Toolian

Choosing a Tool

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Adding tools is not productivity by itself. Each one costs installation, configuration, learning, and maintenance, and the more you have, the more you have to explain to your team. Run through these six questions before adopting anything and you’ll avoid most of the regret.

Six questions

Question	Passing answer
How often do I do this?	At least three times a day, or 30+ minutes even once a week
Can my current tools do it?	If an unused feature of something you already run covers it, start there
What’s the learning cost?	If you get a first win within 30 minutes, it passes
Is anyone else forced into it?	A tool only you use is far easier to adopt than a team standard
Can I get back out?	Can the data be exported as text, Markdown, or JSON?
Is the project alive?	A release in the last six months, and issues that get replies

Suggested order of adoption

Personal tools first. Terminal, search, editor — things that start and end with you. Cheap to reverse, and you feel the benefit daily.
Team tools next. CI, linters, hooks — anything that affects other people. Prove it as a personal tool before proposing it.
Platform tools last. Orchestration and IaC carry the highest cost to undo.

Common traps

Configuration perfectionism. Instead of spending two hours on a prompt theme, run the defaults for a week and fix only what actually annoyed you.
Leaving duplicates around. Two tools doing the same job means you will never remember which config you edited. Once a new one sticks, delete the old one.
Undocumented aliases. A pile of aliases only you know leaves you helpless on anyone else’s machine. Scripts you share should use the real commands.

With a bar in place, move on to macOS — Homebrew

One line to install:

 /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Goal	Command
Install a CLI tool	`brew install ripgrep`
Install a GUI app	`brew install --cask visual-studio-code`
Search	`brew search fzf`
Show details	`brew info jq`
Update everything	`brew update && brew upgrade`
Remove	`brew uninstall ripgrep`
List installs	`brew leaves` (only what you asked for)

Windows — winget

Bundled since Windows 10. If it’s missing, install “App Installer” from the Microsoft Store.

Dotfiles

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Configuration files whose names start with a dot — .zshrc, .gitconfig, your editor settings — are collectively called dotfiles. Gather them into one Git repository and setting up a new machine takes minutes, and “the setup that used to work” is always recoverable.

The simplest approach: a repo plus symlinks

 mkdir -p ~/dotfiles && cd ~/dotfiles
git init

# move the real file into the repo, leave a link where it was
mv ~/.zshrc ~/dotfiles/zshrc
ln -s ~/dotfiles/zshrc ~/.zshrc

mv ~/.gitconfig ~/dotfiles/gitconfig
ln -s ~/dotfiles/gitconfig ~/.gitconfig

git add -A && git commit -m "Start dotfiles"

On a new machine, clone and re-link:

Choosing a Terminal

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A terminal app is the window your shell lives in. A better window doesn’t make commands run faster, but easier tabs, splits, search, and copy keep you from losing your thread.

The options

App	Platform	Character
iTerm2	macOS	The long-standing default. Splits, search, session restore, triggers — the most features
Ghostty	macOS/Linux	GPU-accelerated and very fast. Configuration is a single text file
Windows Terminal	Windows	Tabs and splits, with WSL, PowerShell, and cmd in one window
Warp	macOS/Linux/Windows	Block-based output and AI command suggestions. Requires an account
Built-in terminal	Everywhere	Light and always present. Splits and search are the weak points

Starting out, iTerm2 or Ghostty on macOS and Windows Terminal on Windows are safe picks.

zsh and Starship

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Your prompt is a status bar answering where am I and what am I doing? Being able to see the current branch or Python virtualenv at a glance cuts out a lot of git branch and which python.

Baseline zsh settings

zsh is the default shell on macOS. To switch on Linux:

 sudo apt install zsh
chsh -s $(which zsh)

These lines in ~/.zshrc make the biggest difference:

tmux

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

tmux is a window manager that runs inside your terminal. Its two biggest wins are that work continues when your SSH connection drops and that a whole set of tasks can be saved and brought back.

Install and first run

 brew install tmux # macOS
sudo apt install tmux # Ubuntu/Debian

tmux new -s work # start a session named "work"

To leave a session, press Ctrl+B then d (detach). Whatever was running on the server keeps running. To come back:

fzf

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

fzf takes a list and lets a human pick from it. Because it doesn’t care what the list is, it attaches to history, files, Git branches, processes, Docker containers — anything.

