Case Study

Dotfiles as a personal operating system.

A portable macOS development environment built around zsh, Git, Homebrew, Starship, and a small set of carefully chosen terminal tools.

macOS zsh Git Homebrew Starship Delta fzf zoxide eza bat ripgrep fd

View repository → More work

A terminal showing Michael’s configured zsh environment, Starship prompt, and dotfiles workflow. — The everyday view: a quiet prompt, useful Git context, and commands that keep navigation and maintenance close to hand.

Try the workflow

A small simulated terminal preview of the commands and workflows this setup is built around. It does not run anything; it just shows the shape of the environment.

interactive preview

╭─ ~/.dotfiles on  main

╰─ ❯ type “help” or click a command above

Role

Personal tooling, workflow design, shell configuration, and automation.

Focus

Making a new Mac feel familiar quickly, without hiding how the system works.

Status

Active, evolving, and intentionally small enough to understand at a glance.

Why it exists

My dotfiles are less about collecting clever aliases and more about creating a calm, repeatable development environment.

The goal is not to make the machine look complicated.

The dotfiles repository structure showing folders for shell scripts, Git configuration, zsh configuration, and supporting files. — The repository is organised around the tools it configures, keeping the system easy to scan and maintain.

What it manages

A zshrc excerpt showing shell aliases, helper functions, and optional terminal tool integrations. — The shell configuration favours small helpers, readable defaults, and optional enhancements rather than a fragile all-or-nothing setup.

Design decisions

A macOS development workspace showing the dotfiles workflow in context. — The goal is not to make the machine look complicated. It is to make the environment feel calm, familiar, and ready to work in.