Saw the following error when running an npm install which required node-gyp... but could be triggered by anything which requires xcode-select.
xcode-select: error: tool 'xcodebuild' requires Xcode, but active developer directory '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools' is a command line tools instance
What is the problem?
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3a blunt force alternative would be just to uninstall it and reinstall it again. out of all these answers that is the only thing that worked for meqodeninja– qodeninja2013年11月01日 17:27:25 +00:00Commented Nov 1, 2013 at 17:27
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@qodeninja reinstall did not work for meuser5306470– user53064702022年08月14日 03:32:52 +00:00Commented Aug 14, 2022 at 3:32
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Ensure Xcode app is in the /Applications directory and it worked for meIKRAM UL HAQ– IKRAM UL HAQ2023年09月14日 10:08:00 +00:00Commented Sep 14, 2023 at 10:08
30 Answers 30
This problem happens when xcode-select developer directory was pointing to /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools when a full regular Xcode was required (happens when CommandLineTools are installed after Xcode)
Solution:
- Install Xcode (get it from https://appstore.com/mac/apple/xcode) if you don't have it yet.
- Accept the Terms and Conditions.
- Ensure Xcode app is in the
/Applicationsdirectory (NOT/Users/{user}/Applications). - Point
xcode-selectto the Xcode app Developer directory using the following command:
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
Note: Make sure your Xcode app path is correct.
- Xcode:
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer - Xcode-beta:
/Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
26 Comments
10.14.5 install, I installed Command Line Tools 10.2.1 and then Xcode 10.2.1, and got the above error. Then, I tried using this solution, and I still got the above error. Franklin A's solution worked: stackoverflow.com/a/40819686/9636 sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer worked!I was having an issue while trying to install packages using npm. I got the error: "sudo xcode-select -s /Applications//Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/"
To fix this
- I opened Xcode.
- Preferences
- Locations
- Selected the Command Lin Tools: Xcode 6.1.1
Now when installing packages with npm I no longer get errors.
6 Comments
Other solution for those who don't want to install Xcode:
Install Command Line Tools (if you haven't already):
xcode-select --installChange the active directory:
sudo xcode-select -switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
This worked for me (git).
16 Comments
xcode-select from Apple any longer: cl.ly/image/2T0u2f2D471a/content Xcode > Preferences > Locations > Command Line Tools
Select the option matching your version of Xcode.
7 Comments
Simply run sudo xcode-select -r which should automatically reset the path.
-r, --reset
Unsets any user-specified developer directory, so that the developer directory will be found via the default search mechanism. This command must be
run with superuser permissions (see sudo(8)), and will affect all users on the system.
4 Comments
I just ran the following command and the issue was resolved for me:
sudo xcode-select --reset
5 Comments
if you installed XCode already, All you have to do is to...
- Open XCode
- Go To Xcode → Preferences → Locations
- From the Command Line Tools Select your Xcode enter image description here
6 Comments
Type this in your terminal
xcode-select --install
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcodebuild -license accept
1 Comment
Just in case you're using xcode beta:
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-Beta.app/Contents/Developer
Comments
All I did which worked is run the command on the terminal:
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
Comments
I had to run this first
sudo xcode-select --reset
then
sudo xcode-select -switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
and then it worked.
2 Comments
--reset fixed the problem
Download Xcode from App Store.
Go to Xcode preferences/Locations/CommandlineTools
You just have to set it to the Xcode version. It automatically points to '/Application/Xcode.app'
Comments
Please follow the steps below :
- The latest version of Xcode can be downloaded from https://developer.apple.com/xcode/download/
- It will be downloaded in the 'Downloads' unless specified otherwise. Please make sure to check the path where you have downloaded and extracted the Xcode
- Now unlike other downloaded applications, on extraction, Xcode doesn't give the option to move it to Applications
- Note the XCODE-ACTUAL-LOCATION or move it to the Applications
- Note if you have downloaded Xcode or Xcode-beta
Based on 4 and 5, execute one of the commands (Do not execute all of them without reading above description):
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcode-select -s /[XCODE-ACTUAL-LOCATION]/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcode-select -s /[XCODE-ACTUAL-LOCATION]/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
1 Comment
I was having the same problem in high sierra. running the following command solved it
npm explore npm -g -- npm install node-gyp@latest
1 Comment
npm -g install node-gyp@latestSimple reinstall xcode-select
sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
xcode-select --install
Comments
Install Xcode from App Store. After installing run xcodebuild with root privileges i.e. sudo xcodebuild and accept the language. After this npm install bcrypt worked like a charm!