Install

 brew install fzf
$(brew --prefix)/opt/fzf/install # install the shell key bindings (answer y)

 sudo apt install fzf

Three keys you get for free

Key	Action
`Ctrl+R`	Fuzzy-search command history (replaces the default reverse search)
`Ctrl+T`	Pick a file under the current directory and insert its path
`Alt+C`	Pick a subdirectory and `cd` into it

Ctrl+R is the one you feel immediately. That long docker run ... from last month comes back with two words.

zoxide

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If you type cd ~/work/projects/backend/services/auth several times a day, zoxide shortens it to z auth. It scores directories you’ve visited by frequency and recency and sends you to the most plausible one.

Install

 brew install zoxide

 curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajeetdsouza/zoxide/main/install.sh | sh

Hook it into your shell:

 # ~/.zshrc
eval "$(zoxide init zsh)"

# bash
eval "$(zoxide init bash)"

To replace cd outright:

ripgrep

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

rg is the tool with the most sensible defaults for searching a whole project. It skips node_modules and .git on its own and uses every core you have.

Install

 brew install ripgrep # macOS
sudo apt install ripgrep # Ubuntu 18.10+
winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC

Basics

 rg "createUser" # search the whole current directory
rg "createUser" src/ # limit to a directory
rg -i "createuser" # case insensitive
rg -w "id" # whole word (won't match "identity")
rg -F "a.b.c" # literal string, not a regex

Options worth knowing

Option	Meaning
`-t py` / `-t js`	Only files of a language (`rg --type-list` for the full set)
`-T test`	Exclude a type
`-g '*.md'`	Include by glob
`-g '!dist/*'`	Exclude by glob
`-l`	Print filenames only
`-c`	Count matches per file
`-n`	Line numbers (on by default)
`-A 3` / `-B 3` / `-C 3`	Context lines after / before / both
`--hidden`	Include hidden files
`-u` / `-uu`	Relax / ignore the ignore rules

In practice

 # rank files by how many TODOs they carry
rg -c "TODO" | sort -t: -k2 -rn | head

# find env var usage with context
rg -C 2 "process\.env\." -t ts

# find declarations only
rg "^(export )?(async )?function \w+" -t ts

# search, then replace across the matches (needs sd)
rg -l "oldName" | xargs sd "oldName" "newName"

Replacing text

ripgrep itself only previews replacements.

fd

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You don’t have to remember find . -name "*.log" -type f -not -path "*/node_modules/*". In most cases fd log covers it.

Install

 brew install fd
sudo apt install fd-find # the binary is called fdfind
winget install sharkdp.fd

On Ubuntu, alias it:

 alias fd=fdfind

Basics

 fd config # anything with "config" in the name
fd -e md # files with the .md extension
fd -e md -e mdx docs/ # several extensions, in one directory
fd -H secret # include hidden files
fd -t d node_modules # directories only

Options worth knowing

Option	Meaning
`-e <ext>`	Filter by extension
`-t f` / `-t d` / `-t l`	Files / directories / symlinks
`-H`	Include hidden files
`-I`	Ignore `.gitignore`
`-d 2`	Limit search depth
`-s`	Case sensitive
`--changed-within 1d`	Modified in the last day
`-x <cmd>`	Run a command per result
`-X <cmd>`	Pass all results to one command

Acting on what you find

 # convert every png to webp
fd -e png -x cwebp {} -o {.}.webp

# delete logs older than 30 days (list them first!)
fd -e log --changed-before 30d
fd -e log --changed-before 30d -X rm

# locate every package.json
fd -H '^package\.json$' -t f

{} is the path, {.} is the path without its extension, and {/} is the basename.

bat

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

cat on a 200-line config file dumps a monochrome wall of text. bat shows the same file with syntax highlighting, line numbers, and paging.

Install

 brew install bat
sudo apt install bat # the binary is called batcat
winget install sharkdp.bat

 alias bat=batcat # Ubuntu

Basics

 bat config.yaml # highlighting + line numbers + pager
bat -n script.sh # line numbers only, no header
bat -p log.txt # plain, no decorations
bat -r 40:80 main.go # only lines 40–80
bat -A data.txt # show spaces, tabs, and newlines

Combining with other commands

 # read from a pipe and name the language
curl -s https://api.example.com/data | bat -l json

# colourise a list of changed files
git diff --name-only | xargs bat

# use it as your default pager
export PAGER="bat -p"

The most common pairing is as an fzf preview:

eza

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

ls -alh gives you plenty of information and very little structure. eza presents the same data with colour and alignment, and adds tree view and Git status on top.

