DEV Community: A Muh Mufqi Zuhudi

Minimalist LaTeX + VSCode Setup (macOS)

A Muh Mufqi Zuhudi — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:41:29 +0000

LaTeX is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting, perfect for academic papers and technical docs. Many people turn to Overleaf as their go-to online editor for LaTeX, but it comes with its own frustrations. If you are tired of Overleaf being costly and always hitting the compile timed out error, this guide is for you!

The full MacTeX install weighs in at a massive ~6.4GB, most of which you'll never actually use. Setting up a minimalist LaTeX environment on macOS using BasicTeX and VSCode is a much better alternative that makes your setup ~8 times smaller. It saves storage and makes it much easier to collaborate with your teammates using GitHub as a combo.

Install LaTeX via Homebrew

We'll use Homebrew to keep things manageable. If you don't have it, grab it at brew.sh.

1. Install LaTeX

BasicTeX is the "lean" version of MacTeX. It's only ~140MB initially.

brew install --cask basictex

2. Refresh your path and verify

Make the TeX binaries available in your current terminal session:

eval "$(/usr/libexec/path_helper)"

The default LaTeX compiler pdflatex should be available now. Verify it's working:

which pdflatex
pdflatex --version

3. Update `tlmgr` and packages

tlmgr is the TeX Live Manager. To update tlmgr and all packages, run the following commands:

sudo tlmgr update --self
sudo tlmgr update --all

4. Install `latexmk` (build manager)

latexmk is the "build manager" that handles multiple runs of the compiler (necessary for bibliographies and tables of contents).

sudo tlmgr install latexmk

Verify latexmk version:

which latexmk
latexmk --version

5. Install essential package collections

BasicTeX is too bare-bones for real projects. Since we went minimalist, we need to grab only the packages we actually use. These three collections will cover 90% of your needs while keeping storage down.

sudo tlmgr install collection-latexrecommended
sudo tlmgr install collection-fontsrecommended
sudo tlmgr install collection-latexextra

Note: If a build fails due to a missing .sty file, just run sudo tlmgr install <pkgname>.

This setup keeps the total size around ~770MB, allowing you to stay lean and only add specific packages as you go.

Set Up VSCode

1. Install `LaTeX Workshop` extension

Search and install the LaTeX Workshop extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

2. Create main.tex

To start and test your setup, create a new main.tex file.

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Hello, LaTeX world!

This is a simple test document.
\end{document}

To compile, use the Build LaTeX project button or run pdflatex main.tex from the terminal.

3. Change LaTeX compiler (Optional)

To use a different engine like XeLaTeX, create a file named latexmkrc in the same folder as your project.

# latexmkrc - Custom LaTeX Build Settings
# Put this file in the same folder as your main.tex

# Override default PDF engine (e.g., xelatex)
$pdflatex = 'xelatex -synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode -file-line-error %O %S';

# Force PDF output mode (not DVI/PostScript)
$pdf_mode = 1;

Note: Make sure to install the specific engine beforehand (e.g., run sudo tlmgr install xetex).

LaTeX compilers

Here are some of the most popular LaTeX compilers. You can choose the one that best fits your needs:

Compiler	Description	Font Support	Unicode	Best Use Case
pdfLaTeX	Original PDF output engine	Limited (Type1)	No	Standard documents, broad compatibility
LaTeX	DVI output (legacy)	Limited	No	Old workflows, DVI output
XeLaTeX	Modern Unicode engine	System fonts	Yes	Modern docs, OpenType
LuaLaTeX	Lua scripting + Unicode	System fonts	Yes	Advanced scripting, modern

References

[1] TeX Users Group, "TeX Live," [Online]. Available: https://tug.org/texlive.
[2] "MacTeX-no-gui," Homebrew Formulae, [Online]. Available: https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/mactex-no-gui.
[3] J. Yu, "LaTeX-Workshop," GitHub, [Online]. Available: https://github.com/James-Yu/LaTeX-Workshop.
[4] "How to use the command 'tlmgr update' (with examples)," CommandMasters, [Online]. Available: https://commandmasters.com/commands/tlmgr-update-common.

Set Up Free Custom Domain Email Using CloudFlare

A Muh Mufqi Zuhudi — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 02:38:44 +0000

Setting up a free custom email for your own domain is easier than you think. You don’t need to pay for expensive email hosting to get a professional-looking email address. Using Cloudflare’s email forwarding feature, you can have a custom domain email that forwards to your personal inbox without extra costs or complications.

