Short version: Delete Xcode command line tools and reinstall them.

Scenario

Problem:

For a NPM package the dependencies should be installed. NPM install command is run and suddenly fails with an error caused by node-gyp.

Command:

npm install

Output:

Error message:

Fatal error: ‘memory’ file not found

Result:

npm install fails

Context

The npm install command tries to use node-gyp and to build a needed dependency. Node-gyp 🔗 is complicated, as it is a cross-platform tool for compiling native modules for Node.js. Its readme 🔗 provides some guidance on how to ensure that it works. The problem start when it should work, but isn’t. Looking at Google, this is a common case.

My computer is a Mac:

For Mac, node-gyp lists the Xcode command line tools as a requirement.

Checking if the tools are installed:

xcode-select --install

Output:

xcode-select: note: Command line tools are already installed. Use “Software Update” in System Settings or the softwareupdate command line interface to install updates

I came across the issue “Can not build on macOS 14.6.1 with clang 16 🔗” and answer 🔗:

Solution

Delete Xcode command line tools and reinstall them

Remove Xcode Command Line Tools

First, find out the directory where the tools are installed:

xcode-select -p

Result:

/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

Next: delete the directory. You need to have admin rights!

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

Running xcode-select to show the installation folder points now to a different one:

xcode-select -p

Result:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Installation of Xcode Command Line Tools

Install the tools again:

xcode-select --install

Result:

The Xcode Command Line Tools are installed again.

Result

Running npm install again

npm i

No compile error. Problem solved.