Install

 brew install eza
sudo apt install eza # Ubuntu 24.04+
cargo install eza # elsewhere

Basics

 eza # plain listing
eza -l # long form (permissions, size, mtime)
eza -la # include hidden files
eza -l --git # add a Git status column
eza --tree --level=2 # two levels of tree
eza -l --sort=modified --reverse # most recently changed first

Options worth knowing

Option	Meaning
`-l`	Long listing
`-a`	Include hidden files
`-T` / `--tree`	Tree view
`--level=N`	Tree depth
`--git`	Git status column
`--icons`	File-type icons (needs a Nerd Font)
`--group-directories-first`	Directories on top
`-s size` / `-s modified`	Sort key
`--total-size`	Compute real directory sizes

Suggested aliases

 # ~/.zshrc
alias ls='eza --group-directories-first'
alias ll='eza -l --git --group-directories-first'
alias la='eza -la --git --group-directories-first'
alias lt='eza --tree --level=2 --group-directories-first'

If overriding ls makes you nervous, alias only l and ll and leave ls alone — scripts that parse ls output can break.

jq

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If you have ever scanned an API response by eye and missed the field you needed, jq is the answer. It pretty-prints JSON, extracts the parts you want, and reshapes them.

Install

 brew install jq
sudo apt install jq
winget install jqlang.jq

Basics

 # pretty-print
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/jeonck/toolian | jq

# one field
jq '.name' repo.json

# a nested field
jq '.owner.login' repo.json

# iterate an array
jq '.[] | .name' repos.json

# build a new object
jq '.[] | {name, stars: .stargazers_count}' repos.json

Filters worth knowing

Filter	Meaning
`.`	The whole input
`.foo`	A field
`.foo?`	null instead of an error when missing
`.[]`	Iterate an array or object
`.[2:5]`	Array slice
`\|`	Pipe one filter into the next
`select(cond)`	Keep matching items
`map(expr)`	Apply to each array element
`length`	Length
`keys`	Key list
`sort_by(.field)`	Sort
`group_by(.field)`	Group
`-r`	Raw output, no quotes

In practice

 # names of repos with more than 100 stars
jq -r '.[] | select(.stargazers_count > 100) | .name' repos.json

# array to CSV
jq -r '.[] | [.name, .language, .stargazers_count] | @csv' repos.json

# count by status code
jq -r '.[].status' logs.json | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# edit a value into a new file
jq '.version = "2.0.0"' package.json > tmp && mv tmp package.json

# merge two files
jq -s '.[0] * .[1]' base.json override.json

Using it safely

Never overwrite in place: jq ... file.json > file.json truncates the file. Use a temp file, or sponge from moreutils.
Missing keys: .a.b errors when a is absent. Guard with .a?.b? or // "default".
Debugging: for a long filter, run it one pipe stage at a time — you’ll find the culprit much faster.

For YAML too

 brew install yq
yq '.services.web.image' docker-compose.yml
yq -o=json '.' config.yaml | jq

With files under control, on to where you write the code → Install

 brew install --cask visual-studio-code
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode

To use code . from a terminal, run Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH from the command palette (⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P).

Six shortcuts to learn first

Action	macOS	Windows/Linux
Command palette	`⌘⇧P`	`Ctrl+Shift+P`
Quick open a file	`⌘P`	`Ctrl+P`
Go to symbol	`⌘⇧O`	`Ctrl+Shift+O`
Search everywhere	`⌘⇧F`	`Ctrl+Shift+F`
Multi-cursor (same word)	`⌘D` repeatedly	`Ctrl+D`
Move a line	`⌥↑` / `⌥↓`	`Alt+↑` / `Alt+↓`

Knowing the command palette alone lets you find everything else by name.

Neovim

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The real advantage of Neovim isn’t raw speed — it’s that it exists on every server and your hands never leave the home row. If you edit files over SSH regularly, the basics alone pay for themselves.

Install

 brew install neovim
sudo apt install neovim
winget install Neovim.Neovim

Survival commands

First, remove the possibility of being trapped in it.

