dotfiles

@psrth's opinionated dotfiles / machine setup for macOS.

about

this repository began as more of a personal essay for vim over emacs, but over the years has evolved into a single source-of-truth for how i like to manage my macOS machines. includes:

1. terminal config: minimal, performant and easy-to-use
2. brewfile: installation for apps that i love to use daily
3. symlinks + syncs: framework to keep data backed up in the cloud
4. skills: tooling for my AI agents

components

features

• shell: zsh with custom configuration
• prompt: starship
• terminal: cmux and ghostty
• development tools: git, go, python (uv), node (nvm), bun, docker, etc.
• ai: claude code, codex, opencode
• apps: zed, brave, raycast, obsidian, figma, etc — all via homebrew

installing skills

the agent skills in skills/ can be installed on their own with skills:

npx skills add psrth/dotfiles

(on my machines, setup.sh symlinks them into ~/.claude/skills instead — rerun bin/link-skills after adding one.)

setting up a new machine

1. sign into the app store first (for mas apps)
2. then, in the root directory, run:

git clone https://github.com/psrth/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles
cd ~/.dotfiles
./setup.sh

the setup script will:

• install homebrew
• install everything in the Brewfile — cli tools, apps (casks), app store apps (mas), uv tools, go packages
• create symlinks for all dotfiles and agent skills
• restore the last backup of claude code + codex sessions from icloud (fresh machines only)
• set up cmux hooks for codex, and a daily 6am backup of agent sessions to icloud
• set google drive to start at login
• apply macos preferences (macos.sh)
• set zsh as the default shell

then, by hand:

• google drive: open the app, sign into your personal account, then settings → my drive → mirror files → set the folder to ~/Desktop/psrth
• copper (shadcn): not available through homebrew or the app store — install from its website

macos preferences

macos.sh (run by setup.sh, safe to re-run) sets only what differs from the macos defaults:

• dock: auto-hide, 51px icons, no recent apps, minimize into app icon, don't reorder spaces
• hot corners: top-left + bottom-right show desktop, top-right notification center, bottom-left display sleep
• finder: list view, new windows open the desktop, drives shown on the desktop
• trackpad: fast tracking, physical click (no tap-to-click), two-finger right click
• desktop: clicking the wallpaper doesn't reveal the desktop, no tiled window margins

cloud sync

1. dev: repositories synced to github
2. icloud/obsidian: syncs vault from icloud
3. desktop: syncs from google drive
4. media: photos app synced via icloud
5. icloud/agents: claude code + codex sessions, backed up daily (one-way, via bin/agents-backup)

disclaimer

1. this is an extremely opinionated setup designed just for me, and will most likely fight you if you don't follow my workflows.
2. if you only want the terminal setup, you can just copy the ghostty_config,starship.toml, and snippets from the .zshrc file.
3. the setup script is a destructive action meant only for fresh machines — it will overwrite your existing dotfiles. make sure to backup before running the script.
4. that being said — this setup is a breeze, takes 5 mins, will never use more than a couple gigs of storage, and will never slow down your machine. if you're brave enough, go for it.