xcrun: error: active developer path ("/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer") does not exist

Question

I'm having xcode issues when I try to use brew and git:

xcrun: error: active developer path ("/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer") does not exist, use xcode-select --switch path/to/Xcode.app to specify the Xcode that you wish to use for command line developer tools (or see man xcode-select)

I can type xcode-select and it shows that the command exists. When I type xcode-select -p it shows:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

but when I do which xcode-select, it gives me:

/usr/bin/xcode-select

I've tried to use the command switch and install again via Apple Developer site but none of these options have work so far... How can I fix this?

score 860 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 16 '18 at 21:15

860

I tried that and it didn't work but I found the answer. I just had to reset the developer's path:

$ sudo xcode-select --reset

Now everything is normal

edited Jul 16 '18 at 21:15

CopsOnRoad

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answered Jan 27 '16 at 10:30

devB78

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--reset normally this must be run as root – Benja Garrido Feb 14 '17 at 20:09
47

Thanks. I had uninstalled xcode and installed just the command line tools because I didn't need the whole xcode package on my mac with limited space. However, I was still unable to use commands such as gcc, but after running this command, it works like a charm – Anonymous Person Jun 22 '17 at 15:38
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I just tried it; now I'm getting "SDK "macosx" cannot be located" lol – Hedylove Dec 28 '17 at 21:02
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`--reset` works well for me. I need only the xcode cli for php development. So I decided to remove the complete xcode from my mac, then I downloaded only the xcode CLI installer(about 170MB). After I upgrade the installed xcode CLI via `app store`, and applied `sudo xcode-select --reset`, I am able to use `brew`and other command line tools such as `git` like before. Thanks. – vikbert Feb 01 '18 at 11:38
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Is there any danger in using --reset? – bananabanana Jun 02 '19 at 21:48
does not work ........ – mjs Apr 19 '22 at 21:09
definitely worked! – Erol Erdogan Mar 12 '23 at 13:51

score 231 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 26 '22 at 01:19

231

In my case, I had uninstalled Xcode and then issues with git cli started. I solved the problem running the following commands:

$ sudo xcode-select -r
$ sudo xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

and then validating new path with:

$ sudo xcode-select -p

edited Dec 26 '22 at 01:19

starball

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answered Mar 09 '20 at 21:51

José Gil Ramírez

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Worked for me after uninstalling xcode, saved my day – Ilan Levy Apr 24 '20 at 17:09
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I was facing issues on Android Studio after I uninstalled XCode. Worked for me. I also had to restart Android Studio after using these commands. – Amey Bhandarkar Jul 31 '20 at 08:37
This works for me after [having issue with node-gyp on macOS Catalina](https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/blob/master/macOS_Catalina.md) – Seno Apr 30 '21 at 08:19
i got message can't install the software. with the command i got `xcode-select: error: invalid developer directory '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools'` – Yogi Arif Widodo Feb 19 '23 at 15:04

score 228 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 22 '22 at 10:10

228

Mostly this error occurs when you have installed a newer version of xcode. And the command line tools are yet to be initialized.

To resolve this: Go under Xcode Preferences > Locations (tab) > And the bottom options is Command Line Tools. Please select the Xcode version for tools.

Example (For Xcode 10.0 (10A255) ): Go under Xcode Preferences > Locations (tab) > And the bottom options is Command Line Tools. Select Xcode 10.0 (10A255).

For more details please see this image:

edited Dec 22 '22 at 10:10

starball

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answered Nov 17 '16 at 06:21

Harjot Singh

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I already see it as shown in the above image, but I still see the same error on my setup. I even tried resetting. Any idea? I – Yoku Nov 12 '18 at 13:29
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To do this programmatically (I had the error because I uninstalled Xcode), `sudo xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools` (needs to be run as root) – hbrannan Apr 15 '19 at 17:32
I had to restart my IDE after I did this and then it worked. – ponder275 Oct 11 '21 at 14:41
The comment above is what fixed it for me – Nathaniel Rink Dec 14 '22 at 22:06

Bharath Kumar · Answer 4 · 2020-01-13T08:11:43.430

81

I have faced the same issue as I have uninstalled the XCode abruptly, running the below command (from Terminal) helped me to resolve this.

sudo xcode-select -switch /

edited Jan 13 '20 at 08:11

answered Jun 12 '19 at 09:15

Bharath Kumar

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Check this link also if you have any other error. https://github.com/Homebrew/legacy-homebrew/issues/23500 – Narendra Solanki Jul 27 '19 at 07:28
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This worked for me. The problem was I uninstalled xcode in my mac. The command line is somehow still tied to xcode. So I went to ~library/Developer and deleted all folders and ran this command. – santosh Feb 26 '20 at 07:56

score 49 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 01 '21 at 07:22

49

This error coming because xcode get deleted, corrupt or moved. In my case i removed xcode from my Mac and faced the same issue.