Command	Action
`Esc`	Back to normal mode (when in doubt, start here)
`i` / `a`	Insert before / after the cursor
`:w`	Save
`:q`	Quit
`:wq` or `ZZ`	Save and quit
`:q!`	Quit, discarding changes

Moving and editing

Key	Action
`h j k l`	Left, down, up, right
`w` / `b`	Next / previous word
`0` / `$`	Start / end of line
`gg` / `G`	Start / end of file
`{n}G`	Go to line n
`dd` / `yy` / `p`	Delete / yank / paste a line
`u` / `Ctrl+r`	Undo / redo
`/text` then `n`	Search, then next match
`:%s/old/new/g`	Replace throughout the file

Vim’s grammar is verb + object. d (delete) + w (word) is dw; c (change) + i" (inside quotes) is ci". Once that composition clicks, there is far less to memorise.

JetBrains IDEs

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

JetBrains IDEs understand code as structure, not text. That makes renaming, extracting methods, and tracing usages exact. The advantage is largest on big projects and statically typed languages.

Picking a product

Product	Primary language
IntelliJ IDEA	Java, Kotlin, Scala
PyCharm	Python
GoLand	Go
WebStorm	JavaScript, TypeScript
DataGrip	SQL, databases
Rider	.NET, C#

If you move between many languages, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate plus plugins covers most of it. Install and manage versions through JetBrains Toolbox.

Editing Skills

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You change editors every few years; these techniques come with you. They have the most reliable return on investment of anything here.

Multi-cursor

For repeating the same edit across several lines.

Action	VS Code	JetBrains
Add next occurrence	`⌘D` / `Ctrl+D`	`⌃G` / `Alt+J`
Select all occurrences	`⌘⇧L` / `Ctrl+Shift+L`	`⌃⌘G` / `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J`
Add cursor above/below	`⌥⌘↑↓` / `Ctrl+Alt+↑↓`	`⌥⌥↑↓` (Alt twice)
Add cursor anywhere	`⌥click` / `Alt+click`	Same

Typical uses: quoting ten list items at once, or fixing several import statements simultaneously.

Claude Code

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Claude Code is not autocomplete — it’s something you hand a task to. “Find and fix the cause of this bug”, “add tests for this folder”: work that spans several files, it explores and edits on its own.

Install and run

 npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
cd ~/projects/my-app
claude

Besides the terminal, it’s available as a desktop app (Mac/Windows), on the web (claude.ai/code), and as VS Code and JetBrains extensions.

GitHub Copilot

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Copilot greys in the code it thinks follows your cursor. It doesn’t roam a project the way an agent does, but by sheer frequency of small time savings it’s the form of assistance that helps most often.

Install

Install the GitHub Copilot extension from the VS Code marketplace and sign in with your GitHub account. Plugins exist for JetBrains, Neovim, and Visual Studio too.

 # Neovim
git clone https://github.com/github/copilot.vim \
 ~/.config/nvim/pack/github/start/copilot.vim
# then run :Copilot setup

Basic controls

Action	Key
Accept the suggestion	`Tab`
Dismiss it	`Esc`
Next / previous suggestion	`⌥]` / `⌥[` (Alt)
Open several in a panel	`⌃⏎` (Ctrl+Enter)
Inline chat	`⌘I` / `Ctrl+I`

Getting better suggestions

Copilot predicts from surrounding context, so the clearer that is, the more accurate it gets.

Cursor

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cursor forks VS Code and promotes AI features into the core workflow. Because it keeps most VS Code extensions, keymaps, and settings, the cost of switching is low.

Install

 brew install --cask cursor

On first launch it offers to import your VS Code setup — extensions, theme, and key bindings come across.

Three features that matter

Feature	Key	Purpose
Inline edit	`⌘K` / `Ctrl+K`	Change the selection from a plain-language instruction
Chat	`⌘L` / `Ctrl+L`	Ask questions about the code
Agent mode	Toggle in the chat panel	Make changes across several files

Inline edit is the one you’ll use most

Select the code, press ⌘K, and say “turn this loop into a map and add a null check.” The change appears as a diff for you to accept or reject.

Ollama

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When policy forbids sending code outside, when things must work offline, or when the cost of high-volume requests matters, a local model becomes an option. Ollama reduces that to roughly the effort of docker run.

Install

 brew install ollama
ollama serve # start the background service

 curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

Windows uses the official installer.

