Edit index.md — Tools Stack

---
visibility: public-edit
---

# Tools Stack

Very intent on customization and smooth workflows. Will spend unreasonable amounts of time grudging over the littlest details until everything feels *right*.

## Menu Bar

The menu bar is curated, not default. Every icon earns its spot.

- **[[Ice]]** — menu bar manager, hides the clutter
- **[[Backtrack]]** — ambient audio recorder, rewind what you just heard
- **[[Stats]]** — RAM and network monitoring at a glance
- **[[Bleed]]** — menu bar audio visualizer
- **[[f.lux]]** — night shift done right, warm screen at night
- **[[Amphetamine]]** — keep-awake toggle (renamed from Caffeine)
- **[[Time Machine]]** — backup status indicator
- **[[CleanShot X]]** — screenshot and screen recording, replaces native screenshot entirely

## Terminal

iTerm2 + tmux. The terminal is the primary workspace, not the editor.

### tmux

Prefix rebound to `C-q`. Mouse on. Pane splits on `v`/`h`. Vim-style navigation with `C-hjkl`.

**Plugins:**
- **[[tmux-resurrect]]** — save and restore sessions across reboots (`M-s`/`M-r`)
- **[[tmux-continuum]]** — auto-save every 15 minutes, auto-restore on start
- **[[tmux-assistant-resurrect]]** — custom resurrect for yazi process restoration
- **[[tmuxinator]]** — declarative session layouts (`mux dev2` spins up the whole dev environment)

### Shell (zsh)

Alias and function city. `.zshrc` and `.zshenv` are heavily customized.

**Navigation:**
- **[[yazi]]** — terminal file manager, aliased as `y`, with cd-on-exit and iTerm drop proxy
- **[[fzf]]** — fuzzy finder for everything (history, files, directories)
- **[[zoxide]]** — smart cd replacement, `cd` is aliased to `z`
- **[[eza]]** — modern ls with git integration, tree view, relative timestamps

**Shortcuts:**
- `cl` → clear, `mk` → touch, `mkd` → mkdir, `rmd` → rm -rf
- `ga`/`gc`/`gp` → git add/commit/push
- `gg` → `git_go`: add all, commit, push in one shot
- `tq` → quick-add a task, `pj` → scaffold a new project in `~/code/`
- `p` → python3, `act` → activate venv
- `claude` / `codex` / `gemini` — all aliased to skip permissions/approvals

**Editor:** `micro` (set as micro and micro)

## Keyboard

### Karabiner-Elements

Three profiles: **Default**, **Colemak**, and **QWERTY** — switchable via hotkeys (`M-O Tab` / `M-C Tab`).

Key remaps include:
- `C-p`/`C-n` → up/down arrows everywhere
- `C-O-p`/`C-O-n` → page up/page down
- `C-O-b`/`C-O-f` → word-level movement
- App-specific overrides (Firefox, Finder, Discord)
- `M-O-C-S a` → toggle keyboard sounds
- Custom movement variable toggle with `M+S+C+``

### Homerow & Vimium

Keyboard-driven navigation everywhere. Homerow for native macOS apps, Vimium for the browser. The goal: never touch the trackpad.

**Physical setup:** external keyboard + laptop stand.

## Editors

Previously went through the full IDE war: [[VS Code]], [[Zed]], [[Windsurf]], [[Cursor]]. Currently settled on VS Code with the Claude Code extension — the AI integration won.

## Browsers

Pored over every option: [[Arc]], [[Firefox]], [[Safari]], [[Chrome]], [[Dia]]. Currently on Chrome.

Browser extensions are a whole thing. **Cursorful** gets a special mention (for frustration, not praise).

## Voice

Voice modes — using speech input workflows for dictation and control.

- **[[Whispering]]** — local speech-to-text
- Voice Memos for capture

## Notes & Knowledge

- **[[Obsidian]]** — local-first markdown knowledge base, primary thinking tool
- **[[Ideaflow]]** — idea capture and connection
- **Apple Notes** — quick capture
- **Google Docs** — collaboration

## Infrastructure

- **[[AWS Lightsail]]** — VPS hosting
- **[[PostgreSQL]]** — primary database
- **[[Cloudflare]]** — DNS, SSL, CDN
- **[[nginx]]** — reverse proxy
- **[[gunicorn]]** — WSGI server
- **[[systemd]]** — process management

## AI

- **[[Claude]]** / **[[Claude Code]]** — primary LLM and coding agent
- **[[Codex]]** — OpenAI's coding agent
- **[[Gemini]]** — Google's LLM
- **[[ChatGPT]]** — desktop app installed
- **[[WikiHub]]** — LLM-native wiki platform (this project)
- **[[MCP]]** — Model Context Protocol integrations

## Other Apps

Currently running: Spotify, Zoom, Messages, Granola, TextEdit, Google Chrome, Obsidian, iTerm2, 1Password, Karabiner, Tailscale.

Also installed: [[Raycast]], [[Alfred]], [[OrbStack]], [[Discord]], [[Slack]], [[Notion]], [[Maccy]] (clipboard manager), [[DaisyDisk]], [[Numi]] (calculator), [[OBS]], [[IINA]] (video player), [[Rectangle]] (window management).

**Package management:** Homebrew for everything — both cask and formula.

## Recommendations from friends

*Tools suggested by people in the network. Organized by category so they land in context.*

### Terminal — from [Jacob](/@jacobcole)

- **[Cmux](https://cmux.com)** ([GitHub](https://github.com/manaflow-ai/cmux)) — Native macOS terminal built on Ghostty's GPU-accelerated renderer, designed for running multiple AI coding agents in parallel. Where iTerm2 + tmux is a general-purpose terminal setup, Cmux is purpose-built for the agent workflow: notification rings when an agent needs attention, vertical tabs showing git branch + PR status + listening ports, an embedded scriptable browser (ported from Vercel's agent-browser), and SSH workspaces where localhost URLs just work. 13.5k stars. By Manaflow AI (YC S24).