I fixed it by simple two steps

Open Terminal
Simply run following command

sudo xcode-select -r

And now error has resolved. Hope it will helpful.

answered Sep 01 '21 at 07:22

Amit Kumar PRO

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It works for MacOS 12.4 – vanduc1102 Jun 11 '22 at 12:31
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This worked for me. I tried deleting XCode and reinstalling it, and got`xcrun: error: active developer path ("/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer") does not exist`. – B Seven Oct 30 '22 at 20:04
Thank you for showing remove That ...... app from that ....... OSx – Dmitry Yudin Dec 08 '22 at 22:13

score 36 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 19 '22 at 02:27

36

Use this:

sudo xcode-select -switch /

This should solve the problem.

edited Apr 19 '22 at 02:27

Guilherme Silva Sousa

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answered Jun 09 '18 at 18:43

bruceparker

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Check this link also if you have any other error. https://github.com/Homebrew/legacy-homebrew/issues/23500 – Narendra Solanki Jul 27 '19 at 07:28
`xcode-select: error: missing argument to '-switch' Usage: xcode-select [options]` – B Seven Oct 30 '22 at 20:02

score 19 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 26 '16 at 08:31

19

How about what the error suggests? Did you try that?

xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app

That should do the trick.

answered Jan 26 '16 at 08:31

Tobi Nary

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`--switch` must be run as root – Sid Apr 03 '18 at 11:13

score 7 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 27 '19 at 10:59

7

For me it helps to install Xcode CLI xcode-select --install after uninstalling XCode (I don't develop for the OSx or iOS)

Then I could successfully build downloaded source with make

answered Jan 27 '19 at 10:59

Nikolay Ignatyev

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered May 29 '20 at 16:51

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Try error suggestion :

sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app

And Then test Git Executable Path.

answered May 29 '20 at 16:51

Mir Mahfuz

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score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 25 '19 at 08:27

2

I had the same problem and had to remove completely Developer tools, and reinstall:

$ rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
$ xcode-select --install

Tip: because Xcode had been improperly uninstalled, I had to manually (re)move the Xcode app, too:

$ mv /Applications/Xcode.app/ /Applications/Xcode.app.bak

answered Apr 25 '19 at 08:27

Johann8

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The installation of the xcode gui app definitely was part of the issue for me. I got rid of it and re-installed xcode-select from scratch and everything started working. – Loopy Dec 30 '22 at 16:01

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 28 '21 at 18:22

In my case such error occurred after I has tried to symbolicate crash report, and according to a manual, entered command export DEVELOPER_DIR=”/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer”

I tried some proposed here solutions but nothing helped.

Then I realized that I have added an environment variable DEVELOPER_DIR to my terminal and this led to error: "xcrun: error: missing DEVELOPER_DIR path:"

Then I've just reboot my terminal, that cleaned the environment variable and the error disappeared.

(FYI: environment variables may be checked with printenv command in terminal)

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 19 '23 at 16:14

for my mbp m1 apple sillicon for the case alr tried all the above answer and not solved.

i have solved by here discussion https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/660641

there is have 2 option to solve, my case...

i have uninstalled xcode because i don't need again
install standalone mode, doesnt work. can't install the software
solved by try download manual command line tools check on the discussion thread for the link file ( 741.5 MB ) .

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Apr 12 '23 at 12:38

0

Use this command:

sudo xcode-select--switch /Applications/Xcode.app

answered Apr 12 '23 at 12:38

Ayush Gupta

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sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app (space before --) - did not work anyway – Sunil Gupta Apr 25 '23 at 12:22

xcrun: error: active developer path ("/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer") does not exist

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