Set up the Mac utilities your AI relies on (browser agent, headphone fix, keep-awake, tool freshness, image tools)
Ready nowChrome automation from the terminal for posting and scraping, the Bluetooth headphone profile repair, keep-awake during long renders, the Chromium OGraf leak fix, tool freshness watch for yt-dlp and ffmpeg, and the VS Code stall fix plan.
Kit
No separate kit. The playbook is self-contained.
You need
| Account | Why | Free or paid | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homebrew (macOS package manager) | Installs ffmpeg, yt-dlp, gh, node, python, uv, pdftoppm (poppler) and WeasyPrint dependencies. Every local pipeline assumes it. | Free | Free, open source. Apple Silicon Mac assumed (VideoToolbox encoding, mlx-whisper). |
| Node.js 24 (npm, npx) | Runs Claude Code, the Vercel CLI, HyperFrames renders, Playwright, the MCP servers and every serverless function locally. | Free | Free. Node 24 LTS (the Brain MCP server and Vercel functions target Node 24). |
| Python 3.12 + uv | Runs every pipeline script (video gates, library export, research cache, Brain export, PDF generator, MIDI tools) inside per-project virtual environments. | Free | Free. |
| ffmpeg + ffprobe | Every cut, mux, loudness pass, proxy, contact sheet and platform encode. The delivery encoder uses h264_videotoolbox on Apple Silicon. | Free | Free (Homebrew build includes VideoToolbox). |
| Playwright + headless Chrome (and Safari for the final check) | Renders pages to PNG for visual QA, drives the dashboard verification protocol, captures library stills, renders HTML titles and animations offline. | Free | Free. Google Chrome installed for headless screenshots; Playwright installs its own Chromium and WebKit. |
| Claude Code (Anthropic Claude Pro or Max) | The AI operator every system runs through. Skills, hooks, memory, MCP servers and the Brain plugin all load inside Claude Code. | Paid | Claude Pro (20 USD/mo) works for light use; Max (100 USD or 200 USD/mo) for daily multi-hour sessions. Anthropic terms require each user to hold their own subscription; never share a login. |
What you bring
- Nothing extra. Just say go.
The steps
- Install the base tools and verify versions
- Browser agent, driving your own Chrome from the terminal
- Fix headphones that suddenly sound like a phone call
- Keep the Mac awake for the length of a session, and keep hooks from hanging it
- When Chromium apps open and then quit themselves
- Weekly tool-freshness watch (stale tools fake other errors)
- Image tools, manipulate versus truly upscale
Get the full playbook
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