Running a model

 ollama pull llama3.2 # download
ollama run llama3.2 # interactive
ollama list # installed models
ollama rm llama3.2 # remove

You can also pipe a prompt in:

The Daily Git Workflow

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Git has hundreds of commands; you use about ten of them daily. Here are those ten, plus how to get out of trouble.

A day’s shape

 git switch main && git pull --rebase # get current
git switch -c feat/login-rate-limit # branch off
# ... work ...
git add -p # stage hunk by hunk, reviewing as you go
git commit -m "Limit login attempts to five per minute"
git push -u origin feat/login-rate-limit

git add -p walks you through each hunk and asks whether to include it. It prevents most stray-print-statement accidents on its own.

GitHub CLI (gh)

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

gh moves most of what you do on github.com into the terminal. The biggest gain is losing the open-a-browser, find-the-tab, click-the-button loop.

Install and authenticate

 brew install gh
sudo apt install gh
winget install GitHub.cli

gh auth login # browser flow
gh auth status # check who you are

Pull requests

 gh pr create --fill # title and body from your commits
gh pr create --draft --title "WIP: auth refactor"

gh pr list # open PRs
gh pr list --author "@me" # just yours
gh pr status # everything relevant to you

gh pr checkout 42 # switch to a PR branch to review it
gh pr diff 42 # see the changes
gh pr review 42 --approve
gh pr review 42 --request-changes -b "Could you add a test for this?"
gh pr merge 42 --squash --delete-branch

gh pr checkout is especially good when reviewing: you don’t need to know the remote branch name, just the number.

lazygit

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

lazygit combines git status, git add -p, git log, and git rebase -i into one screen. It speeds up partial staging and interactive rebase in particular.

Install and run

 brew install lazygit
sudo apt install lazygit
winget install JesseDuffield.lazygit

cd ~/projects/my-app
lazygit # or alias lg='lazygit'

Layout

Five panels run down the left; move between them with 1–5 or Tab.

Number	Panel	Purpose
1	Status	Repository state and settings
2	Files	Changed files, staging
3	Branches	Switching and merging
4	Commits	History and rebasing
5	Stash	Temporary storage

Essential keys

Key	Action
`Space`	Toggle staging for a file or hunk
`Enter`	Enter a file for line-level staging
`c`	Commit
`A`	Amend the previous commit
`p`	Pull
`P`	Push
`d`	Delete / discard
`?`	Help for the current panel
`q`	Quit

You don’t have to memorise anything — ? lists the keys in place.

delta

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Plain git diff colours whole lines red and green. Change one word and the entire line lights up, leaving you to hunt for the difference by eye. delta highlights only what changed and adds syntax colouring on top.

Install

 brew install git-delta
sudo apt install git-delta
winget install dandavison.delta

The package is git-delta; the binary is delta. Take care not to confuse it with other packages named delta.

pre-commit Hooks

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“Formatting is off here” and “there’s a leftover console log” are review comments a machine should be making, not a person. pre-commit runs a fixed set of checks every time you commit.

Install

 brew install pre-commit
pip install pre-commit

Install the hooks from the project root:

 pre-commit install

They now run on every git commit.

The config file

.pre-commit-config.yaml at the project root:

curl

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

curl is already installed on virtually every server, which makes it the first thing you reach for when confirming “it works on my laptop but not on the box.”

Basics

 curl https://api.example.com/users # GET, body only
curl -i https://api.example.com/users # include response headers
curl -I https://api.example.com/users # headers only (HEAD)
curl -s https://api.example.com/users | jq # quiet, piped into jq
curl -o users.json https://api.example.com/users # save to a file

Flags worth knowing

Flag	Meaning
`-X POST`	Set the method
`-H "Key: value"`	Add a header (repeatable)
`-d '{"a":1}'`	Send a body (implies POST)
`--data-urlencode`	URL-encode a form value
`-F file=@a.png`	Multipart file upload
`-u user:pass`	Basic auth
`-L`	Follow redirects
`-s` / `-S`	Hide progress / still show errors
`-f`	Fail the exit code on HTTP errors (essential in scripts)
`-k`	Skip certificate verification (debugging only)
`--max-time 10`	Overall timeout in seconds
`-v`	Print the whole request and response exchange

Calling a JSON API

 curl -sS -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
 -d '{"name":"Alex Kim","email":"alex@example.com"}' | jq

A long body reads better from a file:

HTTPie

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

HTTPie does the same job as curl with shorter syntax and output that is coloured and formatted automatically. Poking at a JSON API by hand takes less than half the typing.

