Terminal Setup

One-script terminal environment setup for Ubuntu 24.04 and macOS (Apple Silicon). Installs modern CLI tools, writes a curated zsh config, and configures a Starship prompt — all in one run.

Overview

Starting from a fresh install, these scripts transform the default terminal into a productive, modern development environment. Both are idempotent — safe to run multiple times without duplicating work.

What Gets Installed

#	Tool	Purpose	Ubuntu	macOS
1	Zsh	Default shell with powerful scripting and completion	apt	built-in
2	Homebrew	Package manager	—	brew
3	Starship	Fast, cross-shell prompt with git integration	curl	brew
4	eza	Modern ls — icons, git-aware, tree view	apt	brew
5	bat	Modern cat — syntax highlighting, line numbers	apt	brew
6	fzf	Fuzzy finder for history (Ctrl+R) and files (Ctrl+T)	apt	brew
7	zsh-autosuggestions / zsh-syntax-highlighting	Ghost-text suggestions and live syntax coloring	apt	brew
8	delta	Beautiful side-by-side git diffs	—	brew
9	broot + tree	Interactive and classic directory viewers	binary	brew
—	JetBrainsMono Nerd Font	Patched font for terminal icon support	curl	brew cask

What Gets Configured

• ~/.config/zsh/setup.zsh — History, tab completion, Emacs-style key bindings, and aliases for git, eza, bat, and tree. Includes helper functions: mkcd, extract, and f (quick file search). Sourced from ~/.zshrc via a single line — survives rewrites by conda, nvm, and similar tools.
• ~/.config/starship.toml — Two-line prompt displaying directory, git branch/status, conda environment, language versions (Python, Node, Rust), command duration, and clock.
• Conda — Appends conda init block automatically if ~/anaconda3, ~/miniconda3, ~/miniforge3, or ~/mambaforge is detected.
• ROS 2 Jazzy (Ubuntu only) — Sources the workspace setup if /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.zsh exists.

Quick Start

Ubuntu

git clone https://github.com/MichaelFYang/terminal-setup.git
cd terminal-setup
chmod +x setup_ubuntu.sh
./setup_ubuntu.sh

macOS

git clone https://github.com/MichaelFYang/terminal-setup.git
cd terminal-setup
chmod +x setup_macos.sh
./setup_macos.sh

After Installation

1. Ubuntu: Log out and back in (or run zsh) to activate the new default shell.
2. Set your terminal font to JetBrainsMono Nerd Font for icon rendering.
   • VSCode: Terminal > Integrated: Font Family
   • Terminal.app (macOS): Preferences > Profiles > Text > Font
3. Run source ~/.zshrc to load the new configuration.

Aliases Reference

File Navigation

Alias	Command
ls	eza --icons
ll	eza -lh --icons --git
la	eza -lah --icons --git
lt	eza --tree --icons --level=2
cat	bat --paging=never
t2 / t3	tree -L 2 / tree -L 3

Git

Alias	Command
gs	git status
ga	git add
gc	git commit
gp	git push
gl	git log --oneline --graph --decorate --color
gd	git diff
gco	git checkout

Utility Functions

Function	Description
mkcd <dir>	Create a directory and cd into it
f <pattern>	Quick case-insensitive file search
extract <file>	Extract any common archive format

Requirements

Platform	Requirements
Ubuntu	24.04 on x86_64 or aarch64 (should work on other Debian-based distros), sudo access
macOS	Apple Silicon (M1+), admin access for Homebrew

Customization

Both scripts write shell configuration to ~/.config/zsh/setup.zsh and add a single source line to ~/.zshrc. This design survives tools like conda and nvm that rewrite ~/.zshrc. To customize after installation, edit ~/.config/zsh/setup.zsh. The Starship prompt config lives at ~/.config/starship.toml.

Acknowledgments

Built with the assistance of Claude by Anthropic.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.