Skip to main content
The setup script automates the configuration of your macOS development environment by installing essential tools, configuring system settings, and symlinking dotfiles.

​
What Gets Configured

The setup process handles:
  • Config Repository: Clones your dotfiles to ~/.config
  • Dotfile Symlinking: Links configuration files to your home directory
  • Xcode Command Line Tools: Installs developer tools required by Homebrew
  • Touch ID for sudo: Enables biometric authentication for sudo commands
  • Homebrew: Installs the package manager for macOS
  • Homebrew Bundle: Installs all packages, casks, and Mac App Store apps

​
Running the Setup

The setup script can be run with a single command: 
/bin/sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mac9sb/config/main/setup.sh)"
The script is idempotent - you can run it multiple times safely. It checks for existing installations and skips steps that are already complete.

​
Setup Flow

1

macOS Validation

The script verifies it’s running on macOS by checking uname -s.
[ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] || die "This script is macOS-only."
2

Config Repository

Clones https://github.com/mac9sb/config.git to ~/.config if not already present.
if [ -d "$CONFIG_DIR/.git" ]; then
  log "Config repo: already present at $CONFIG_DIR"
  return 0
fi

log "Cloning config repo into $CONFIG_DIR"
git clone "$CONFIG_REPO_URL" "$CONFIG_DIR"
3

Symlink Dotfiles

Creates symbolic links from ~/.config/.* files to your home directory.
for file in "$CONFIG_DIR"/.*; do
  [ -f "$file" ] || continue
  filename="$(basename "$file")"
  case "$filename" in
  . | ..) continue ;;
  .git) continue ;;
  *) ln -sf "$file" "$HOME/$filename" ;;
  esac
done
4

Xcode Command Line Tools

Installs Xcode CLT if not present. This step may require user interaction.
if xcode-select -p >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  log "Xcode Command Line Tools: already installed"
  return 0
fi

log "Installing Xcode Command Line Tools (a GUI prompt will appear)..."
xcode-select --install >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
log "Re-run this script after the CLT installation finishes."
exit 0
5

Touch ID Configuration

Enables Touch ID for sudo authentication using /etc/pam.d/sudo_local.See Touch ID for sudo for details.
6

Homebrew Installation

Installs Homebrew if not already present.See Homebrew Setup for details.
7

Homebrew Bundle

Installs all packages, casks, and Mac App Store apps from the Brewfile.See Homebrew Bundle for the complete list.

​
Logging

The script uses structured logging with timestamps and log levels: 
log() {
  level="${2:-INFO}"
  printf "%s [%s] %s\n" "$(date +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z')" "$level" "$1"
}
Log levels used:
  • INFO - Normal operation messages
  • WARN - Non-fatal issues
  • ERROR - Fatal errors that stop execution
The script uses set -eu to fail fast on errors and undefined variables, ensuring setup problems are caught early.

​
Error Handling

The script includes helper functions for error handling: 
die() {
  log "$*" "ERROR"
  exit 1
}

warn() {
  log "$*" "WARN"
}
Fatal errors (like running on non-macOS systems) use die(), while non-critical failures (like Touch ID configuration issues) use warn() and continue.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us