What's My Setup?

I've had a surprising amount of people ask me what setup I daily drive. "What are your workflows?". "What coding agents do you use?". "What hardware do you prefer?". Etc. So, let's open the kimono.

Software

I have extensive experience with both Claude Code and Codex, and strongly prefer Codex. This puts me in the minority, so here's my justification.

When I'm working, the thing that I care most about is the model's ability to complete far-horizon tasks with minimal human oversight. The amount of human oversight each coding thread needs is what ultimately constrains my productivity. With the tools I've built for myself (like vbear), I'm able to max out at between 30-40 active coding threads at a time using Codex, since 5.6 Ultra can follow instructions essentially indefinitely when paired with vbear. At this point, my limiting factor is starting to become hardware, as I regularly max out M5 max / 48gb MacBook pros.

On top of Codex and vbear, I don't really have much else in the way of software. The setup works across different kinds of projects and environments, which is part of what makes it so useful.

Hardware

Right now, I run two different setups in parallel, with a third on the way. The first is a MacBook Pro driving two displays, the other a single 49" display. Between the two, the 49" works better. Being able to see multiple agents working in parallel without having to flip between screens is really handy.

I've been asked for a BOM, so for building a coding setup from scratch here's what I recommend:

1. The strongest Mac that money can buy
2. Samsung's 49" curved monitor. Grab whatever they have in stock
3. Keychron keyboard with the mechanical switch color of your preference. I'm partial to the purple ones since I like the buttery smooth press
4. Opal C1 camera. Best webcam money can buy. It's not a DSLR camera but it's close
5. Whichever Anker dock makes the most sense for your charging needs
6. Whatever non-trackpad mouse you prefer (with the 49" monitor, you don't need to swipe between desktops since you can fit everything on your primary desktop)
7. AirPods Max headphones. My partner claimed mine as spoils of war and I got myself a pair of Sony's to try something new - I regret it every day. Pay up for them, and get Apple care for when the battery ultimately craps out.

I'm currently moving houses so that I can get a dedicated datacenter room for all of my setups. For now, this is my preferred layout for each Mac:

Once I finish moving, I'll post updated photos of Datacenter Alley. Cheers~