Uses
This page starts with the tools I reach for every day, followed by the longer inventory for anyone who wants the details. If you decide to make your own, consider adding it to Wes Bos' uses.tech. I use a Mac, so most tools are macOS specific, but there are some OS-agnostic ones in the list.
Note: This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
Daily drivers
The short version: a MacBook Pro, Herdr and the terminal, Claude Code for work, and a small collection of MCP and AI tools for experiments. For recording, I use a Shure MV7+ with a simple desk setup.
- Terminal-first development with Herdr
- Claude Code for work
- OpenCode and OpenClaw for personal experiments
- VS Code Insiders when I need a traditional editor
- MacBook Pro M2 (personal) and M4 (work)
- Shure MV7+ for streams and recordings
Editor#
These days I'm mainly working in the terminal via Herdr. When I do need a traditional editor, I reach for VS Code Insiders or Devin.
- Themes: Night Owl and the Default Light Modern theme.
- Font: Dank Mono and also Operator Mono
Coding Agents#
At work, Claude Code is my primary driver at the moment, as we have a team subscription. For personal use, it's a combo of all of them lol.
- Claude Code
- Devin - Full agentic IDE
- Devin CLI - For terminal use
- OpenCode
- OpenClaw - Mainly for cron jobs and also treat it kind of like ChatGPT. I use it mainly through Discord.
- Hermes Agent - Still exploring it, but it has great UX
- Claude Desktop
Browser Extensions#
- 1Password - Password manager
- Claude - AI assistant in the browser
- JSON Alexander - A really good JSON viewer
- Refined GitHub - GitHub on steroids
- Stylus - User styles manager
Desktop Apps#
- 1Password
- 1Password CLI
- Affinity Designer 2
- Affinity Photo 2
- Affinity Publisher 2
- Audio Hijack
- Bartender
- BlackHole 2ch
- Goose
- Bruno
- Camo Studio
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- cmux
- Codex
- Colour Contrast Analyser
- Conductor
- GitHub Copilot CLI
- DBngin
- DevToys
- Discord
- Elgato Stream Deck
- Figma
- f.lux
- Ghostty
- Google Chrome
- GPG Suite
- Hammerspoon
- Handy
- IINA
- ImageOptim
- Linear
- Logitech Options+
- Loopback
- mitmproxy
- Mullvad VPN
- OBS
- Ollama
- OpenEmu
- OrbStack
- Polypane
- Raspberry Pi Imager
- Raycast
- Rocket
- Screen Studio
- ScreenFlow
- Slack
- Spotify
- TablePlus
- Telegram for macOS
- The Unarchiver
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code Insiders
- xScope
- Zoom
- Actions
- Dato
CLIs#
- Atuin
- bat
- Duckdb
- eza
- fd
- Ffmpeg
- gh
- Ghostscript
- Gifsicle
- Git Delta
- Git Filter Repo
- Golangci Lint
- Graphicsmagick
- Helm
- Herdr
- Just
- k9s
- Kind
- Kondo
- Kubectx
- Kubernetes CLI
- Mise
- Mkcert
- Ripgrep
- Opencode
- Pnpm
- Podman
- Poppler
- Redis
- Speedtest CLI
- Starship
- Tlrc
- Tmux
- Yt Dlp
- Zoxide
- Git Wt
(ahmedelgabri/git-wt) - bun
(oven-sh/bun) - Talosctl
(siderolabs/tap) - Turso
(tursodatabase/tap) - Mole
(tw93/tap)
Office Setup#
- BenQ RD280UG 28" 4K monitor.
- Autonomous Desk 5 Pro - A solid standing desk.
- Herman Miller Aeron office chair. These are pricey, so look out for one on online classifieds. I snagged one with many new parts for just under a third of the price.
- MacBook Pro M2 14" (personal) and M4 14" (work)
- Logitech MX Master 3 mouse
- Logitech ERGO K860 wireless split keyboard
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones - Excellent noise cancellation and spatial audio.
- Shure MV7+ Microphone - I use this for all my live streams and recordings. It's a great mic and I love the built in USB-C port. You can also use it with XLR if you want to go that route, but I don't atm. I opted for white to contrast with my black boom arm.
- RODE PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio Microphone Boom Arm
- Rain Design mStand360 Laptop Stand with Swivel Base
- iPhone 14 camera for streaming and recording video
- NEEWER Continuity Camera Mount - Magnetic monitor mount for using iPhone as a webcam.
- Anker USB C Hub, 5-In-1 USB C Adapter
- Powered USB 3.0 Hub, WENTER 11-Port USB Data Hub
-
lighting:
- Logitech Litra Glow Premium LED Streaming Light with TrueSoft - Lighting for live streaming and recording video. I have two of these and they're awesome.
- Aputure Amaran 60x bi-color LED light - A compact key light for desk setups.
- Aputure Amaran 100c RGBWW LED light - Great for color accents and fill lighting.
- Aputure Light Dome Mini II - Diffuser for softening the light.
- Seagate Portable 5TB External Hard Drive HDD
- Topo Comfort Mat by Ergodriven standing desk mat
- LEVOIT Air Purifier Core 300
- Elgato Stream Deck XL - Great for controlling scenes in OBS, dropping links and messages in chat, but I also use it for other apps like Spotify and Zoom.
- Quartet Glass Desktop Computer Pad, 18 inch x 6 inch, a handy desk whiteboard. Thanks for the suggestion Jhey!
Travel Gear#
- Roost Laptop Stand
- Apple Magic Trackpad (White)
- # ProtoArc XK01 Full-Size Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard for Travel, Black
- Anker Laptop Power Bank, 25,000mAh Travel Essential with 165W Total Output
- Anker 727 Charging Station (GaNPrime 100W)
- Anker Magnetic Battery, 10,000 mAh Foldable Wireless Portable Charger
- Anker USB-C to HDMI Adapter
- Airalo eSIMs for travel outside
North America. Use referral code
NICK1387for a discount off your first eSIM. - Wireless lavalier mics
Personal recommendations#
These recommendations sit apart from my core developer setup and may include referral links.
- WISE for banking. I use it for my business. It's a great way to send money internationally without the crazy fees. Use this referral code to get started, wise.com/invite/dic/nicholast1738
Health and training recommendations#
- For my Canadian peeps. I've been ordering from Farm 2 Fork and it's been really great and high quality. Here's a referral link if you want to give it a go and get a discount!
- Creatine Monohydrate from Nutratology. Use the discount code NICK_10 when purchasing.
- Kettlebells from Matsura