In this post, I’ll show you how to forward emails from your custom domain to your personal inbox, like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. I’ll also cover how to send emails using your custom domain through popular email providers.

Set Up a Custom Email for Forwarding on Cloudflare

Cloudflare allows you to forward incoming emails from your custom domain email address to your personal email account from an email service provider (ESP) such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. If your domain is not currently managed by Cloudflare, you can migrate your nameservers (NS) to Cloudflare to enable these features.

Follow these steps to activate email forwarding from your custom domain email address to your personal email account in Cloudflare:

Visit https://dash.cloudflare.com.
At Account home, click your domain (for example: yourdomain.com).
Navigate to Email > Email Routing.
At Email Routing, click Get started and add your forwarding details in the table below:

Custom address Action Destination

me@yourdomain.com Send to an email me@email.com

note: me@yourdomain.com is your desired custom domain email address, and me@email.com is your personal email account from ESP.
Click Create and continue.
Confirm by clicking Continue.

Custom address	Action	Destination
`me@yourdomain.com`	Send to an email	`me@email.com`

At Configure your DNS, add the missing DNS records by clicking Add records and enable:

Record type	Hostname	Priority	Value
MX	yourdomain.com	43	route1.mx.cloudflare.net.
MX	yourdomain.com	58	route2.mx.cloudflare.net.
MX	yourdomain.com	89	route3.mx.cloudflare.net.
TXT	cf2024-1._domainkey.yourdomain.com		"v=DKIM1; h=sha256; k=rsa; p=XXX/xxx"
TXT	yourdomain.com		"v=spf1 include:_spf.mx.cloudflare.net ~all"

Note: This table is an example of the DNS records you’ll see. Some values will be unique to your setup.

Finally, wait until the Routing status shows as Enabled.

Once completed, emails sent to your custom domain address will be forwarded automatically to your personal email account.

Set Up a Custom Email for Sending on Yahoo Mail

Follow these steps to send emails using your custom domain email address in Yahoo Mail:

Visit https://mail.yahoo.com.
Navigate to Settings > More Settings.
At Settings menu, click on Mailboxes.
Click Add button at the bottom of the Mailbox Management options.
Enter your custom email address (for example: me@yourdomain.com) and click Next.
Click Verify to setup your email.
Check your inbox for a new email with the subject: Please verify your email address.
Open the email and click the verification link labeled click here to confirm.

After completing these steps, you will be able to send emails using your custom email address through Yahoo Mail.

Set Up a Custom Email for Sending on Gmail

Before you begin, make sure that 2-Step Verification is enabled on your Google Account, as it is required to generate an App Password for SMTP authentication.

Follow these steps to send emails using your custom domain email address in Gmail:

Visit https://myaccount.google.com/security.
Under How you sign in to Google, click 2-Step Verification and enable it if it's not already active.
Search for App passwords in the search bar of your Google Account settings.
Create a new App Password with any name (for example: Custom Domain SMTP) and copy the generated 16-character password.
Visit https://mail.google.com.
Click the Settings (gear icon) in the top right, then click See all settings.
Navigate to the Accounts and Import tab.
In the Send mail as section, click Add another email address.
Enter your name and your custom email address (for example: me@yourdomain.com), then click Next Step.
Fill in the SMTP settings as follows:

Field Value

SMTP Server smtp.gmail.com

Port 587

Username me@gmail.com

Password Your 16-character App Password

Security TLS

Note: me@gmail.com is your personal Gmail address, and the App Password is the one generated in step 4, not your regular Gmail password.
Click Add Account.
Check your inbox for a verification email from Gmail and click the confirmation link to complete the setup.

Field	Value
SMTP Server	`smtp.gmail.com`
Port	`587`
Username	`me@gmail.com`
Password	Your 16-character App Password
Security	TLS

Once verified, your custom email address will appear as a selectable sender when composing new emails in Gmail.

References

[1] "Easily creating and routing email addresses with Cloudflare Email Routing," Cloudflare Blog, Sep. 26, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-email-routing.
[2] "Add, delete, or edit a Send-only address in Yahoo Mail," Yahoo Help. [Online]. Available: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/add-delete-edit-send-only-address-yahoo-mail-sln28342.html.
[3] "Send emails from a different address or alias," Google Help. [Online]. Available: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370.
[4] "Sign in with App Passwords," Google Account Help. [Online]. Available: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833.

