MacOS Catalina "Developer Tools" tab is hidden

Question

How do I make the "Developer Tools" section in the System Preferences -> Security & Privacy tab visible?

I had previously had the "System Preferences" -> "Security & Privacy" -> "Privacy" -> "Developer Tools" section visible, but then I made the unwise decision of doing some housecleaning, and removed all items that were in it (Terminal, iTerm, and IntelliJ). Now the "Developer Tools" section is no longer visible, and I can't seem to find a way to reveal it again.

I seem to remember that Xcode originally had something to do with adding the "Developer Tools" section in the first place. I tried xcode-select --install, but already have up-to-date Xcode command line tools, so it does nothing. I'm hoping that I don't have to fully uninstall and re-install Xcode. Surely there must be some terminal command that will re-add "Developer Tools"?

Answer 1

Oddly, I was using the spctl tool, and discovered that you need to add at least one tool to the list in order to have the 'developer tools' visible in the system preferences -> security & privacy -> Privacy list.

By running the command:

spctl developer-mode enable-terminal

it will add terminal in a unchecked mode, and then you can add apps as needed, such as iTerm.

Answer 2

Try downloading and installing the latest xcode-tools manually and not from the terminal:

1. Go to https://developer.apple.com/
2. Click on Account and sign in (you should already have an account, otherwise sign up)
3. Go to https://developer.apple.com/download/more/
4. Search for command line tools
5. Sort by Release date and download the latest version
6. Install it and restart your device

Hope this helps :)