react / react/react-native

ccache isn't used by iOS builds because CCACHE_BINARY is missing

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#55,381 2 comments 5 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Needs: Triage :mag: Platform: iOS
Dominant language
C++
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Description

Description

Even if ccache is enabled for iOS builds, it's never actually used. The issue seems to originate from this PR:
https://github.com/facebook/react-native/pull/48257

The CCACHE_BINARY user-defined setting was added to Xcode, which the shell scripts will try to use as an env var. However, none of the user-defined settings become an env var, therefore ccache is never invoked (as of Xcode 26.2).

You can test the env vars by adding the following line to ccache-clang.sh:

env > ~/ccache.log
Steps to reproduce
  1. Install ccache brew install ccache
  2. Zero the ccache stats ccache -z
  3. Check out the minimal repro project
  4. Set up iOS dependencies cd ios && bundle install && bundle exec pod install
  5. Build iOS using npm run ios or by opening the Xcode project

Expected outcome:
ccache is used and ccache -s contains stats

Actual outcome:
ccache is never called

React Native Version

0.83.1"

Affected Platforms

Runtime - iOS, Build - MacOS

Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info
info Fetching system and libraries information...
System:
  OS: macOS 26.2
  CPU: (14) arm64 Apple M4 Max
  Memory: 632.27 MB / 36.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 25.5.0
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/node
  Yarn: Not Found
  npm:
    version: 11.8.0
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/npm
  Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.16.2
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 25.2
      - iOS 26.2
      - macOS 26.2
      - tvOS 26.2
      - visionOS 26.2
      - watchOS 26.2
  Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2025.1 AI-251.26094.121.2513.14007798
  Xcode:
    version: 26.2/17C52
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 17.0.17
    path: /usr/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 4.0.1
    path: /opt/homebrew/opt/ruby/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli":
    installed: 20.0.0
    wanted: 20.0.0
  react:
    installed: 19.2.0
    wanted: 19.2.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.83.1
    wanted: 0.83.1
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true
Stacktrace or Logs
The ccache stats don't show any information other than size because it has never been hit:
Local storage:
  Cache size (GiB): 0.3 / 5.0 ( 5.80%)


Expected stats:

Cacheable calls:      0 /   1 ( 0.00%)
  Hits:               0
    Direct:           0
    Preprocessed:     0
  Misses:             0
Uncacheable calls:    1 /   1 (100.0%)
MANDATORY Reproducer

https://github.com/Nezz/react-native-repro/tree/repro/Ccache

Screenshots and Videos

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with packages/react-native/scripts/xcode/ccache-clang.sh and inspect how CCACHE_BINARY is consumed during the iOS build. Run the mandatory reproducer, build with npm run ios or Xcode, and check ccache -s; done means the build invokes ccache and the stats show compiler calls.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
ios, macos, react-native, shell
Domain
build-system, mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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