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Set up a Mac

The first darwin-rebuild switch installs everything this repo declares: CLI tools, apps (casks, App Store apps, Nix apps), Homebrew itself, the dotfiles links in $HOME, and the System Settings in nix/macos.nix. This page is what comes before it, the switch itself, and what is left by hand after it.

For a Mac that was already set up by hand, read migrate-mac.md before the first switch.

1. Before the first switch

Sign in to the App Store

App Store apps are installed by the switch with mas, which needs a signed-in App Store. An app that fails to install only prints a warning; switching again after signing in installs it.

Install the Command Line Tools

They provide git, which cloning this repo needs.

xcode-select --install

Register an SSH key with GitHub

The key is used to clone this repo and to fetch the private agent-skills input.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "babarot@gmail.com"
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | pbcopy

Paste it at https://github.com/settings/ssh/new, then check that it works:

$ ssh -T git@github.com
Hi babarot! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

Clone this repo

Keep this exact path: the links into $HOME and the darwin-rebuild commands point at it.

git clone git@github.com:babarot/dotfiles.git ~/src/github.com/babarot/dotfiles

Add this Mac as a host

The switch picks its configuration by hostname, and stops with an error for a hostname that flake.nix does not list. Check it before installing Nix:

scutil --get LocalHostName

If the name is in the host table in AGENTS.md, go on. Otherwise add it, starting from the Mac it is most like:

This Mac is Start from
private pro23
work PC-M-2025-026
  1. Copy nix/hosts/<base>.nix to nix/hosts/<hostname>.nix, and nix/hosts/<base>/ to nix/hosts/<hostname>/ if it exists. Drop what this Mac does not need.
  2. Add "<hostname>" = mkHost "<hostname>"; to darwinConfigurations in flake.nix.
  3. git add the new files. Nix only sees files tracked by git.
  4. Add the Mac to the host table in AGENTS.md.
  5. Commit and push once the first switch works.

Everything outside the host files applies to every host, so the new Mac gets the shared setup as it is.

Install Nix

With the Determinate Nix installer:

curl -fsSL https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install

2. The first switch

Build the configuration as yourself first. agent-skills is fetched over SSH with your key, which root does not have; once it is in the Nix store, the sudo run finds it there.

nix build "$HOME/src/github.com/babarot/dotfiles#darwinConfigurations.$(scutil --get LocalHostName).system" --no-link

Then apply it. darwin-rebuild is not installed yet, so it runs through nix run. Quote the flake reference, since zsh treats # as a glob.

sudo /nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin/nix run 'nix-darwin/master#darwin-rebuild' -- switch --flake ~/src/github.com/babarot/dotfiles

Note

nix-darwin moves the existing /etc/zshrc, /etc/zshenv and /etc/bashrc aside as *.before-nix-darwin. home-manager does not move existing symlinks: remove any it reports as "would be clobbered" and run it again.

Restart the Mac when it finishes. Some of what was installed, such as Google Japanese Input, only works after a restart. Open a new terminal afterwards; until the switch, the shell was plain macOS zsh.

3. After the switch

Bring history from the old Mac

Copy these files from the old Mac with AirDrop, or with scp when Remote Login is on there. Shell history can hold tokens, so do not pass it through a gist or any other service.

File What it is
~/.zsh_history zsh history
~/.enhancd/enhancd.log directory history for enhancd
~/.claude/vault.db the claude-recall archive of Claude Code sessions, including those whose transcripts Claude Code has deleted 
scp <old-mac>.local:.zsh_history ~/.zsh_history
scp <old-mac>.local:.enhancd/enhancd.log ~/.enhancd/enhancd.log

The archive is a SQLite database written while Claude Code runs, so copy a snapshot of it rather than the file itself. On the old Mac:

sqlite3 ~/.claude/vault.db ".backup '$HOME/vault.db'"

On the new Mac, quit Claude Code and recall ui first, put the snapshot in place, then import the sessions the new Mac already has:

rm -f ~/.claude/vault.db-wal ~/.claude/vault.db-shm
mv ~/vault.db ~/.claude/vault.db
recall import

The old Mac's sessions can then be read and searched, and recalled into a new claude with c, but not resumed with claude -r: Claude Code resumes only from the transcripts in ~/.claude/projects, which are not copied.

macOS settings left by hand

These are not declared in nix/macos.nix.

Setting How
Finder sidebar
Displays
Touch ID fingerprints
Input sources Add Google Japanese Input under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources and allow it when asked.
Dock contents Add apps by hand.

Do not enable an input source with defaults write or the TIS API: macOS records the consent only when the source is added in System Settings, so a source enabled another way asks for consent again on every switch.

Sign in to apps and set them up

Apps marked "work" are only on the work Mac; the rest are on both.

App What to do
1Password Sign in with the Setup Code, then set the appearance.
Google Japanese Input Settings:
Obsidian Sign in, open the vault, enter the encryption password and run sync. Enable the Vimrc Support plugin and copy the vimrc: cp ~/src/github.com/babarot/dotfiles/home/.obsidian.vimrc ~/Documents/<vault>/
Things 3 Turn on Things Cloud.
CleanShot X Settings:
PopClip Install the Base64 and Translate Tab extensions.
Spark Sign in.
Spotify Sign in.
Hidden Bar Settings:
Magnet Settings:
MeetingBar (work) Settings:
Paste Settings:
Yoink Settings:

4. From then on

Apply changes with:

sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/src/github.com/babarot/dotfiles

Each switch also uninstalls Homebrew casks and brews that no file declares, so an app installed with brew install by hand goes away; declare it instead (where-things-go.md).

Updating inputs (after an agent-skills update, build as yourself first) is in maintenance.md.

Appendix: hardware