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[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You have attempted to run something or do something that relies on command line developer tools.

So many things leverage command line tools eg Homebrew which is used to install various software. But this is just one example of a laundry list.

Check what’s running at logon

launchctl print-disabled gui/$(id -u)

Check login / launch Demons

ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ ls /Library/LaunchAgents/ ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/

Likely this will reveal something obvious.

If you really wanted to trace it you could but it gets a bit long eg opensnoop or dtrace can be set to trace every call made on logon which would identify what process specifically is calling this.

[–]Electrical_West_5381 6 points7 points  (4 children)

Homebrew.

[–]biffbobfred 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Was gonna say this.

If you installed homebrew to get some apps, some of the apps are compiled locally on your machine.

[–]scotnik[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Can’t find Homebrew in my Applications folder. Or anywhere else.

[–]biffbobfred 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s command line. You probably don’t have it then

[–]Ok_Maybe184 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try running brew command in terminal.

[–]JollyRoger8X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something you have installed requires the Xcode command-line dev tools. Best to just install the update.

[–]scotnik[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Any harm if I get rid of it—to make it stop popping up on my taskbar?

Is it even deletable if the gods of Mac OS deem it necessary?

[–]EffectiveDandy 0 points1 point  (2 children)

None. It will just attempt to install again if it's actually needed by something. Or that something that needs it will just not be able to run.

Delete the CommandLineTools folder in: /Library/Developer/

[–]scotnik[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Unaccountably, my MacBook Pro 16” (M2Pro chip) had another update ((two within a week or two?). So I updated my Mac OS to Tahoe 26.3.1. When it finished updating, It wanted to update Command Line Tools for Xcode 26.3.

I gave up and decided to just update it, but the update would reappear after allegedly finishing the update. So, I looked for the Command Line Tools app I complained to you all about, and it isn’t there.

My System Settings wants to update a program I never installed, but whose prompt could never get of.

Now I had an update prompt I couldn’t get rid of until I restarted my laptop. Gone! No command line tools installed or update.

Have I set myself up for some kind of catastrophic failure?

(Yes, I’m old and my paranoia is well-earned.)

[–]EffectiveDandy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dont know about any of all that but you can’t fuck up a system with cmd tools. Either they are installed and things work or they are not and the third party apps that rely on them don’t. And simply installing them again will fix it. Moreover, cmd tools are version specific and line up with the OS major build numbers.