Implement YAML-driven sjust-based macOS defaults with user overrides #114

Copilot · 2025-08-08T14:22:13Z

The implementation provides a single, unified YAML-driven approach where both Ansible and standalone usage execute the same sjust task, eliminating code duplication and simplifying maintenance. Users can now easily customize settings via YAML overrides without touching the core configuration. All 40+ developer defaults are now discoverable and documented in structured YAML format.

ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE: The new YAML-based system allows users to override any default setting through a simple configuration file (~/.local/spark/macos-defaults/overrides.yml), making customization accessible without modifying core system files.

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paolomainardi · 2025-08-08T17:51:19Z

@copilot try again to implement this PR

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-08-08T18:00:36Z

@copilot try again to implement this PR

I've successfully implemented the macOS defaults provisioning as requested in issue #99. The implementation includes:

✅ New Ansible task file (ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml) with 40+ developer-focused macOS defaults
✅ Full integration into the main playbook with proper tagging (macos-defaults)
✅ Comprehensive coverage: UI/UX, Finder, Dock, keyboard/trackpad, Safari developer settings, Terminal, and system tools
✅ Selective execution support with --tags macos-defaults or --skip-tags macos-defaults
✅ Updated documentation in README.md with usage examples

The implementation follows Jeff Geerling's approach using the community.general.osx_defaults module and is optimized for developer productivity. All syntax checks pass successfully.

Commit: 5f742ff

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR implements comprehensive macOS system defaults configuration optimized for developer productivity, automatically applying 40+ system-level settings to enhance the development experience. The solution integrates seamlessly with the existing Ansible provisioning system using proper tagging for selective execution.

Key Changes

New Ansible task file with developer-focused macOS defaults for UI/UX, Finder, Dock, keyboard, Safari, and development tools
Integration into the main provisioning playbook with macos-defaults tag support
Documentation updates showing usage examples and selective deployment options

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml	New comprehensive macOS defaults configuration with 40+ developer-optimized settings
ansible/macos/macos/base.yml	Integration of defaults task into main provisioning workflow
README.md	Documentation updates explaining the new defaults feature and usage examples

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Copilot · 2025-08-14T16:40:02Z

ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml

+    value: true
+  tags: macos-defaults
+
+- name: Enable Safari Developer menu


Duplicate functionality: This task (line 300-306) appears to duplicate the functionality of the previous task 'Enable Safari's developer menu' (line 292-298). Both tasks enable Safari's developer menu using different keys. Consider consolidating or clarifying the distinction between these settings.

Suggested change

- name: Enable Safari Developer menu

- name: Enable Safari's Develop menu

ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml

Copilot · 2025-08-14T16:40:02Z

ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml

+
+- name: Restart Activity Monitor to apply changes
+  command: killall "Activity Monitor"
+  ignore_errors: true


The restart tasks use command module with killall which may not be the most robust approach. Consider using ansible.builtin.shell with error handling or checking if the process exists before attempting to kill it. The current approach may generate unnecessary error messages in logs.

Suggested change

ignore_errors: true

ansible.builtin.shell: |

if pgrep Finder > /dev/null; then

killall Finder

fi

tags: macos-defaults

- name: Restart Dock to apply changes

ansible.builtin.shell: |

if pgrep Dock > /dev/null; then

killall Dock

fi

tags: macos-defaults

- name: Restart Safari to apply changes

ansible.builtin.shell: |

if pgrep Safari > /dev/null; then

killall Safari

fi

tags: macos-defaults

- name: Restart Activity Monitor to apply changes

ansible.builtin.shell: |

if pgrep "Activity Monitor" > /dev/null; then

killall "Activity Monitor"

fi

Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

paolomainardi · 2025-09-11T10:29:38Z

@copilot, I would like to migrate the Ansible implementation to a simple task that Ansible can reuse, making it easier for users to run without the burden of executing the Ansible provisioner.

Another thing I want to add is this com.apple.universalaccess.plist reduceMotion 1

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-09-11T10:35:15Z

@copilot, I would like to migrate the Ansible implementation to a simple task that Ansible can reuse, making it easier for users to run without the burden of executing the Ansible provisioner.

Anot...

I've successfully migrated the Ansible implementation to standalone sjust tasks that make it much easier for users to apply macOS defaults without running the full provisioner:

New SparkJust commands:

sjust macos-defaults - Apply all 40+ developer-optimized macOS defaults
sjust macos-defaults-check - Preview what would be changed (dry-run mode)
sjust macos-defaults-reset - Reset selected defaults with safety prompts

Added the requested setting:

com.apple.universalaccess.plist reduceMotion 1 for better focus and performance

The standalone tasks provide user-friendly output, progress indicators, and safety features while maintaining full compatibility with the existing Ansible integration. Users can now easily apply just the macOS defaults without the complexity of running the full provisioner.

Commit: 8725bc8

paolomainardi · 2025-09-11T10:39:29Z

@copilot, I would like to migrate the Ansible implementation to a simple task that Ansible can reuse, making it easier for users to run without the burden of executing the Ansible provisioner.
Anot...

I've successfully migrated the Ansible implementation to standalone sjust tasks that make it much easier for users to apply macOS defaults without running the full provisioner:

New SparkJust commands:

sjust macos-defaults - Apply all 40+ developer-optimized macOS defaults

sjust macos-defaults-check - Preview what would be changed (dry-run mode)

sjust macos-defaults-reset - Reset selected defaults with safety prompts

Added the requested setting:

com.apple.universalaccess.plist reduceMotion 1 for better focus and performance

The standalone tasks provide user-friendly output, progress indicators, and safety features while maintaining full compatibility with the existing Ansible integration. Users can now easily apply just the macOS defaults without the complexity of running the full provisioner.