Install

 brew install httpie
pip install httpie
sudo apt install httpie

Basics

 http GET https://api.example.com/users
http https://api.example.com/users # GET is the default
https example.com/users # shorthand for the https scheme

Responses are syntax-highlighted and JSON is formatted, so you can read them without piping through jq.

Bruno and Postman

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Once you’ve outgrown pasting curl commands into Slack, you need somewhere to keep a set of requests and swap environments. There are two broad choices.

What differs

	Bruno	Postman
Storage	Files (.bru) managed in Git	Cloud workspace
Account	Not required	Required for collaboration
Collaboration	Branches and PRs as usual	Web-based sharing and permissions
Breadth	Focused on the core	Monitors, mock servers, documentation
Best when	Requests live beside the code	A whole organisation, including non-engineers

Choose Bruno if you want requests committed alongside the code, Postman if you need an API portal for the wider company.

Exposing a Local Server

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes you need to receive a payment provider’s webhook, or look at the screen you’re building on an actual phone. These tools open localhost:3000 to the world for a while without deploying anything.

ngrok

The most widely used. Needs an account and an auth token.

 brew install ngrok
ngrok config add-authtoken <token>
ngrok http 3000

It prints a URL like https://xxxx.ngrok-free.app. Put that in your webhook settings.

Docker

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Docker’s value is less about virtualisation and more about writing an environment down as code. Half a day of local setup for a new teammate becomes one line: docker compose up.

Install

 brew install --cask docker # Docker Desktop
brew install --cask orbstack # a lighter alternative on macOS

On Linux, follow your distribution’s official docker-ce instructions.

Three concepts

Concept	Meaning
Image	A read-only snapshot of an environment
Container	A running instance of an image
Volume	Storage that survives the container

Basic commands

 docker run -d --name pg -p 5432:5432 \
 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret postgres:16

docker ps # running containers
docker ps -a # including stopped ones
docker logs -f pg # follow the logs
docker exec -it pg psql -U postgres # run a command inside
docker stop pg && docker rm pg

Flag	Meaning
`-d`	Run in the background
`-p host:container`	Publish a port
`-e KEY=VALUE`	Environment variable
`-v hostpath:containerpath`	Mount a volume
`--rm`	Delete on exit
`-it`	Interactive terminal

Writing a Dockerfile

 # stage 1: build
FROM node:22-slim AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# stage 2: run, without the build tooling
FROM node:22-slim
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
USER node
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/main.js"]

Two things carry most of the benefit:

Docker Compose

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Real projects don’t stop at one container — the app, a database, a cache, and a queue all need to be up. Compose describes that in a single YAML file and starts it with docker compose up.

compose.yaml

 services:
 app:
 build: .
 ports:
 - "3000:3000"
 environment:
 DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:secret@db:5432/app
 REDIS_URL: redis://cache:6379
 volumes:
 - .:/app
 - /app/node_modules # protect it from being shadowed by the host
 depends_on:
 db:
 condition: service_healthy

 db:
 image: postgres:16
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
 POSTGRES_DB: app
 ports:
 - "5432:5432"
 volumes:
 - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
 healthcheck:
 test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
 interval: 5s
 retries: 5

 cache:
 image: redis:7-alpine

volumes:
 pgdata:

Containers find each other by service name. That’s why the app above connects to db rather than localhost.

kubectl and k9s

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Even if you don’t operate Kubernetes yourself, you will end up reading logs from a deployed service or working out why a pod won’t start. This page concentrates on reading and debugging.

Install

 brew install kubectl k9s
brew install kubectx # context and namespace switching

Check your context first

 kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl config current-context
kubectx staging # switch context
kubens my-namespace # switch namespace

Running a command against production without realising you were pointed at it is the most common accident here. Putting the current context in your prompt prevents it (Starship’s kubernetes module does this).

GitHub Actions

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Actions is CI/CD that runs whenever you put a workflow YAML file in your repository. There’s no server to stand up, so it’s painless even for personal projects.

A first workflow

.github/workflows/ci.yml:

 name: CI

on:
 push:
 branches: [main]
 pull_request:

jobs:
 test:
 runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 steps:
 - uses: actions/checkout@v4

 - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
 with:
 node-version: 22
 cache: npm

 - run: npm ci
 - run: npm run lint
 - run: npm test

Push and it runs. Follow along from the terminal with gh run watch.

