NativeScript 9.1 Released → V8 14.9, Vite 8 HMR, built for rapid agentic visual iteration
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Useful tips ​

Deleting XCode DerivedData ​

XCode caches build data inside a folder called DerivedData - occasionally it can get corrupted due to a bad build, and subsequent builds can fail until the cached artifacts are cleared.

Learn more in this guide to delete DerivedData

Stopping the ADB server ​

adb can sometimes get stuck in an unresponsive state. In these cases, you can force restart the adb server by running:

bash
adb kill-server

Common issues ​

Cocoapods Environment setup: CocoaPods is not installed or is not configured properly ​

bash
WARNING: CocoaPods is not installed or is not configured properly. 
 You will not be able to build your projects for iOS if they contain plugin with CocoaPod file.
To be able to build such projects, verify that you have installed CocoaPods (sudo gem install cocoapods).

Cocoapods can be installed in system directories or via homebrew. Depending on which your system may already have them setup can lead to common issues in how Cocoapods are detected.

You can try running the following safely:

bash
pod cache clean -all
pod deintegrate
rm -rf "${HOME}/Library/Caches/CocoaPods"

brew install cocoapods

You can then confirm your Cocoapods installed properly and have the version you expect by running:

bash
pod --version

You could then try running ns doctor again.

XCode 14: xcodebuild failed with exit code 65 ​

bash
error: Signing for "XXX-YYY" requires a development team.
Select a development team in the Signing & Capabilities editor. (in target 'XXX-YYY' from project 'Pods')

<...>
note: Run script build phase 'NativeScript PreBuild' will be run during every build because the option to
run the script phase "Based on dependency analysis" is unchecked. (in target 'XXX' from project 'XXX')
<...>

** BUILD FAILED **

Unable to apply changes on device: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX.
Error is: Command xcodebuild failed with exit code 65.

🟠 Possible Solution

The most likely issue is a missing DEVELOPMENT_TEAM for some Pods. The workaround is to put the following in App_Resources/iOS/Podfile (create one if your project doesn't have it already):

ruby
post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    target.build_configurations.each do |config|
      # either set the DEVELOPMENT_TEAM explicitly
      config.build_settings['DEVELOPMENT_TEAM'] = '<TEAM_ID>'
      # or disable code signing
      config.build_settings['CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED'] = 'NO'
    end
  end
end

Replacing <TEAM_ID> with your actual team id.

CocoaPods could not find compatible versions for pod ​

CocoaPods could not find compatible versions for pod "SDWebImage":
  In Podfile:
    SDWebImage (~> 5.13.2)

🟢 Common Solution

CocoaPods are like npm packages but for iOS libraries (it’s their own npm registry if you will). Your local Cocoapods cache (usually located in ~/.cocoapods) keeps a Spec list reference that can become outdated and needs to be manually updated with the following command:

bash
pod repo update

In case this doesn't resolve the issue, you can often delete the XCode DerivedData.

CocoaPods could not find compatible versions for pod - higher minimum deployment target ​

[!] CocoaPods could not find compatible versions for pod "FBSDKCoreKit":
  In Podfile:
    FBSDKCoreKit (~> 13.1.0)

Specs satisfying the `FBSDKCoreKit (~> 13.1.0)` dependency were found, but they required a higher minimum deployment target.

🟢 Common Solution

Increase the IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET in your App_Resources/iOS/build.xcconfig:

bash
IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 13.0;

The above will increase the deployment target of the app, however you might also need to increase the deployment target of CocoaPods too. Put the following in your App_Resources/iOS/Podfile (create it if you don't have one):

ruby
platform :ios, '13.0'

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    target.build_configurations.each do |config|
      config.build_settings['IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET'] = '13.0'
    end
  end
end

In this example we are setting it to 13.0 - change it to a version that makes sense for your project. Some libraries will require higher targets, so in most cases find the highest required target, and use that as your deployment target. Make sure to match both build.xcconfig and Podfile versions.

In case this doesn't resolve the issue, you can often delete the XCode DerivedData.

dyld: Symbol not found ​

dyld: Symbol not found: __ZNSt3__115basic_stringbufIcNS_11char_traitsIcEENS_9allocatorIcEEE3strERKNS_12basic_stringIcS2_S4_EE
  Referenced from: /path/to/app/platforms/ios/internal/metadata-generator-x86_64/bin/./objc-metadata-generator (which was built for Mac OS X 12.0)
  Expected in: /usr/lib/libc++.1.dylib

🟠 Possible Solution

This can happen when a library uses a symbol not avaialble in the current deployment target.

