identity are saved to .local.env (gitignored), so reruns are hands-free. Delete that file to be asked again.

Features

• One command to provision a new Mac.
• Role-based setup: personal or work.
• Idempotent — safe to rerun.
• Dry-run mode for testing changes.
• Boring Bash — no magic, easy to audit.

Structure

macbook-setup/
├── install.sh            # One-command installer (curl | bash)
├── bootstrap.sh          # Main entrypoint
├── config/               # Environment presets
├── scripts/              # Modular setup scripts
├── brew/                 # Brewfiles for packages
└── docs/                 # Documentation

Usage

Interactive (default)

./bootstrap.sh

Non-interactive

./bootstrap.sh --role personal --git-name "Your Name" --git-email "your.email@example.com"

With a dotfiles repo:

./bootstrap.sh --role personal --git-name "Your Name" --git-email "your.email@example.com" \
  --dotfiles-repo "https://github.com/yourusername/dotfiles.git"

Flags

Flag	Description
--role personal|work	Machine role
--git-name <name>	Git user name
--git-email <email>	Git user email
--dotfiles-repo <url>	Clone dotfiles from this Git repo
--skip-brew	Skip Homebrew installation
--skip-macos	Skip macOS settings
--skip-dotfiles	Skip dotfiles linking
--skip-packages	Skip package installation
--dry-run	Show what would be done
--help	Show usage

Role-Based Configuration

The --role flag controls which apps and settings get installed. This is useful if you have separate work and personal machines with different needs.

How It Works

• Common packages (brew/Brewfile.common) are installed on all machines
• Role-specific packages are installed based on --role personal or --role work
• Dock items are configured differently for each role
• macOS settings apply regardless of role

Work vs Personal

	Personal	Work
Extra packages	brew/Brewfile.personal	brew/Brewfile.work
Example apps	Discord, personal tools	Azure CLI, work tools
Dock items	Messages, Notes, App Store	(none extra)

Customizing Roles

1. Add packages: Edit brew/Brewfile.personal or brew/Brewfile.work
2. Add dock items: Edit scripts/dock.sh (search for MACHINE_ROLE)
3. Add env vars: Edit config/personal.env or config/work.env

Example Brewfile customization:

# brew/Brewfile.personal
cask "discord"
brew "spotify-tui"

# brew/Brewfile.work
brew "azure-cli"
cask "docker"

What It Does

1. Validates macOS
2. Asks for role, Git name, and email (if not provided)
3. Optionally clones your real dotfiles repo (via --dotfiles-repo or interactive prompt)
4. Installs Xcode Command Line Tools
5. Installs Homebrew
6. Installs packages via brew bundle
7. Configures Git
8. Creates ~/Developer
9. Symlinks dotfiles from your repo (with backups for conflicts)
10. Applies macOS settings (Dock, Finder, Keyboard, Menu Bar)
11. Installs Kotlin and Android CLI tools
12. Runs postflight checks and prints summary

If any package fails to install, the run continues and the final summary prints a brew bundle --file ... command to retry the failures. At the end you'll be offered a restart to apply all system settings.

Dotfiles

This repo does not ship fake dotfiles. Instead, it can optionally clone your real dotfiles repository:

• Flag: --dotfiles-repo https://github.com/yourusername/dotfiles.git
• Interactive: You'll be prompted for a repo URL during bootstrap (leave blank to skip)
• Auto-link: If your dotfiles repo follows the structure below, bootstrap.sh will symlink them automatically. If the repo has an install.sh, that will be run instead.

Expected dotfiles repo structure:

dotfiles/
├── zsh/zshrc              -> ~/.zshrc
├── git/gitignore_global   -> ~/.gitignore_global
├── ghostty/               -> ~/.config/ghostty
├── aerospace/aerospace.toml -> ~/.config/aerospace/aerospace.toml
├── nvim/                  -> ~/.config/nvim
├── starship/starship.toml -> ~/.config/starship.toml
└── yazi/                  -> ~/.config/yazi

If no dotfiles repo is provided, apps will use their default configs.

Safety

• Existing files are backed up with a timestamp before being replaced.
• Scripts use set -euo pipefail.
• Steps are skipped if already applied.

Manual Steps

See docs/manual-steps.md for remaining items.

License

MIT