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Working with files, terminal and AI on a Mac.
Let an AI read your Obsidian vault without uploading it anywhere
An Obsidian vault is a folder of plain text files, so any AI can read it. The question is what leaves the disk. Four arrangements compared, and how to scope a vault before handing it over.
Alfred on macOS: search that reaches past Spotlight
What Alfred on macOS gives away free, what the Powerpack costs at £34 and £59, and which parts of it Spotlight in macOS 27 already covers with Command-1 through Command-4.
Alfred workflows worth keeping when files are the work
Which Alfred workflows survive past the first week when files are the job, what the Powerpack really unlocks, and where Alfred hands off to something else.
Application launchers for a Mac, judged on finding files
Every application launcher for Mac opens apps well. Compare Spotlight, Alfred, LaunchBar, Raycast and Quicksilver on the harder job: finding the file.
Automator on an Apple Mac: turn a folder chore into one click
Apple Automator still owns one job that Shortcuts has no documented trigger for: work that starts when a file lands in a folder. Here is how to build that, and where it stops.
Awk example lines you can reuse on your own files
Most awk example lines were written against GNU awk, and a Mac ships something else. What still works, what quietly breaks, and how to check the output.
Beyond Compare on a Mac: what folder comparison has to show
Beyond Compare for Mac costs $35 or $70, needs macOS 12 or later, and two of its Pro features are Windows only. The details worth knowing before picking one.
Brew install Docker on a Mac and know where its files sit
Why brew install docker gives you a client with no engine, which of the three engines to pick on a Mac, and every path the install actually writes to.