Terminal Setup

The terminal is a text-based interface used to interact with a computer. Behind the scenes, a program called the shell interprets your commands, understands your intent, and instructs the computer to perform the desired actions.

As a pragmatic engineer, I keep my setup minimal, using the default macOS Terminal.

Shell - Zsh

The Z shell or Zsh has been the default shell on macOS since October 2019. I use it with a few extra plugins:

• zsh-autosuggestions
• zsh-syntax-highlighting
• GNU Coreutils for an improved ls command
• Bat for cat with syntax highlighting

Shell Prompt - Starship

My favorite Shell Prompt is Starship. It works out of the box with minimal configuration and requires only a Nerd Font. My preferred choice is JetBrains Mono.

Starship gives me:

• Git status (branch, changes, ahead/behind)
• Language/runtime versions (Node, Python, Rust, Go, etc.)
• Package version info (npm, Cargo, etc.)
• Minimal, fast, customizable prompt style

Setting up the macOS Terminal

1. Install JetBrains Mono Nerd Font:

   brew install font-jetbrains-mono-nerd-font

2. Install Starship:

   brew install starship

3. Install Zsh plugins:

   brew install zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting

4. Install GNU Coreutils:

   brew install coreutils

5. Install Bat:

   brew install bat

6. Update the .zshrc file:

   Copy and paste that in the Terminal.

   ZSHRC="$(cat <<'EOF'
   # Zsh completion
   autoload -Uz compinit && compinit
   zstyle ':completion:*' menu select
   
   # Zsh plugins
   source "$(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh"
   source "$(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh"
   
   # Starship prompt
   eval "$(starship init zsh)"
   
   # Keybindings for history search
   bindkey '^P'   history-beginning-search-backward # Ctrl-P
   bindkey '^N'   history-beginning-search-forward  # Ctrl-N
   bindkey '^[[A' history-beginning-search-backward # Up arrow
   bindkey '^[[B' history-beginning-search-forward  # Down arrow
   
   # Aliases for better defaults
   alias cat="bat"
   alias grep="grep --color=auto"
   alias ls="gls --color --group-directories-first"
   
   # VIM environment
   export VIMINIT='syntax on | set number'
   
   # History
   setopt INC_APPEND_HISTORY   # Write history as commands are entered
   setopt HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS # Remove older duplicate entries
   setopt HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS   # Remove extra spaces
   setopt HIST_IGNORE_SPACE    # Commands starting with space not saved
   EOF
   )"
   
   echo "${ZSHRC}" > "${HOME}/.zshrc"
   source "${HOME}/.zshrc"

7. Update the Terminal Settings Profiles:

   • Text
     • Font: JetBrainsMonoNL NF, Regular, 14
     • Text: Use bright colors for bold text
   • Keyboard
     • Use Option as Meta key