The Complete Guide to Modern Development Environment Setup on M-Series Mac

This is a comprehensive guide tailored specifically for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) chips. It covers not only the installation of essential tools but also addresses pain points like GitHub connectivity issues and native build script blocking in development environments.

Phase 1: Essential Development Environment Setup

On M-series chips, aligning paths and architectures is crucial for stability.

1. Install Homebrew (Package Manager)

On Apple Silicon, Homebrew installs to /opt/homebrew by default.

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

Configure Environment Variables:

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

2. Install fnm (Node.js Version Manager)

fnm natively supports ARM64 and is currently the most performant Node manager for macOS.

brew install fnm

Add the following to ~/.zshrc to automatically switch Node versions when entering project directories:

echo 'eval "$(fnm env --use-on-cd --shell zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

3. Install pnpm (Core Package Manager)

Recommended to install separately via Homebrew with optimized global configuration:

brew install pnpm
pnpm setup
source ~/.zshrc

Key Optimization: Allow automatic execution of native module build scripts (like Gemini CLI, Sharp, etc.) to avoid M-chip compilation errors:

pnpm config set -g ignore-scripts false

Phase 2: GitHub Secure Connection and Network Tunneling

Resolve common connection timeout or reset issues through SSH-over-HTTPS (port 443) with proxy tools.

1. Global Identity Configuration

Replace the placeholders below with your own GitHub information:

git config --global user.name "<your_username>"
git config --global user.email "<your_email@example.com>"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

2. Generate ED25519 Key

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "<your_email@example.com>"

Run cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub and add the content to GitHub SSH Settings.

3. Write a “Universal” SSH Config File

Edit ~/.ssh/config to ensure traffic goes through your designated proxy port (example uses 7897):

Host github.com
  HostName ssh.github.com
  Port 443
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  # Force through local proxy (modify port based on your proxy tool)
  ProxyCommand nc -X 5 -x 127.0.0.1:7897 %h %p

Permission Fix:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config

Phase 3: Standardized Development Workflow

Once the environment is ready, following a standardized workflow greatly improves collaboration and maintenance efficiency.

1. Environment Check

After entering a project directory, verify that the environment is correctly aligned:

node -v && pnpm -v

2. Dependency Management

With script execution enabled, native modules will automatically complete local compilation during installation:

pnpm install

3. Conventional Commits

We recommend using the Conventional Commits specification to keep commit history clear:

• feat: New feature
• fix: Bug fix
• chore: Build process or auxiliary tool changes
• docs: Documentation changes

Tip: You can use AI tools to help generate proper commit messages:

git diff --cached | <ai_tool_command> "Generate English commit message based on changes"

4. Push and Sync

git pull origin main  # Pull before pushing to avoid conflicts
git push origin main

Published at: Feb 12, 2026 · Modified at: Feb 12, 2026

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