VS Code C Error - Invalid Active Developer Path

Question

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

This is the error I get in VS Code's terminal. There are error squiggles under the "#include <stdio.h>" line.

This is after I upgraded to Mac OS Monterey.

What is the reason for this error and what is the solution?

Answer 1

When upgrading your Mac OS, sometimes the code command-line tools stop working. This can be resolved by running this in the terminal:

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

If you don't have Xcode installed you should do:

xcode-select --install

which will install the command-line tools without having Xcode.

Answer 2

The fix, luckily, is pretty straight forward. Install the Xcode toolkit! Even if you had it installed before, you might have to re-register it or update it to the latest version.

$ xcode-select --install

If that doesn’t work, force it to reset. You’ll need sudo access for this one.

$ sudo xcode-select --reset