Terraform

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Infrastructure clicked together in a console is infrastructure nobody can explain six months later. Terraform states the desired shape as code, works out the difference from reality, and applies it.

Install

 brew install terraform
brew install opentofu # the open-source fork; the command is tofu

The loop

 terraform init # download providers, configure the backend
terraform fmt # format
terraform validate # check syntax
terraform plan # preview what will change
terraform apply # apply it
terraform destroy # tear everything down (careful)

Never apply without reading a plan. That single habit prevents most incidents.

Raycast (macOS)

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Raycast opens with ⌘Space and runs whatever you want after a few keystrokes. It does more than launch apps — it removes most of the reasons your hand reaches for the mouse.

Install

 brew install --cask raycast

After installing, unbind ⌘Space from Spotlight (System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Spotlight) and give it to Raycast.

Four things to turn on immediately

Feature	Why
Clipboard History	Go back and retrieve something you copied. The biggest single win
Window Management	Halve and quarter windows without a separate app
Snippets	Expand a short keyword into a phrase or address you type constantly
Quicklinks	Frequently opened URLs, with parameters

Give Clipboard History its own shortcut, something like ⌥⌘C, and it’s ready to use.

PowerToys (Windows)

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

PowerToys is an open-source collection of small utilities in one app. Turn on only the modules you need.

Install

 winget install Microsoft.PowerToys

Modules worth enabling

Module	What it does
FancyZones	Split the screen into a grid and snap windows into it
PowerToys Run	An `Alt+Space` launcher for apps, files, calculations, commands
Keyboard Manager	Remap keys and shortcuts
Text Extractor	OCR text from anywhere on screen (`Win+Shift+T`)
PowerRename	Bulk rename with regular expressions
Always On Top	Pin a window (`Win+Ctrl+T`)
Color Picker	Sample a colour (`Win+Shift+C`)
Awake	Temporarily prevent sleep

FancyZones

Open the editor with Win+Shift+\``, build a layout, then hold Shift` while dragging a window to snap it into a zone. Fixing three windows at a 3:5:4 ratio on a wide monitor removes dragging-to-resize from your day entirely.

Make and Makefiles

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If you copy long commands out of a README every time, a single Makefile tidies that up. Make exists on every Unix-like system and doesn’t care what language you write in.

A minimal Makefile

Makefile at the project root (tab indentation is mandatory):

 .PHONY: help install dev test lint build clean

help: ## Show the available commands
	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | \
	 awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf " \033[36m%-12s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'

install: ## Install dependencies
	npm ci

dev: ## Run the development server
	docker compose up -d
	npm run dev

test: ## Run the tests
	npm test

lint: ## Lint and check formatting
	npm run lint
	npm run format:check

build: ## Production build
	npm run build

clean: ## Remove build output
	rm -rf dist node_modules/.cache
	docker compose down

make or make help prints the commands with their descriptions, so a new teammate can see what’s possible without reading the README.

cron and launchd

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Backups, log rotation, report generation — anything that runs at the same time daily belongs to a scheduler. The catch is that most scheduled jobs fail silently, so this page covers that too.

cron (Linux, macOS)

 crontab -e # edit
crontab -l # list
crontab -r # delete everything (careful)

The format is five fields:

 min hour day month weekday command
 * * * * *

Expression	Meaning
`0 3 * * *`	Daily at 03:00
`/15 * * *`	Every 15 minutes
`0 9 * * 1-5`	Weekdays at 09:00
`0 0 1 * *`	Midnight on the first of the month
`@reboot`	At boot

For example:

n8n

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“When a GitHub issue opens, post to Slack and add a row in Notion” — n8n builds that kind of glue without code. It resembles Zapier and Make, with the difference that you can host it yourself so the data never leaves.

Run it with Docker

 docker run -d --name n8n \
 -p 5678:5678 \
 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
 -e GENERIC_TIMEZONE="Asia/Seoul" \
 -e TZ="Asia/Seoul" \
 docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

Create an account at http://localhost:5678 and start building.

Obsidian

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The heart of Obsidian is that a note is just a .md file in a folder. If the service disappears the files remain, and version-controlling them or moving them to another tool is easy.

Install and first setup

 brew install --cask obsidian

A vault is the folder holding your notes. Make one at something like ~/notes.
Under Settings → Files & Links, point “Default location for new attachments” at an attachments folder so images don’t scatter.

