apache/cordova-android · error · CordovaError

Required attribute "src" not specified in <framework> elemen

Error message

Required attribute "src" not specified in <framework> element from plugin: ${plugin.id}

What it means

Thrown by cordova-android's framework install handler when a plugin's plugin.xml declares a <framework> element without a src attribute. On Android, <framework> pulls in a native library (an .aar, a Gradle project, or a system library) and src is the only way to locate it, so installation aborts before the project files are touched.

Source

Thrown at lib/pluginHandlers.js:75

        uninstall: function (obj, plugin, project, options) {
            const dest = path.join('app/libs', path.basename(obj.src));
            removeFileF(path.resolve(project.projectDir, dest));
        }
    },
    'resource-file': {
        install: function (obj, plugin, project, options) {
            const dest = path.join('app', 'src', 'main', obj.target);
            copyFile(plugin.dir, obj.src, project.projectDir, dest, !!(options && options.link));
        },
        uninstall: function (obj, plugin, project, options) {
            const dest = path.join('app', 'src', 'main', obj.target);
            removeFileF(path.resolve(project.projectDir, dest));
        }
    },
    framework: {
        install: function (obj, plugin, project, options) {
            const src = obj.src;
            if (!src) throw new CordovaError(generateAttributeError('src', 'framework', plugin.id));

            events.emit('verbose', 'Installing Android library: ' + src);
            const parentDir = obj.parent ? path.resolve(project.projectDir, obj.parent) : project.projectDir;
            let subDir;

            if (obj.custom) {
                const subRelativeDir = project.getCustomSubprojectRelativeDir(plugin.id, src);
                copyNewFile(plugin.dir, src, project.projectDir, subRelativeDir, !!(options && options.link));
                subDir = path.resolve(project.projectDir, subRelativeDir);
            } else {
                obj.type = 'sys';
                subDir = src;
            }

            if (obj.type === 'gradleReference') {
                project.addGradleReference(parentDir, subDir);
            } else if (obj.type === 'sys') {
                project.addSystemLibrary(parentDir, subDir);

View on GitHub (pinned to 7c1e190064)

Solutions

1. Open the plugin's plugin.xml and add src to every <framework> element under <platform name="android">, e.g. <framework src="libs/mylib.aar" custom="true"/>
2. Check for misspelled attribute names (source= instead of src=) or the attribute accidentally placed on the parent <platform> element
3. If the plugin comes from npm/GitHub, report the issue to the maintainer and use a forked/fixed version; republish with a version bump so dependents pick it up
4. For local plugin development, re-run `cordova plugin add <path>` after fixing the XML to re-parse plugin.xml

Example fix

<!-- before -->
<platform name="android">
  <framework custom="true" />
</platform>

<!-- after -->
<platform name="android">
  <framework src="src/android/libs/mylib.aar" custom="true" />
</platform>

// before installing a third-party plugin, lint its plugin.xml
const fs = require('fs');
const xml = fs.readFileSync('node_modules/<plugin>/plugin.xml', 'utf8');
if (/<framework(?![^>]*\bsrc=)[^>]*>/.test(xml.replace(/[\r\n]+/g, ' '))) {
  throw new Error('plugin has a <framework> element without src — fix before `cordova plugin add`');
}

try {
  await cordova.plugin('add', 'cordova-plugin-foo');
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof CordovaError && /Required attribute "src" not specified in <framework>/.test(e.message)) {
    // point the user at the plugin's plugin.xml <framework> elements
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `cordova plugin add <plugin>` (or `cordova prepare android` after adding it) where plugin.xml contains <framework/>, <framework custom="true"/>, or <framework type="gradleReference"/> with no src attribute. The handler reads obj.src and throws CordovaError(generateAttributeError('src','framework',...)) when it is falsy.

Common situations: Hand-edited or template-generated plugin.xml that omits src; using the wrong attribute name (source=, href=, path=); copying a <framework> snippet from another plugin and stripping the attribute; plugin published to npm in this broken state.

Related errors

• Required attribute "src" not specified in <asset> element fr
• Required attribute "target" not specified in <asset> element
• "${src}" not found!
• File "${src}" is located outside the plugin directory "${plu
• Destination "${dest}" for source file "${src}" is located ou

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cordova-android@7c1e190064 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/232f63a81ab4d691. Report an issue: GitHub.