Fix the xcrun invalid active developer path error on macOS

Jan 17, 2020

Learn how to fix the xcrun error invalid active developer path on macOS, which appears after a system update, by running xcode-select --install.

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I recently run into this problem, after updating my macOS version to Catalina.

Trying to update Hugo via Homebrew triggered this error:

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools), missing xcrun at: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/xcrun

Terminal showing Hugo homebrew installation with xcrun error about invalid active developer path

The command was successfully completed, but we don’t want errors, right?

Here’s what I did to solve it.

In the terminal, I ran:

xcode-select --install

This triggered a dialog box in macOS:

macOS dialog asking to install command line developer tools with Cancel and Install buttons

After clicking Install and accepting the terms, the download started:

Download progress dialog showing command line tools installation with blue progress bar and time remaining

After the installation finished:

Installation completion dialog showing The software was installed with Done button

I closed the terminal window and opened a new one.

Problem solved.

Tagged: CLI · All topics

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