Repository: electron/electron
Pull request: build: handle Metal toolchain being unbundled from Xcode 26

mac: handle Metal toolchain being unbundled from Xcode 26

The Metal toolchain was formerly part of Xcode, but in Xcode 26, it has
been unbundled and is now a separate install. Attempting to use the
Metal toolchain without installing it results in a build error, such as:

error: error: cannot execute tool 'metal' due to missing Metal
Toolchain; use: xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain

By running the suggested command, the Metal toolchain can be installed,
but the existing angle build does not know how to find it correctly.

For system Xcode installations, tools from the Metal toolchain (`metal`
and `metallib`) can be run via `xcrun`. This construct should work
equally well for older Xcode versions, for situations where it’s still
in use.

For the hermetic toolchain, we’ll continue splicing the Metal toolchain
into the location it had previously been avialable (see
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/6950738), although this is
subject to change in the future.

Bug: chromium:423933062, chromium:445400016
Change-Id: I139eca51938f7cecfec9b90fd488947160ef4ec9
Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/angle/angle/+/6955000
Auto-Submit: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
Commit-Queue: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
Reviewed-by: Geoff Lang <geofflang@chromium.org>


Notes: Fixed a development issue where the metal toolchain could not be found when building on macOS 26.

Changed files:
filename: patches/angle/.patches
patch: @@ -0,0 +1 @@
+cherry-pick-2f564f1ca07b.patch

filename: patches/angle/cherry-pick-2f564f1ca07b.patch
patch: @@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
+Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:46:36 -0400
+Subject: mac: handle Metal toolchain being unbundled from Xcode 26
+MIME-Version: 1.0
+Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
+Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
+
+The Metal toolchain was formerly part of Xcode, but in Xcode 26, it has
+been unbundled and is now a separate install. Attempting to use the
+Metal toolchain without installing it results in a build error, such as:
+
+error: error: cannot execute tool 'metal' due to missing Metal
+Toolchain; use: xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain
+
+By running the suggested command, the Metal toolchain can be installed,
+but the existing angle build does not know how to find it correctly.
+
+For system Xcode installations, tools from the Metal toolchain (`metal`
+and `metallib`) can be run via `xcrun`. This construct should work
+equally well for older Xcode versions, for situations where it’s still
+in use.
+
+For the hermetic toolchain, we’ll continue splicing the Metal toolchain
+into the location it had previously been avialable (see
+https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/6950738), although this is
+subject to change in the future.
+
+Bug: chromium:423933062, chromium:445400016
+Change-Id: I139eca51938f7cecfec9b90fd488947160ef4ec9
+Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/angle/angle/+/6955000
+Auto-Submit: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
+Commit-Queue: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
+Reviewed-by: Geoff Lang <geofflang@chromium.org>
+
+diff --git a/src/libANGLE/renderer/metal/BUILD.gn b/src/libANGLE/renderer/metal/BUILD.gn
+index 96e9ee8420810f6a3ca9a0c290d4a654200eb7b9..50ac42a5b9a0f7c8b3b161af40c598cb34ff132a 100644
+--- a/src/libANGLE/renderer/metal/BUILD.gn
++++ b/src/libANGLE/renderer/metal/BUILD.gn
+@@ -24,20 +24,56 @@ config("angle_metal_backend_config") {
+ }
+ 
+ if (metal_internal_shader_compilation_supported) {
++  template("run_metal_tool") {
++    action(target_name) {
++      forward_variables_from(invoker,
++                             [
++                               "deps",
++                               "sources",
++                               "outputs",
++                               "metal_tool",
++                             ])
++      script = "shaders/metal_wrapper.py"
++      if (use_system_xcode) {
++        # System Xcode: run metal and metallib via xcrun. Since Xcode 26.0, the
++        # Metal toolchain has been unbundled from Xcode, and must be installed
++        # separately by running `xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain`.
++        # There is a vestigial metal executable in mac_bin_path, but it’s
++        # incapable of running successfuly without the
++        # rest of the Metal toolchain surrounding it. `xcrun` is able to find
++        # and run the correct Metal toolchain when properly installed.
++        #
++        # If you’re using system Xcode and your build fails with this message:
++        #   error: error: cannot execute tool 'metal' due to missing Metal Toolchain; use: xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain
++        # then do what the error message suggests, and then retry your build.
++        args = [
++          "xcrun",
++          metal_tool,
++        ]
++      } else {
++        # Hermetic Xcode: at least for now, the Metal toolchain is
++        # “spliced” into the location in the hermetic toolchain where it lived
++        # before Xcode 26.0, so it can be run directly from there.
++        args = [ mac_bin_path + metal_tool ]
++      }
++
++      args += invoker.args
++    }
++  }
++
+   _metal_internal_shaders_air_file =
+       "$root_gen_dir/angle/mtl_internal_shaders_autogen.air"
+ 
+-  action("angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_air") {
+-    script = "shaders/metal_wrapper.py"
+-
+-    outputs = [ _metal_internal_shaders_air_file ]
+-
++  run_metal_tool("angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_air") {
+     _metal_internal_shaders_metal_source =
+         "shaders/mtl_internal_shaders_autogen.metal"
+     sources = [ _metal_internal_shaders_metal_source ]
+ 
++    outputs = [ _metal_internal_shaders_air_file ]
++
++    metal_tool = "metal"
++
+     args = [
+-      mac_bin_path + "metal",
+       "-c",
+       rebase_path(_metal_internal_shaders_metal_source, root_build_dir),
+       "-o",
+@@ -60,17 +96,16 @@ if (metal_internal_shader_compilation_supported) {
+   _metal_internal_shaders_metallib_file =
+       "$root_gen_dir/angle/mtl_internal_shaders_autogen.metallib"
+ 
+-  action("angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_mtllib") {
+-    script = "shaders/metal_wrapper.py"
+-
+-    outputs = [ _metal_internal_shaders_metallib_file ]
++  run_metal_tool("angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_mtllib") {
++    deps = [ ":angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_air" ]
+ 
+     sources = [ _metal_internal_shaders_air_file ]
+ 
+-    deps = [ ":angle_metal_internal_shaders_to_air" ]
++    outputs = [ _metal_internal_shaders_metallib_file ]
++
++    metal_tool = "metallib"
+ 
+     args = [
+-      mac_bin_path + "metallib",
+       rebase_path(_metal_internal_shaders_air_file, root_build_dir),
+       "-o",
+       rebase_path(_metal_internal_shaders_metallib_file, root_build_dir),

filename: patches/config.json
patch: @@ -12,5 +12,6 @@
   { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/ReactiveObjC", "repo": "src/third_party/squirrel.mac/vendor/ReactiveObjC" },
   { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/webrtc", "repo": "src/third_party/webrtc" },
   { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/reclient-configs", "repo": "src/third_party/engflow-reclient-configs" },
-  { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/sqlite", "repo": "src/third_party/sqlite/src" }
+  { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/sqlite", "repo": "src/third_party/sqlite/src" },
+  { "patch_dir": "src/electron/patches/angle", "repo": "src/third_party/angle" }
 ]