My Development Setup

A good development setup should make the common path quiet.

I do not treat tooling as identity. I treat it as support for clear thinking and steady delivery. The best setup is the one that gets out of the way often enough for the real work to feel possible.

This is the shape of mine today:

I work in Cursor for most software projects. I like having editing, search, terminal access, and AI assistance in one place without constantly switching contexts. The goal is not novelty. The goal is fewer small interruptions.

Local PHP and Laravel work run through Laravel Herd on my machine. It keeps environment setup simple and lets me stay focused on the application instead of wrestling with configuration every time I switch projects.

Terminal habits stay minimal: clear project scripts, predictable git workflows, and enough aliases to avoid typing the same long commands all day. If a task happens more than a few times, it probably deserves a script.

For application work, I prefer a repo that opens cleanly: README with setup steps, `.env.example` that tells the truth, migrations that run, tests that pass, and Pint or an equivalent formatter so style debates stay short.

I also protect the human parts of the setup: a readable desk, water nearby, notifications reduced during deep work, and breaks that are actually breaks. Software quality and personal sustainability are connected more than we admit.

This page is a living note, not a gear showcase. If a tool stops earning its place, it can leave. The setup should serve the work — and the person doing it.