xcode-select active developer directory error

Question

Saw the following error when running an npm install which required node-gyp... but could be triggered by anything which requires xcode-select.

xcode-select: error: tool 'xcodebuild' requires Xcode, but active developer directory '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools' is a command line tools instance

What is the problem?

Answer 1

Other solution for those who don't want to install Xcode:

1. Install Command Line Tools (if you haven't already):

   xcode-select --install

2. Change the active directory:

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

This worked for me (git).