Set Up a Local MCP Server for Perplexity (macOS Guide)

A Muh Mufqi Zuhudi — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 08:59:31 +0000

This guide helps you set up Perplexity’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) system to automate your macOS securely and efficiently. With the latest Perplexity app update, MCP capability is now built in, enabling seamless integration with local automation tools on your Mac. In this tutorial, you’ll install all required tools and configure your local machine, focusing on connecting Perplexity with @peakmojo/applescript-mcp server for seamless automation.

The diagram below gives you a clear picture of how Perplexity’s automation works on macOS. Commands start in the Perplexity app, pass through the Helper App for secure local communication, and then reach the AppleScript MCP server, which handles all the automation. This setup lets you control Finder, Notes, Calendar, and more, seamlessly and privately, right from within Perplexity.

Architecture diagram of Perplexity MCP, illustrating the role of the Helper App and AppleScript MCP server in enabling secure automation of macOS applications from Perplexity.

Requirements

You’ll need Node.js v20 or higher to run the AppleScript MCP server and use automation features.

node>=20.0.0

Installation Steps

1. Check Your Node.js Installation

First, ensure you have Node.js (version 20 or above):

node --version

If Node.js is below version 20, uninstall the old version first to prevent conflicts before installing the latest.

To uninstall older Node.js versions installed via Homebrew:

brew uninstall node

Then, install the latest version:

brew install node

2. Run the AppleScript MCP Server

Install and start the AppleScript MCP server using npx:

npx -y @peakmojo/applescript-mcp

If the installation runs successfully, you should see logs similar to:

2025-07-24T06:23:39.024Z - applescript-mcp - INFO - Starting AppleScript MCP server
2025-07-24T06:23:39.026Z - applescript-mcp - INFO - Using remote host: localhost
2025-07-24T06:23:39.027Z - applescript-mcp - INFO - Remote user: not set
2025-07-24T06:23:39.027Z - applescript-mcp - INFO - Remote password is not set
2025-07-24T06:23:39.028Z - applescript-mcp - INFO - MCP server started and ready to receive requests

If you see the MCP server started and ready to receive requests log, your setup is successful!

3. Connect Perplexity to Your MCP Server

Open the Perplexity app and follow these steps:

Go to Settings > Connectors
Click Add Connector
Download and install Helper App (if prompted). This enables local communication with your MCP servers.

4. Example Connector Configuration

When adding a new connector, use the following configuration for the Local MCP AppleScript connector:

Server Name: AppleScript

JSON:

{
  "args" : [
    "-y",
    "@peakmojo/applescript-mcp"
  ],
  "command" : "npx",
  "env" : {

  }
}

Note: In the connector setup, select the Advanced option (not Simple), then paste the following in JSON format.

Wrapping Up

Now, Perplexity is set up to control your Mac efficiently through the MCP server and AppleScript automation. This setup gives Perplexity the ability to automate Finder, Spotlight, Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, and other apps, securely and privately, running on your own machine. Happy automating!

References

[1] Perplexity Help Center, "Local and Remote MCPs for Perplexity," https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/11502712-local-and-remote-mcps-for-perplexity, accessed July 24, 2025.
[2] peakmojo, “applescript-mcp,” GitHub repository, https://github.com/peakmojo/applescript-mcp, accessed July 24, 2025.

DEV Community: A Muh Mufqi Zuhudi

Minimalist LaTeX + VSCode Setup (macOS)

Install LaTeX via Homebrew

1. Install LaTeX

2. Refresh your path and verify

3. Update tlmgr and packages

4. Install latexmk (build manager)

5. Install essential package collections

Set Up VSCode

1. Install LaTeX Workshop extension

2. Create main.tex

3. Change LaTeX compiler (Optional)

LaTeX compilers

References

Set Up Free Custom Domain Email Using CloudFlare

Set Up a Custom Email for Forwarding on Cloudflare

Set Up a Custom Email for Sending on Yahoo Mail

Set Up a Custom Email for Sending on Gmail

References

Set Up a Local MCP Server for Perplexity (macOS Guide)

Requirements

Installation Steps

1. Check Your Node.js Installation

2. Run the AppleScript MCP Server

3. Connect Perplexity to Your MCP Server

4. Example Connector Configuration

Wrapping Up

References

3. Update `tlmgr` and packages

4. Install `latexmk` (build manager)

1. Install `LaTeX Workshop` extension