macOS App Fails to Find Homebrew Node.js - env: node: No such file or directory

[HuskyDanny]

Description:
The claudia macOS application fails to launch from the GUI when Node.js is installed via Homebrew on Apple Silicon (/opt/homebrew/bin/node). The error is env: node: No such file or directory.

Environment:

macOS Version: [e.g., Sonoma 14.5]

Chip: Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)

Node.js Installation: Installed via Homebrew, path is /opt/homebrew/bin/node.

Node Version: [e.g., v23.7.0]

Troubleshooting Steps Performed:

Confirmed node is in the terminal PATH and works correctly.

The application works when its binary is executed directly from the terminal.

The application fails when launched from the Finder/Dock.

Attempted to fix the GUI application PATH by adding the LSEnvironment key to Info.plist to prepend /opt/homebrew/bin. This standard macOS solution did not work, and the error persisted.

Conclusion:
The application appears to ignore the system-provided PATH variable (including LSEnvironment) and is likely using a hardcoded path to find the node executable. This is a packaging bug that prevents it from working with standard Homebrew installations on macOS.

[kuamatzin]

Same here

[spaceworkplatform]

Same here, any suggestions ?

[NerdSnipe]

Fix for "env: node: No such file or directory"

Problem

When building on macOS

env: node: No such file or directory

This happens because macOS app bundles have a very restricted PATH environment variable that doesn't include common locations where Node.js is installed (like /opt/homebrew/bin for Homebrew on Apple Silicon Macs).

Root Cause

• macOS app bundles run with a minimal PATH (typically just /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin)
• Node.js installed via Homebrew goes to /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/bin (Intel)
• Scripts with shebangs like #!/usr/bin/env node fail because env can't find node in the restricted PATH

Solution

Add PATH enhancement at the beginning of the app's main() function in src-tauri/src/main.rs:

fn main() {
    // Initialize logger (or your existing initialization code)
    env_logger::init();
    
    // Fix PATH for macOS app bundles to include common Node.js locations
    if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
        let current_path = std::env::var("PATH").unwrap_or_default();
        let common_paths = vec![
            "/opt/homebrew/bin",  // Homebrew on Apple Silicon
            "/usr/local/bin",     // Homebrew on Intel Macs
        ];
        
        let mut new_path_parts = vec![];
        for path in &common_paths {
            if std::path::Path::new(path).exists() && !current_path.contains(path) {
                new_path_parts.push(path.to_string());
            }
        }
        
        if !new_path_parts.is_empty() {
            new_path_parts.push(current_path);
            let enhanced_path = new_path_parts.join(":");
            std::env::set_var("PATH", enhanced_path);
            log::info!("Enhanced PATH for macOS app bundle");
        }
    }

    // Rest of your main() function...
    tauri::Builder::default()
        // ... your existing code
}

How It Works

1. Detects macOS: Only runs the PATH enhancement on macOS builds
2. Checks for existing paths: Only adds paths that exist on the system and aren't already in PATH
3. Preserves original PATH: Appends to the existing PATH rather than replacing it
4. Global fix: Sets the PATH for the entire application process, fixing all child process executions

Additional Notes

• This fix is specific to macOS and won't affect other platforms
• The solution assumes Node.js is installed in standard Homebrew locations
• You can extend the common_paths vector to include other locations if needed (e.g., NVM paths)
• This approach works for any executable that might be missing from the app bundle's restricted PATH

[nerdo]

I wonder if the problem is deeper than that....

I installed node with nvm which is on the path /Users/me/.nvm/versions/....

When I open a shell, it works fine, I can manually type commands like npm run build within a project folder and it builds that node project.

It also works fine when I use claude code directly, presumably because it inherits the environment that I ran it from (the terminal).

However, when claudia tries to do this, I get (eval):1: command not found: npm.

A better solution might be for claudia to start a shell as the user would (login shell?) but I know that has other implications that are a slippery slope.

I was able to, as a workaround, open a terminal and echo $PATH then set that in the environment settings PATH=copy-and-pasted-from-the-terminal but that has subtle drawbacks. For example, in an interactive terminal, I have a utility that automatically puts the npm modules for the current directory on your path (https://github.com/nerdo/barnacle) so it's not quite apples-to-apples with what claude would have access to if I were interacting with it directly, but close enough for a workaround.

[a1194822914]

这个方法有效，点赞👍

[loicbisiere]

Same issue here.
I tried the @nerdo 'solution but it's not working on myside.
Asking claude to run echo $PATH directly from CLI VS through OPCode and the path are differents even if I set the PATH in OPCode => settings => environments to match my $PATH.
In my case Claude Code can run gh cli or brew cli if I use Claude Code through CLI but it doesn't work if I use OPCode.