---
title: Hardware and Tools
sidebar_position: 10
description: Hardware, peripherals and software I use every day - from a Mac mini to AI agents.
hide_table_of_contents: true
---
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</style><p>A page in the spirit of <a href="https://uses.tech/">uses.tech</a>: what I work on and with. All software and configs live in <a href="https://github.com/tot-ra/ai-workstation">tot-ra/ai-workstation</a>, so a new machine is a couple of scripts away.</p><p class="u-note"><em>Updated: October 2026</em></p><h2>Computers</h2><div class="u-grid"><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/mini-full.webp" alt="Mac mini M4 Pro" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Mac mini M4 Pro</figcaption></figure><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/B08JH7KQKV-full.webp" alt="ASUS ProArt PA279CV monitor" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>ASUS ProArt PA279CV</figcaption></figure></div><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Work: MacBook Pro M5, 48 GB</strong> - main machine for work and AI agents.</li><li><strong>Home: <a href="https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/">Mac mini M4 Pro</a>, 24 GB, 512 GB SSD (2024)</strong> - quiet, always on, runs my local Brute agent.</li><li><strong>Personal laptop: MacBook M3, 32 GB</strong> - for travel and side projects.</li><li><strong>Old Core 2 Duo workstation</strong> - built ~15 years ago and still alive. How I picked it (in Russian): <a href="/ru/blog/tech/devices/tihiy-kompyuter-k-nachalu-2011-goda/">A quiet computer for early 2011</a>.</li></ul><h2>Other devices</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano</strong> - edge AI and computer vision.</li><li><strong>Raspberry Pi</strong> - IoT experiments and prototypes.</li><li><strong>Xiaomi 17</strong> - phone.</li></ul><h2>Travel</h2><div class="u-grid"><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/backpack.webp" alt="40-litre hiking backpack" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>40 L backpack</figcaption></figure></div><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Backpack:</strong> a 40-litre hiking backpack for trips and outdoor days.</li></ul><h2>Gaming</h2><div class="u-grid"><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/steamdeck-full.webp" alt="Steam Deck handheld gaming PC" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Steam Deck</figcaption></figure><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/switch-full.webp" alt="Nintendo Switch console" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Nintendo Switch (first generation)</figcaption></figure><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/ps4-full.webp" alt="PlayStation 4 console" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>PlayStation 4</figcaption></figure></div><ul class="u-list"></ul><h2>Desk setup</h2><div class="u-grid"><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/B07W5JKHFZ-full.webp" alt="Logitech MX Master 3S mouse" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Logitech MX Master 3S</figcaption></figure><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/B00II08GZK-full.webp" alt="Pair of Yamaha HS5 studio monitors" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Yamaha HS5</figcaption></figure><figure class="u-fig"><img src="/assets/img/assets/img/uses/B0C5JRTS3Y-full.webp" alt="Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen audio interface" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Focusrite Scarlett 2i2</figcaption></figure></div><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Monitor: <a href="https://www.asus.com/displays-desktops/monitors/proart/proart-display-pa279cv/">ASUS ProArt PA279CV</a></strong> - 27", 4K, IPS. Same model at home and at work.</li><li><strong>Keyboard at home: <a href="https://ducky.global/products/ducky-origin-phantom-black">Ducky Origin Phantom Black</a></strong> - mechanical.</li><li><strong>Keyboard at work: Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad</strong> - full-size, low-profile, black keys.</li><li><strong>Mouse: <a href="https://www.logitech.com/products/mice/mx-master-3s.html">Logitech MX Master 3S</a></strong>.</li><li><strong>Speakers: <a href="https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/speakers/hs_series/">Yamaha HS5</a></strong> - studio monitors.</li><li><strong>Audio interface: <a href="https://focusrite.com/scarlett">Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen</a></strong>.</li></ul><h2>AI</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Models:</strong> Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Cursor API, open models via <a href="https://openrouter.ai/">OpenRouter</a>.</li><li><strong>Harness:</strong> my own <strong><a href="https://a2gent.net/">A2gent</a></strong> - agent orchestration, integrations, voice, tasks.</li><li><strong>Images:</strong> <a href="https://leonardo.ai/">Leonardo AI</a>, OpenAI Images, <a href="https://www.comfy.org/">ComfyUI</a>.</li><li><strong>Local:</strong> <a href="https://lmstudio.ai/">LM Studio</a>.</li><li><strong>Voice:</strong> <a href="https://superwhisper.com/">Superwhisper</a> for dictation.</li><li><strong>Also:</strong> Codex, <a href="https://opencode.ai/">opencode</a>.</li></ul><h2>Editors and terminal</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Terminal: <a href="https://ghostty.org/">Ghostty</a></strong> (previously iTerm2 and WezTerm) + <a href="https://github.com/tmux/tmux">tmux</a>.</li><li><strong>Shell:</strong> zsh, <a href="https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k">Powerlevel10k</a>, zsh-autosuggestions, zsh-syntax-highlighting.</li><li><strong>Editors:</strong> mostly A2gent these days. Before that - <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/go/">GoLand</a>, <a href="https://neovim.io/">Neovim</a> with <a href="https://www.lazyvim.org/">LazyVim</a>, <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/">VS Code</a>. Sometimes RubyMine.</li><li><strong>Font:</strong> <a href="https://www.nerdfonts.com/">JetBrains Mono Nerd Font</a>.</li><li><strong>CLI:</strong> ripgrep, fd, fzf, bat, eza, zoxide, yazi, jq, yq, btop, lazygit, <a href="https://mise.jdx.dev/">mise</a>, pnpm, just.</li></ul><h2>Development and infrastructure</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Containers:</strong> <a href="https://orbstack.dev/">OrbStack</a>, kubectl, <a href="https://k9scli.io/">k9s</a>, Helm, lazydocker.</li><li><strong>Network:</strong> <a href="https://tailscale.com/">Tailscale</a> across all machines, ngrok.</li><li><strong>Databases and APIs:</strong> <a href="https://dbeaver.io/">DBeaver</a>, <a href="https://www.usebruno.com/">Bruno</a>, Postman.</li><li><strong>Languages:</strong> TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust. More on the stack on the <a href="/en/about/">About</a> page.</li><li><strong>This site:</strong> my own Go static site generator <a href="https://github.com/tot-ra/blog-engine-md">blog-engine-md</a>.</li></ul><h2>macOS</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong><a href="https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org/">Karabiner-Elements</a></strong> - key remapping (Ctrl/Shift+Insert like on Windows/Linux).</li><li><strong><a href="https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace">AeroSpace</a> and Rectangle</strong> - window management.</li><li><strong><a href="https://maccy.app/">Maccy</a></strong> - clipboard history.</li></ul><h2>Everyday</h2><ul class="u-list"><li><strong>Notes:</strong> <a href="https://obsidian.md/">Obsidian</a>.</li><li><strong>Passwords:</strong> <a href="https://bitwarden.com/">Bitwarden</a>.</li><li><strong>Browser:</strong> Chrome.</li><li><strong>Chat:</strong> Telegram, Slack, Discord.</li><li><strong>Media:</strong> Spotify, VLC, <a href="https://obsproject.com/">OBS</a>.</li></ul></div>