One-command macOS Terminal.app bootstrap — Zsh, Starship, fzf, tmux, and dev tools for AI-assisted workflows.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmythro/terminal-setup/main/setup-terminal.sh)" Every new Mac used to cost me an evening. Install Homebrew, remember which zsh plugins I liked, hunt down the .zshrc from the old machine, discover it references three things that are no longer installed, give up on tmux, and settle for something slightly worse than what I had.
terminal-setup is that evening written down as one command — and, just as importantly, a second command that puts everything back.
Examples
The setup command above does the whole thing. Changed your mind:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmythro/terminal-setup/main/reset-terminal.sh)"Both take -- -y to run unattended:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmythro/terminal-setup/main/setup-terminal.sh)" -- -yWhy it exists
The thing I actually wanted was not “a nice terminal” — it was the same terminal, reproducibly, on every machine I touch. Dotfile repos get you there but expect you to maintain a dotfile repo. Frameworks get you there but bring a plugin manager and a startup-time cost.
What was missing was something in between: a script that installs a known-good set of tools, writes configs I actually reviewed, and can be re-run on a machine that is already half set up without making a mess.
Despite the name, only the optional colour profile is Terminal.app-specific. The zsh config, prompt and plugins work in iTerm2, Ghostty, Alacritty, Kitty, WezTerm or the VS Code terminal.
How it’s different
| Approach | What you get |
|---|---|
terminal-setup | one script, a fixed set of tools, reviewed configs, and a reset script |
| oh-my-zsh, prezto | a plugin framework and ecosystem, plus its startup cost and its own update model |
| A dotfiles repo | exactly your setup, provided you keep maintaining it |
| Doing it by hand | a slightly different machine every time |
Use oh-my-zsh if you want the plugin ecosystem and the community themes — that is a real advantage and this is not competing with it. Use a dotfiles repo if your setup is unusual enough that a curated list would fight you. This is for wanting a good default fast, then getting on with work.
What’s inside
Always installed
fzf for fuzzy history and file search, zsh-autosuggestions for fish-style ghost text, zsh-syntax-highlighting, zsh-completions, and Starship for the prompt. Homebrew first if it is missing.
The generated ~/.zshrc adds 50K of deduplicated, cross-session history, prefix history search on ↑, macOS-native word jumping with Option+Arrow, multiline editing with Option+Enter, smart tab titles, and the aliases I actually type — ll, gs, gl, gd, ...
Optional, because they change how the shell behaves
tmux with mouse support, split panes, 50K scrollback and clipboard integration. It auto-starts per session, which is exactly the kind of thing that should be a deliberate choice, so it is off unless you ask.
Optional dev tools
gh, bun, ripgrep, fd, zoxide and delta. Two of those are not just conveniences — rg and fd are what make the fzf file and directory search fast.
Optional AI agent CLIs
OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and Aider, each offered individually rather than as a bundle, since nobody uses all five. Each still needs its own key or login.
A fine-tuned theme for the native Terminal.app
The part the project is named after: a dark profile (Dmythro.terminal) imported straight into Terminal.app and set as the default — MonaspiceNe Nerd Font at 14 pt, a 120×36 window, Use Option as Meta key already in the plist, and true color on macOS 26 Tahoe. Pure visual taste, which is exactly why it stays optional and is skipped in unattended runs.
Design notes
There is a reset script, and it is the reason the setup script can be bold. A bootstrap you cannot undo is one you test cautiously on a machine you care about. Being able to run reset-terminal.sh and get your old profile back makes it reasonable to just try it.
Non-interactive mode deliberately skips things. -y installs packages and dev tools but not tmux, the Nerd Font or the Terminal.app profile. Those either change how your shell behaves on every launch or are pure taste — defaulting them on in an unattended run would be a surprise, and surprises in a shell config are expensive.
Re-running is safe. The script is idempotent, so it doubles as the update path: run it again on an existing machine and it converges rather than appending another block to your .zshrc.
Status
Live and used on my own machines, which is also how it gets tested. Scoped to macOS — the shell config is portable, but the installer assumes Homebrew and the profile import is Terminal.app.