fix: print actionable hints when gyp fails on Android with missing NDK - #3356
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fix: print actionable hints when gyp fails on Android with missing NDK#3356lesliechowsh wants to merge 1 commit into
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Thank you for finding I did not know how to fix this problem in Nodejs before, because the error message was frustrating and did not previously explain that |
robertkirkman
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Aug 14, 2026
When gyp fails with an undefined variable, only print the NDK/toolchain hint when the variable comes from the header toolchain itself (android_ndk_* names, or any undefined variable while loading common.gypi). A binding.gyp referencing its own undefined variable is a project bug; hinting about the NDK there would send the user down the wrong path. stderr remains forwarded byte-for-byte. The match logic lives in lib/configure.js, where gyp is spawned (configure()); it is exported as isNdkUndefinedVariableHint and covered by six unit cases (hit: android_ndk_path, android_ndk_* variant, common.gypi context; miss: project variable, unrelated error, empty).
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Fixes #3355
When a native module build fails on Android (e.g. Termux) with "gyp: Undefined variable android_ndk_path in binding.gyp", the message looks like an internal gyp bug and nothing tells the user what to do. The variable comes from the android branch of the official Node headers'
common.gypi(downloaded vialib/process-release.js); it is only defined when Node itself is built with an NDK.This PR captures gyp's stderr in
lib/configure.jswhere gyp is spawned (still written through to the terminal byte-for-byte) and, when the failure matches anandroid_ndk_*variable or happens while loadingcommon.gypi(seeisNdkUndefinedVariableHint), prints actionable hints: use an NDK, or point node-gyp at system-toolchain headers via--nodedir/ a Node build with--use-prefix-to-find-headers(termux/termux-packages#30974).A binding.gyp referencing its own undefined variable is a project bug and does not trigger the hint, so users are not sent down the wrong path. Only the Android failure path is affected.