macOS ARM64 Dev Environment Setup: Homebrew, Ruby, Python, Node.js

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This post walks through setting up a development environment on macOS arm64 (Apple Silicon), installing Homebrew under the user’s home directory, and using rbenv, pyenv, and nvm to manage Ruby, Python, and Node.js versions.

Why Install to the User Directory

By default, Homebrew installs to /opt/homebrew (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local (Intel), both requiring admin privileges. Installing to a user directory like ~/.homebrew offers:

No sudo required — everything stays in user space
No interference with system-level package management
Clean isolation in multi-user environments
Easy to migrate or remove entirely

1. Installing Homebrew

1.1 Clone Homebrew to User Directory

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git clone https://github.com/Homebrew/brew.git ~/.homebrew

1.2 Configure Environment Variables

Add to ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bash_profile for bash):

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# Homebrew
export HOMEBREW_PREFIX="$HOME/.homebrew"
export PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/bin:$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/sbin:$PATH"
export HOMEBREW_CELLAR="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/Cellar"
export HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX"
export MANPATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/man:$MANPATH"
export INFOPATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/info:$INFOPATH"

Variable	Purpose
`HOMEBREW_PREFIX`	Homebrew installation root
`PATH`	Prioritize Homebrew binaries over system ones
`HOMEBREW_CELLAR`	Where installed packages are stored
`HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY`	Location of the Homebrew core repo
`MANPATH` / `INFOPATH`	Documentation search paths

Apply changes:

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source ~/.zshrc

1.3 Verify

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brew --version
brew doctor

2. Ruby with rbenv

2.1 Install rbenv and ruby-build

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brew install rbenv ruby-build

2.2 Configure rbenv

Add to ~/.zshrc:

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# rbenv
eval "$(rbenv init - zsh)"

rbenv init prepends ~/.rbenv/shims to PATH, installs shell functions for rehashing, and enables autocompletion.

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source ~/.zshrc

2.3 Install Ruby

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rbenv install -l # list available versions
rbenv install 3.3.7 # install a specific version
rbenv global 3.3.7 # set as default
ruby --version # verify

Use rbenv local 3.x.x in a project directory to pin a version via .ruby-version.

3. Python with pyenv

3.1 Install pyenv

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brew install pyenv

3.2 Configure pyenv

Add to ~/.zshrc:

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# pyenv
export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init - zsh)"

Config	Purpose
`PYENV_ROOT`	Root directory where all Python versions are stored
`PATH` append	Ensures the `pyenv` binary is found
`pyenv init`	Adds shims to PATH for version switching

3.3 Install Build Dependencies

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brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib tcl-tk

3.4 Install Python

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pyenv install -l | grep -E "^\s+3\." # list Python 3.x versions
pyenv install 3.13.3
pyenv global 3.13.3
python --version

4. Node.js with nvm

Unlike rbenv/pyenv, nvm is not installed via Homebrew (officially discouraged). Use the install script instead.

4.1 Install nvm

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curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.2/install.sh | bash

4.2 Verify Configuration

The script should have added this to ~/.zshrc:

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# nvm
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"

nvm is a pure shell function, not a binary — it’s loaded into each shell session via nvm.sh.

4.3 Install Node.js

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nvm ls-remote --lts # list LTS versions
nvm install --lts # install latest LTS
nvm alias default 22 # set default version
node --version
npm --version

5. Complete ~/.zshrc Summary

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# Homebrew (user directory)
export HOMEBREW_PREFIX="$HOME/.homebrew"
export PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/bin:$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/sbin:$PATH"
export HOMEBREW_CELLAR="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/Cellar"
export HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX"
export MANPATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/man:$MANPATH"
export INFOPATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/share/info:$INFOPATH"

# rbenv
eval "$(rbenv init - zsh)"

# pyenv
export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init - zsh)"

# nvm
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"

6. Notes

Architecture: Some older Ruby/Python/Node.js versions lack arm64 prebuilt binaries and will compile from source (slower). Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed: xcode-select --install.

User-directory Homebrew: Not all bottles (prebuilt packages) are available for non-standard paths. Homebrew will fall back to source compilation when needed. Run brew doctor to check for issues.

Version pinning: Use local commands (rbenv local, pyenv local) and commit .ruby-version, .python-version, .nvmrc to version control for team consistency.

No sudo: Never use sudo with gem install, pip install, or npm install -g — the version managers already point these to user-space directories.

Load order in ~/.zshrc: Homebrew PATH first (rbenv/pyenv depend on it), then rbenv/pyenv init (they prepend shims), then nvm (independent).

Troubleshooting:

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which ruby && ruby --version
which python && python --version
which node && node --version
rbenv versions
pyenv versions
nvm ls
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n'

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