Comments
Without Xcode: create file /usr/local/bin/xcodebuild with content to cheat XcodeSelect
#!/bin/bash
exit 0
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/xcodebuild
2 Comments
xcodebuild when I only have CLT installed. I'd rather not install Xcode just to install some native extensions nothing to do with Mac and iOS development, so I'm very up for trying this technique to basically just shut the error up. Do you know if there are any repercussions of doing this? I can only imagine that node-gyp s calling xcodebuild for a reason, and by doing an exit 0 we're breaking the toolchain for a given build, but I'm not sure, as I don't know why it'd be using xcodebuild in the first place. Any ideas?In case you are using Xcode beta, run
sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer
instead of
sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
Comments
I was able to solve this error without installing the full Xcode application. You must, however, have xcode command line tools installed.
From here:
$ cd /usr/bin$ sudo mv xcodebuild xcodebuild.orig(A backup just in case)$ vim xcodebuild- Paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
if [[ 1ドル == '-version' ]]; then
echo "Xcode 10.2.1"
echo "Build version 10E1001"
else
/usr/bin/xcodebuild.bak $@
fi
$ sudo chmod +x xcodebuild
1 Comment
XCode2: sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode\ 2.app/Contents/Developer
Pay attention to the "\" to escape the space
Comments
I had two instance of Xcode installed xcode.app and xcode-beta.app When I tried to create a build with netbeans it showed me the error "supported version of xcode and command line tools not found netbeans"
I followed the following steps:
- "xcode-select --print-path" is equal to "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer"
- "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform" exists
- "xcodebuild -version" starts with "Xcode"
after 1 I found that it is pointing me to xcode-beta.app
so here is the solution which worked like a charm:
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
Comments
For context, today is Jan 28, 2019.
On my Mac, I did two things to resolve this problem:
Run the following command in your terminal:
sudo xcode-select --installRestart your Mac.
Until I restarted the computer, the problem kept occurring in my Android Studio. After reboot, it was working just fine. Also note that I did not execute any --switch commands as others are doing. I hope this helps.
Comments
Manually installing Command LineTool worked for me.
- I stalled xcode through App Store
- Still could not download Homebrew
- I installed Command Line Tool manually through link.
- Bing Bang Boom
https://developer.apple.com/download/more/?=command%20line%20tools
Comments
For those using a newer version of Xcode (I'm using 14.3), you need to install command Line tools. I suggest two ways.
Either run this command on terminal:
xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch xcode-select --installOr download the installable DMG file (command line tools for Xcode 14.3) from this link and install it.
I stumbled upon this issue when trying to install brew on macOS 13.3.
Comments
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer
languoguangs-iMac:/ languoguang$ sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer
xcode-select: error: invalid argument '10.app/Contents/Developer'
Usage: xcode-select [options]
Print or change the path to the active developer directory. This directory
controls which tools are used for the Xcode command line tools (for example,
xcodebuild) as well as the BSD development commands (such as cc and make).
Options:
-h, --help print this help message and exit
-p, --print-path print the path of the active developer directory
-s <path>, --switch <path> set the path for the active developer directory
--install open a dialog for installation of the command line developer tools
-v, --version print the xcode-select version
-r, --reset reset to the default command line tools path
languoguangs-iMac:/ languoguang$ sudo xcode-select -s "/Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer"
because my Xcode name in Application is "Xcode 10",
sudo xcode-select -s "/Applications/Xcode 10.app/Contents/Developer"
works.
Comments
In my case,
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
didn't work because my Xcode had some special name. eg) Xcode_11.2.0_beta_2_stackoverflow.app
cd /applications
ls
Then I found my Xcode name, then replace it with
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/{myXcodeName}.app/Contents/Developer
It worked for me.
Comments
None of the above worked for me. I originally installed Command Line Tools separately, and then all of Xcode. What worked for me was to uninstall Command Line Tools as shown here. Then, when trying to run xcode-select again, I was asked to reinstall them.
*By the way, the very reason why I found this thread was because I had installed some libraries (particularly gcc) with macports, presumably using the old Command Line Tools, and then I installed the full Xcode midway into development. So anyways, for my case, I had to reinstall macports after removing the stand-alone Command Line Tools, reinstalling them, reinstalling gcc, and then my compilation worked.
Comments
There are only two steps required, and the full XCode.app is not required at all:
sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
xcode-select --install
At this point the "Installing Softwre" dialog pops up:
That's it!
Comments
None of the above solutions helped me. I was working on an old project, and I had the latest version of NodeJs installed globally (v14.x) on my computer.
No node version above 10.1.x worked for me and when testing I received the same error as above.
Solution
- I installed "n" which is a nodeJs version manager like nvm
- I downgraded my nodeJs version to 9.x
npm installnow works.
I will now need to update my versions, or Specify my node version in my package.json.
Comments
The simple fix that worked for me is drag and drop Xcode.app from the current location (In my case it was in downloads) to Applications.
Comments
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