Install Homebrew
Install Homebrew, the de-facto package manager on macOS. The one-line installer, PATH setup for Apple Silicon, and how to verify it works.
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Posts on AI engineering, LLM systems, and software development.
Install Git
Install Git on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Configure your name and email so commits are attributed correctly. Verify the install in one command.
Install Node.js and npm
Install Node.js and npm via a version manager (nvm, fnm, or Volta) so you can switch versions per project. Verify with node -v and npm -v.
Install Python with uv
Skip system Python. Install uv, then use uv to manage Python versions and per-project virtual environments. Verify with uv python list.
Install Docker
Install Docker Desktop on macOS and Windows, Docker Engine on Linux. Verify with docker run hello-world and learn the licensing and resource gotchas.
Install Ollama
Install Ollama on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Pull your first model, run it locally, and verify with ollama list. The fastest path to a local LLM.
Install llama.cpp
Build llama.cpp from source with Metal or CUDA acceleration. Run a GGUF model with llama-cli. The closest thing to bare-metal local inference.
Install LM Studio
Install LM Studio on macOS, Linux, and Windows. The fastest GUI for running local LLMs — no terminal needed. Includes the local server for OpenAI-compatible API access.
Install the Anthropic SDK
Install the Anthropic SDK for Python and Node, configure your API key, and verify with a one-line messages.create call to Claude.
Install the OpenAI SDK
Install the OpenAI SDK for Python and Node, configure your API key, and verify with a one-line chat.completions call.