Folder structure

A deep folder tree makes you deliberate about where things go, and then you stop writing them down. Staying shallow and linking instead lasts longer.

Markdown

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Markdown is the common language of GitHub, Slack, Notion, and every static site generator. Thirty minutes to learn, and you use it for the rest of your career.

The basics

 # Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

**bold** *italic* ~~strikethrough~~ `inline code`

- a list
- of items
 - nested (two or more spaces)

1. numbered
2. list

> a block quote

[link text](https://example.com)
![alt text](./image.png)

---

Code blocks

Naming the language turns on syntax highlighting.

Mermaid

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A diagram exported as an image means hunting for the source file every time it changes, and a diff that shows nothing. Mermaid is text, so the change is legible right in the pull request.

GitHub, GitLab, Notion, Obsidian, and most documentation tools — this site included — support it out of the box.

Flowcharts

 ```mermaid
flowchart TD
 A[Request received] --> B{Has an auth token?}
 B -->|No| C[Return 401]
 B -->|Yes| D{Token valid?}
 D -->|No| C
 D -->|Yes| E[Run the handler]
 E --> F[Return the response]
```

flowchart TD
 A[Request received] --> B{Has an auth token?}
 B -->|No| C[Return 401]
 B -->|Yes| D{Token valid?}
 D -->|No| C
 D -->|Yes| E[Run the handler]
 E --> F[Return the response]

Pick a direction from TD (top-down), LR (left-right), BT, or RL.

Excalidraw

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mermaid is strong on formalised diagrams, but it’s the wrong tool for an architecture sketch that needs free placement, or for drawing live in a meeting. Excalidraw fills that gap, and its hand-drawn style sends a useful signal: this isn’t settled yet.

Getting started

Open excalidraw.com and draw. No account, no install.

Toolian

Choosing a Tool

Six questions link

Suggested order of adoption link

Common traps link

Next link

Windows — winget link

Dotfiles

The simplest approach: a repo plus symlinks link

Choosing a Terminal

The options link

zsh and Starship

Baseline zsh settings link

tmux

Install and first run link

fzf

Install link

Three keys you get for free link

zoxide

Install link

ripgrep

Install link

Basics link

Options worth knowing link

In practice link

Replacing text link

fd

Install link

Basics link

Options worth knowing link

Acting on what you find link

bat

Install link

Basics link

Combining with other commands link

eza

Install link

Basics link

Options worth knowing link

Suggested aliases link

jq

Install link

Basics link

Filters worth knowing link

In practice link

Using it safely link

For YAML too link

Next link

Six shortcuts to learn first link

Neovim

Install link

Survival commands link

Moving and editing link

JetBrains IDEs

Picking a product link

Editing Skills

Multi-cursor link

Claude Code

Install and run link

GitHub Copilot

Install link

Basic controls link

Getting better suggestions link

Cursor

Install link

Three features that matter link

Inline edit is the one you’ll use most link

Ollama

Install link

Running a model link

The Daily Git Workflow

A day’s shape link

GitHub CLI (gh)

Install and authenticate link

Pull requests link

lazygit

Install and run link

Layout link

Essential keys link

delta

Six questions

Suggested order of adoption

Common traps

Next

Windows — winget

The simplest approach: a repo plus symlinks

The options

Baseline zsh settings

Install and first run

Install

Three keys you get for free

Install

Install

Basics

Options worth knowing

In practice

Replacing text

Install

Basics

Options worth knowing

Acting on what you find

Install

Basics

Combining with other commands

Install

Basics

Options worth knowing

Suggested aliases

Install

Basics

Filters worth knowing

In practice

Using it safely

For YAML too

Next

Six shortcuts to learn first

Install

Survival commands

Moving and editing

Picking a product

Multi-cursor

Install and run

Install

Basic controls

Getting better suggestions

Install

Three features that matter

Inline edit is the one you’ll use most

Install

Running a model

A day’s shape

Install and authenticate

Pull requests

Install and run

Layout

Essential keys

Install

Install

The config file

Basics

Flags worth knowing

Calling a JSON API

Install

Basics

What differs

ngrok

Install

Three concepts

Basic commands

Writing a Dockerfile

compose.yaml

Install

Check your context first

A first workflow

Install

The loop

Install

Four things to turn on immediately

Install

Modules worth enabling