Cypress 14.0.0 on macOS incorrectly resolves entry path – “Cannot find module …/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js”

[f3r]

Summary:

When running Cypress 14.0.0 on macOS, Cypress attempts to spawn a process using an incorrect internal path. Instead of loading the entry point from
…/Cypress.app/Contents/Resources/app/index.js
it erroneously appends an extra Contents/MacOS segment (i.e.,
…/Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js

This causes Node to throw a “Cannot find module” error.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Installation: Install Cypress 14.0.0 (e.g., within a frontend package of a monorepo).
2. Test Trigger: Run tests via a pre‑push hook or by invoking:

npx cypress run --project front

3. Error Observation: Observe that Cypress spawns a process with the following arguments (from debug logs):

... spawn args [ '/Users/<username>/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js', ... ]

and then fails with:

Error: Cannot find module `/Users/<username>/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js`

Current Behavior:

• Cypress calculates the entry point with an extra Contents/MacOS directory segment.
• The real file exists at:

/Users/<username>/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/Resources/app/index.js

• Attempts to work around this by creating a symlink in the expected location fail because macOS does not permit modifying parts of the Cypress app bundle (e.g., errors like “Operation not permitted” on Contents/PkgInfo).

Expected Behavior:

Cypress should either:

• Correctly resolve its internal file structure and load the module from

…/Cypress.app/Contents/Resources/app/index.js

• Or provide a configuration or environment variable to override the expected internal path so that users do not have to modify protected system directories.

Environment:

• OS: macOS (e.g., Big Sur/Monterey)
• Cypress Version: 14.0.0
• Node Versions:
  • System Node (e.g., v22.9.0) when running commands
  • Cypress’s bundled Node (e.g., v20.18.1) used for spawning
• Context:
  • Using VSCode’s Git integration with a Husky pre‑push hook
  • Cypress is installed locally within a monorepo’s frontend package

Reproducible Demo:

A minimal reproduction can be set up by:

• Creating a monorepo with a frontend package that installs Cypress 14.0.0.
• Adding a pre‑push hook that runs:

npx cypress run --project front

• Triggering a push and capturing the error output.
• Manually verifying that the file exists at:

.../Cypress.app/Contents/Resources/app/index.js

while Cypress is trying to load from:

.../Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js

Additional Context / Attempts:

• A workaround was attempted by manually creating a symlink to “fake” the expected path:

mkdir -p "$HOME/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app"
ln -s "$HOME/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/Resources/app/index.js" "$HOME/Library/Caches/Cypress/14.0.0/Cypress.app/Contents/MacOS/Contents/Resources/app/index.js"

This failed due to macOS’s SIP (System Integrity Protection) blocking modifications in the app bundle.

• Adjusting permissions (e.g., via sudo chown) also fails on protected files (e.g., /Contents/PkgInfo).

Request:

Please confirm whether this is a known packaging regression in Cypress 14.0.0 on macOS. Is there a configuration option or recommended workaround (other than downgrading) that allows Cypress to resolve its internal path correctly without modifying protected files? Any guidance or plans to address this in a future release would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance!

[jennifer-shehane]

@f3r Can you try clearing the cypress cache via cypress cache clear and reinstalling cypress via cypress install?

Does it happen after that?

[f3r]

@f3r Can you try clearing the cypress cache via cypress cache clear and reinstalling cypress via cypress install?

Does it happen after that?

HI!! I did and it also happened after clearing cache

[jennifer-shehane]

@f3r Just to be clear, this was not happening on 13.17.0?