macstrap 1.1.0

Remote Mac setup and package management via SSH

macstrap

A CLI tool for setting up and managing remote Macs via SSH — no Ansible knowledge required.

Define what you want installed in plain text files, register your target machines once, then run a single command to apply the full setup. Safe to re-run anytime; already-installed items are skipped.

Installation

% pip install macstrap

Usage

1. Initialise package files

% macstrap init
% macstrap init --examples

This creates template files you edit to declare what gets installed:

packages-macports.txt       # MacPorts packages
packages-brew.txt           # Homebrew formula
packages-brew-casks.txt     # Homebrew cask (GUI apps)
packages-npm-global.txt     # Global npm packages (installed via nvm default Node)
packages-pip-global.txt     # Global pip packages

Edit them like a shopping list — one package per line, # for comments:

# packages-brew.txt
git
gh
fzf
ripgrep

For example:

• Add openjdk to packages-brew.txt to install OpenJDK.
• Add docker to packages-brew-casks.txt to install Docker Desktop.

If you use --examples, macstrap also creates starter config directories under examples/ (such as examples/ai-cli, examples/openclaw, examples/utilities-dev, examples/php8.3-dev).

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2. Register a host

ssh-auth does two things in sequence:

1. Copy your SSH public key to the remote Mac (one-time, requires SSH password)
2. Store the sudo password in the system credential store

% macstrap ssh-auth mac-mini.local
% macstrap ssh-auth mac-mini.local --user remoteuser   # if remote username differs
% macstrap ssh-auth 192.168.1.100 --user remoteuser

If SSH key auth is already set up, skip the key copy step:

% macstrap ssh-auth mac-mini.local --skip-key-copy

The SSH username is saved alongside the password so you don't need to type it on every run.

You can register multiple machines — each gets its own credential entry.

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3. Run setup

% macstrap run
% macstrap run mac-mini.local
% macstrap run 192.168.1.100
% macstrap run [e-mail]   # override SSH user inline
% macstrap run --config examples/ai-cli --config examples/openclaw 192.168.1.100

macstrap connects over SSH, reads your package files, and installs everything that isn't already there. First run takes 30–60 minutes (MacPorts compiles from source). Subsequent runs take about 1 minute.

SSH user resolution order (highest priority first):

1. --user flag
2. user@host inline syntax
3. SSH user stored at ssh-auth time
4. Local OS username (fallback)

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4. Verify installation

Check whether every package in your package files is actually installed on the remote Mac:

% macstrap verify
% macstrap verify mac-mini.local
% macstrap verify 192.168.1.100 --user remoteuser

Output example:

  Tools
  ✓  brew       Homebrew 4.4.12
  ✓  port       Version: 2.12.3
  ✓  nvm        0.40.1
  ✓  node       v22.14.0
  ✗  docker     not found
  ✓  java       openjdk version "21.0.7" 2025-04-15
  ✓  python3    Python 3.13.2

  Homebrew (2/3)
  ✓  git
  ✓  ripgrep
  ✗  htop  (missing)

  ⚠  2 installed, 1 missing

Exits with code 0 if everything is present, 1 if anything is missing — useful in CI or scripts.

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Example: install OpenJDK + Docker Desktop

% macstrap init
% echo "openjdk" >> packages-brew.txt
% echo "docker" >> packages-brew-casks.txt
% macstrap ssh-auth mac-mini.local
% macstrap run mac-mini.local --tag homebrew --tag openjdk --tag docker
% macstrap verify mac-mini.local

After Docker Desktop is installed, sign in to the target Mac desktop and launch Docker once to accept the licence and complete first-run setup.

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Manage registered hosts

% macstrap list

  macstrap credential store  (macOS Keychain)
  Default target: mac-mini.local

  Host              User          Password
  mac-mini.local    remoteuser    ✓ stored   ← default
  192.168.1.200     admin         ✓ stored

% macstrap delete mac-mini.local
% macstrap delete-all

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Run only part of the setup

Use --tag to apply a single role instead of the full playbook:

% macstrap run --tag homebrew
% macstrap run mac-mini.local --tag macports
% macstrap run --tag nvm
% macstrap run --tag shell
% macstrap run --tag pip

Available tags: macports homebrew nvm npm docker openjdk shell pip

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Dry run

Preview what would change without applying anything:

% macstrap run --check
% macstrap run mac-mini.local --check

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What gets installed

macstrap reads your package files and applies the following roles in order:

Phase	Role	What it does
Bootstrap	(raw SSH)	Installs Xcode Command Line Tools via softwareupdate if missing — required before Python is available on a fresh Mac
Main	macports	Installs MacPorts and packages from packages-macports.txt
Main	homebrew	Installs Homebrew formulae from packages-brew.txt and casks from packages-brew-casks.txt
Main	nvm	Installs nvm, Node.js (v22), and global npm packages from packages-npm-global.txt
Main	docker	Checks Docker Desktop status and first-launch readiness (install is driven by packages-brew-casks.txt, e.g. docker)
Main	openjdk	Configures Java symlink/PATH for Homebrew OpenJDK (install is driven by packages-brew.txt, e.g. openjdk)
Main	shell	Deploys a unified ~/.zshrc with PATH entries for MacPorts, Homebrew, NVM, Java
Main	pip_global	Installs global pip packages from packages-pip-global.txt

All roles are idempotent — re-running only installs what is missing.

Fresh Mac note

On a brand-new Mac (or one that has never run Xcode tools), macOS intercepts /usr/bin/python3 and shows an installation dialog instead of running Python. macstrap handles this automatically: the bootstrap phase uses raw SSH commands (no Python needed) to install Xcode CLT first, then hands off to the normal Ansible playbook.

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Credential storage

Platform	Storage location
macOS	Keychain (security command) — visible in Keychain Access → Passwords → search macstrap
Linux	~/.config/macstrap/ directory (each key is a separate file, chmod 600)

Key naming convention:

macstrap-target          → current default host
macstrap-hosts           → comma-separated index of all registered hosts
macstrap-pass-{host}     → sudo password for a specific host
macstrap-user-{host}     → SSH username for a specific host

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• SSH access to the target Mac (key-based auth is set up automatically by ssh-auth)
• macOS 13+ on the target machine

Ansible is bundled as a dependency — pip install macstrap is all you need.

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License

MIT © changyy