A Clean Dev Setup for Mac in 2025
If you want a fast, minimalist setup, this is it. I’ve been using Helix with Ghostty, and the combo works great. I also recommend Zed, if you’re looking for a gui editor.
What I Like About Helix
Helix is VIM-like, but with opinionated defaults. It has LSP integration, tree-sitter syntax highlighting and built-in themes. It shows available commands with keybindings in a modal in the corner. A number of keybindings are different from VIM, but once you get used to them, they’re fast. I still bounce between Helix and Zed. Zed supports VIM bindings.
Why I Switched to Ghostty
I used to stick with Terminal.app. iTerm always felt like it has too many features. Ghostty is simple. It feels native, and the rendering is sharp. It supports true color and does splits well enough. For anything more, I still use tmux or zellij.
Why These Work So Well Together
Honestly, I switched terminals because of Helix. The color schemes in Helix didn’t look right in Terminal. I also experimented with Alacritty. Ghostty won out. It’s also new so I may be bias.
Adding Lazygit
Lazygit is a great TUI for Git. I discovered it last year. I’ve been a long-time user of Git Tower. Lazygit offers enough features for most use cases. I have no problem using git but I do like user interfaces to make common operations more visible.
Claude Code and AI Pairing
Claude Code is the latest tool that I’ve added to my workflow. Like a lot of people I’m trying to find the right balance between doing the work myself and using AI to do the repetitive tasks.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t my complete setup, and it’s always changing. I like I said I also use Zed and that combines most of what these cli tools do.