Increase the IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET in your App_Resources/iOS/build.xcconfig:

bash
IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 13.0;

The above will increase the deployment target of the app, however you might also need to increase the deployment target of CocoaPods too. Put the following in your App_Resources/iOS/Podfile (create it if you don't have one):

ruby
platform :ios, '13.0'

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    target.build_configurations.each do |config|
      config.build_settings['IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET'] = '13.0'
    end
  end
end

In this example we are setting it to 13.0 - change it to a version that makes sense for your project. Some libraries will require higher targets, so in most cases find the highest required target, and use that as your deployment target. Make sure to match both build.xcconfig and Podfile versions.

In case this doesn't resolve the issue, you can often delete the XCode DerivedData.

Unable to apply changes on device ​

Installing on device XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX...
Unable to apply changes on device: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX.
Error is: Failed to install /path/to/appname/platforms/ios/build/Debug-iphoneos/appname.ipa
on device with identifier XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXX. Error is: Could not install application.

🟠 Possible Solution

Open the project in XCode (platforms/ios/<appname>.xcworkspace) and then select the project name in the left file tree. You should see General, Signing & Capabilities and other tabs in the middle. Select your device as the run target in the top bar, then select Signing & Capabilities and select an appropriate team, and if necessary press the Register Device button in the Profiles list.

Once the device is registered, you can exit XCode, and running the app from the NativeScript CLI should work as expected.

EMFILE: too many open files 'FILE_PATH' ​

Webpack compilation complete. Watching for file changes.
Watchpack Error (watcher): Error: EMFILE: too many open files 'FILE_PATH'
Watchpack Error (watcher): Error: EMFILE: too many open files 'FILE_PATH'
Watchpack Error (watcher): Error: EMFILE: too many open files 'FILE_PATH' <-- This repeats many times

🟠 Possible Solution

Add the following lines to your shell profile, usually ~/.zshrc, or if you are using bash then ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc config file:

bash
export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"

Reload your shell (eg, source ~/.zshrc) or open a new terminal window and try running again.

Note: you can increase this number further, but keep in mind the maximum value depends on the available system memory.

error TS2611: 'xxx' is defined as a property in class 'Y', but is overridden here in 'Z' as an accessor ​

ERROR: node_modules/@nativescript/core/ui/proxy-view-container/index.d.ts:10:9
error TS2611: 'ios' is defined as a property in class 'LayoutBase',
but is overridden here in 'ProxyViewContainer' as an accessor.

10 get ios(): any;
~~~

node_modules/@nativescript/core/ui/proxy-view-container/index.d.ts:11:9
error TS2611: 'android' is defined as a property in class 'LayoutBase',
but is overridden here in 'ProxyViewContainer' as an accessor.

11 get android(): any;

🟢 Common Solution

The above can be ignored by adding the following to your tsconfig.json:

json
"skipDefaultLibCheck": true,
"skipLibCheck": true,

Windows ​

Experimental

The Windows platform is experimental. See Developing for Windows.

Deployment fails with 0x80073CFF ​

During development, the CLI registers the app from its build output, which requires Developer Mode. Enable it in Settings › System › For developers (Windows 11) or Settings › Update & Security › For developers (Windows 10), then run the app again. See Enabling Developer Mode.

The app doesn't start after ns run windows ​

If the app was installed but nothing happens when it's launched, its development registration may be stale (for example after the platforms folder was deleted). Remove the package and run the app again:

powershell
Get-AppxPackage -Name <app id> | Remove-AppxPackage

<app id> is the id (or windows.id) from your nativescript.config.ts.

Release package fails to install with 0x800B0100 ​

The .msix package isn't signed. Build it with --certificate <path.pfx> or --certificate-thumbprint <thumbprint>, and make sure the certificate is trusted on the machine. See Publishing to the Microsoft Store › Sideloading.

Text looks blurry on high-DPI displays ​

The app is missing a DPI aware app.manifest. Add one to App_Resources/Windows as described in App_Resources › DPI awareness.

The app closes without an error (0xC000027B) ​

Some XAML errors terminate the process immediately, before any JavaScript or runtime error handler runs. The most common cause is changing the XAML tree (adding, removing or reparenting elements) synchronously inside a layout or rendering callback, such as CompositionTarget.Rendering, LayoutUpdated or SizeChanged. Defer such changes with setTimeout(() => { ... }, 0).

To find the cause, check the crash logs described in Debugging › Crash logs, look for the error in Event Viewer › Windows Logs › Application, or capture a crash dump with ProcDump:

bash
procdump -e -ma -w <ProjectName>.exe

TypeError: Invalid FFI String type, expected String ​

WinRT String parameters and properties only accept JavaScript strings. Convert the value first, for example textBlock.Text = String(value). See Windows Marshalling › Primitive types.

Build fails because a file is in use ​

A running instance of the app can lock files in platforms/windows. Close the app (or run ns clean, which stops running instances of the app) and build again.

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CLI Basics