macOS

Window, tab, display, and app shortcuts for daily Mac work.

tmux manages panes inside the terminal. macOS manages everything around it: app windows, browser tabs, full-screen spaces, displays, and the links you open all day. The best setup here is native macOS plus Raycast, Anybox, and BetterDisplay.

#The mental model

macOS	Owns apps, windows, tabs, spaces, full screen, Mission Control, and system shortcuts.
Raycast	Owns ⌘Space, launcher, clipboard history, snippets, quick commands, and normal window snapping.
Anybox	Owns saved links, reading material, project bookmarks, and quick link recall. Open it from Raycast or its own hotkey.
BetterDisplay	Owns display resolutions, refresh rates, brightness/DDC, display presets, and external-monitor fixes.
tmux	Owns terminal panes and project sessions after Ghostty is open.

#Developer settings and profiles

macOS uses the word "profile" for several different things. Keep them separate:

Command Line Tools	Groundwork checks for these and opens Apple's installer when they are missing. They live at /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools and give Homebrew, Git, compilers, headers, and normal terminal build tools.
Full Xcode app	Optional and large. If you answered yes to the Xcode setup prompt, Groundwork attempts the App Store install with mas; if that does not go through, get Xcode from the Mac App Store manually. Use it only when you need app signing, simulators, SwiftUI/iOS/macOS builds, or Unity Apple-platform builds.
Xcode first launch	After Xcode is installed, open it once, let it finish component setup, accept license prompts, then run xcode-select -p to check the active developer directory. If it still points at Command Line Tools, switch to full Xcode with sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer.
Apple Developer account	Only after full Xcode is installed: sign in manually in Xcode Settings → Accounts. Certificates and provisioning profiles belong in Keychain/Xcode, not dotfiles.
Provisioning profiles	Use Xcode's automatic signing when possible. If someone gives you a profile file, open it with Xcode/Finder; do not commit it to this repo.
Configuration profiles	.mobileconfig files are device-management settings. Install them manually or through MDM. Treat them like admin/security policy, not normal dotfiles.
Developer Mode / debugger privileges	Leave this manual. If Xcode or Instruments asks, approve it then. DevToolsSecurity -enable removes repeated admin prompts for Apple-signed debugging tools, so it should be an intentional local choice.

#Windows, tabs, and apps

⌘Tab	Switch apps. Hold ⌘ and tap Tab repeatedly to choose.
⌘`	Cycle through windows of the current app. This is the one people miss when they come from Windows.
⌘N	Open a new window in the current app.
⌘T	Open a new tab in apps that support tabs.
⌘W	Close the front tab or window. In browsers this closes the active tab first.
⇧⌘T	Reopen the last closed tab in browsers and several tabbed apps.
⌃Tab / ⇧⌘]	Next tab in many browsers and tabbed apps.
⌃⇧Tab / ⇧⌘[	Previous tab in many browsers and tabbed apps.
⌘H	Hide the current app without quitting it.
⌘M	Minimize the front window to the Dock. Hiding is usually cleaner than minimizing.
⌘Q	Quit the current app.
⌘,	Open settings/preferences for the current app.

#Full screen, spaces, and Mission Control

⌃⌘F	Enter or exit full screen in apps that support it.
Esc	Exit some full-screen modes, especially browser/video full screen.
⌃↑	Open Mission Control to see windows and spaces.
⌃↓	Show windows for the current app.
⌃← / →	Move between spaces/desktops.
⌘Mission Control	Show the desktop.

#Window management: Raycast first

Raycast is the default window manager for this setup. It is already installed, it is keyboard-first, and its Window Management commands cover the normal moves: maximize, left/right half, quarters, thirds, center, restore, move to display, move to space, and custom layouts.

Anybox does not manage windows. It manages saved links. If you saw translucent layout zones while dragging a window, that was macOS's native drag-to-edge tiling overlay, not Raycast. Raycast window management is command- and hotkey-driven: invoke a layout or bind a hotkey and the frontmost window moves immediately.

Raycast AI is optional. Leave it off while learning the basics unless you specifically want Raycast's AI chat, AI commands, or model integrations on that Mac. For the extension checklist, run raycast-extensions; it opens the recommended Store entries for Browser Bookmarks, Browser Tabs, Anybox, GitHub, Homebrew, VS Code/Cursor project openers, and optional AI integrations.

Left half / Right half	Assign direct hotkeys for the focused window. Use these constantly.
Maximize	Prefer this to macOS full screen when you still want fast app/window switching.
Move to next display	Essential with an external monitor.
Restore	Undo the last Raycast window move.
Create Layout	Use for recurring setups: browser left, terminal right, Slack small on the laptop display.

Rectangle and Magnet are good apps, but they duplicate Raycast for this setup. Add one only if you want a dedicated window manager with its own preferences, importable presets, or advanced snapping behavior beyond Raycast.

#Displays and resolutions: BetterDisplay

BetterDisplay is the right app for changing resolution from the menu bar, creating favorites, controlling external monitor brightness/input when supported, and protecting display layouts. It complements Raycast; it does not replace it.

Resolution presets	Save the display modes you actually use and switch from the menu bar first; add hotkeys only for modes you change constantly.
Refresh rate	Expose and switch refresh rates that macOS sometimes buries.
Brightness / DDC	Control many external monitors with sliders first, then put any daily brightness/display actions into the same ⌃⌥ shortcut family if you need hotkeys.
Layout protection	Keep external monitor arrangements from drifting when displays reconnect.
CLI and Shortcuts	Automate display changes from scripts, Raycast, or macOS Shortcuts.

#Links and web recall: Anybox

Use Anybox instead of turning every browser profile into a private bookmark island. It is the shared link library: project dashboards, docs, research, client portals, reading lists, and reusable references. Raycast launches actions; Anybox remembers links.

Quick Save	Capture the current page without leaving the browser.
Quick Find	Search saved links from the keyboard. Prefer typed aliases such as ab in Raycast before adding another global hotkey.
Tags / folders	Organize links by project, team, client, topic, or practice track.
Raycast extension	Install the Anybox extension from the Raycast Store, or run open 'raycast://extensions/anybox/anybox?source=webstore'. If Raycast only shows Anybox under Applications, you have the app entry, not the extension. Copy the API key from Anybox Preferences → General, then select the Search Links command row in Raycast Settings and paste it into that command's API Key preference. Turn on Search Tags, Search Folders, Show Tags, and Show Folders; leave icon view off for faster scanning.
Browser recall	Use Raycast Browser Bookmarks for bookmarks across installed browsers. Use Browser Tabs for live tabs in Safari/Chromium-family browsers. For Zen, save important tabs into Anybox and search them from Raycast; that is the reliable cross-browser layer.
iCloud sync	Keep links, profiles, and Quick Links available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. This is the supported sync path; do not put the app database or API keys in dotfiles.

#Daily practice

#Going deeper

• Apple Mac keyboard shortcuts
• Raycast Window Management
• BetterDisplay
• Anybox
• Rectangle — good dedicated fallback if Raycast window commands are not enough