Commit: 8725bc8

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@copilot i still see the ansible implementation, this isn't correct. I want to have the implementation just as an sjust task that ansible will execute.

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-09-11T10:45:32Z

@copilot, I would like to migrate the Ansible implementation to a simple task that Ansible can reuse, making it easier for users to run without the burden of executing the Ansible provisioner.
...

I've successfully migrated the implementation to a unified sjust approach as requested. The changes include:

Removed the separate Ansible implementation:

Deleted ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml file
Updated Ansible playbook to call the sjust task directly

Unified sjust implementation:

Rewrote sjust macos-defaults to apply defaults directly using the defaults command
Updated sjust macos-defaults-check to show current defaults status
Both Ansible and standalone usage now execute the same implementation

Benefits:

Eliminates code duplication between Ansible and sjust
Easier maintenance with single source of truth
Users can apply defaults with sjust macos-defaults or via Ansible with --tags macos-defaults
Both approaches use identical logic

The reduce motion accessibility setting (com.apple.universalaccess.plist reduceMotion 1) is also included in the unified implementation.

Commit: 6f820e8

ansible/macos/macos/base.yml

- Add both 'sjust' and 'macos-defaults' tags to sjust installation block - Add both tags to macOS defaults application task - Now running --tags "macos-defaults" includes sjust installation - Ensures sjust is always available before executing macos-defaults Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

paolomainardi

@copilot

ansible/macos/macos/base.yml

paolomainardi · 2025-09-11T11:10:15Z

sjust/recipes/03-macos-defaults.just

+        echo "${yellow}You may need to restart applications or reboot for all changes to take effect.${normal}"
+    else
+        echo "Reset cancelled."
+    fi


I'd like to try making this list of settings easier by putting them in a YAML file, so they are easily discoverable and readable, and then process the YAML file to apply the settings.

We should have a way to let the user to override this default in a file ~/.local/spark/macos-defaults/overrides.yml that will override the original settings.

We should use a language that has a native YAML processor. I do not want to write a script that is too complex and requires dependencies. Otherwise we can install https://github.com/mikefarah/yq with brew and use it from a shell script.

Implemented YAML-based configuration system as requested. All 40+ settings are now defined in config/macos/defaults.yml for better readability and discoverability. Added user override support via ~/.local/spark/macos-defaults/overrides.yml that automatically merges with default settings. Using yq (installed via Homebrew) for YAML processing from shell scripts. Added sjust macos-defaults-init-overrides command to help users get started with customization.

Commit: 61c1468

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-09-11T11:17:29Z

@copilot

Completed the refactoring to implement both requested changes:

Simplified Ansible dependency: Removed duplicate tagging and added file existence check so macOS defaults only runs when sjust is installed
YAML-based configuration: Moved all settings to structured YAML with user override capability via ~/.local/spark/macos-defaults/overrides.yml

The system now provides better discoverability, easier customization, and cleaner dependency management.

Commit: 61c1468

Initial plan

83333e0

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and paolomainardi Aug 8, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi August 8, 2025 14:22 View session

Copilot AI requested a review from paolomainardi August 8, 2025 14:35

Copilot stopped work on behalf of paolomainardi due to an error August 8, 2025 14:35
Copilot encountered an unknown Git error. If the problem persists, please contact GitHub Support. To retry, leave a comment on this pull request asking Copilot to try again.

Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi August 8, 2025 17:51 View session

Implement comprehensive macOS defaults for developers

5f742ff

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Automatic provisioning of MacOS defaults~~ Implement automatic provisioning of macOS defaults for developers Aug 8, 2025

Copilot finished work on behalf of paolomainardi August 8, 2025 18:01

paolomainardi requested a review from Copilot August 14, 2025 16:39

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 14, 2025

View reviewed changes

paolomainardi and others added 2 commits September 11, 2025 12:02

Update ansible/macos/macos/defaults.yml

24a0e4d

Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

Merge branch 'master' into copilot/fix-99

f053ac7

Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:29 View session

Add standalone sjust task for macOS defaults and reduce motion setting

8725bc8

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:36

Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:39 View session

Migrate macOS defaults from Ansible to unified sjust implementation

6f820e8

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Implement automatic provisioning of macOS defaults for developers~~ Implement unified sjust-based macOS defaults for developers Sep 11, 2025

Copilot finished work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:46

paolomainardi reviewed Sep 11, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:48 View session

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Copilot finished work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 10:53

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View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 11:10 View session

Refactor macOS defaults to YAML-based configuration with user overrides

61c1468

Co-authored-by: paolomainardi <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Implement unified sjust-based macOS defaults for developers~~ Implement YAML-driven sjust-based macOS defaults with user overrides Sep 11, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from paolomainardi September 11, 2025 11:18

Copilot finished work on behalf of paolomainardi September 11, 2025 11:18

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	- name: Enable Safari Developer menu
	- name: Enable Safari's Develop menu

-  ignore_errors: true
+  ansible.builtin.shell: |
+    if pgrep Finder > /dev/null; then
+      killall Finder
+    fi
+  tags: macos-defaults
+- name: Restart Dock to apply changes
+  ansible.builtin.shell: |
+    if pgrep Dock > /dev/null; then
+      killall Dock
+    fi
+  tags: macos-defaults
+- name: Restart Safari to apply changes
+  ansible.builtin.shell: |
+    if pgrep Safari > /dev/null; then
+      killall Safari
+    fi
+  tags: macos-defaults
+- name: Restart Activity Monitor to apply changes
+  ansible.builtin.shell: |
+    if pgrep "Activity Monitor" > /dev/null; then
+      killall "Activity Monitor"
+    fi

Implement YAML-driven sjust-based macOS defaults with user overrides #114

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