apache/cordova-android · error · CordovaError

Requirements check failed for Android SDK! Android SDK was n

Error message

Requirements check failed for Android SDK! Android SDK was not detected.

What it means

Summary error from check_reqs.run(): it resolves Promise.all([check_java(), check_android()]) and throws when values[1] (check_android's result) is falsy, meaning the SDK detection chain produced no usable Android SDK. `cordova requirements android` surfaces exactly this line when the SDK row fails.

Source

Thrown at lib/check_reqs.js:278

    return android_sdk.list_targets().then(function (targets) {
        if (targets.indexOf(desired_api_level) >= 0) {
            return targets;
        }
        throw new CordovaError(`Please install the Android SDK Platform "platforms;${desired_api_level}"`);
    });
};

// Returns a promise.
module.exports.run = function () {
    console.log('Checking Java JDK and Android SDK versions');
    console.log('ANDROID_HOME=' + process.env.ANDROID_HOME + ' (recommended setting)');
    console.log('ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=' + process.env.ANDROID_SDK_ROOT + ' (DEPRECATED)');

    return Promise.all([this.check_java(), this.check_android()]).then(function (values) {
        console.log('Using Android SDK: ' + (process.env.ANDROID_HOME || process.env.ANDROID_SDK_ROOT));

        if (!values[1]) {
            throw new CordovaError('Requirements check failed for Android SDK! Android SDK was not detected.');
        }
    });
};

/**
 * Object thar represents one of requirements for current platform.
 * @param {String} id         The unique identifier for this requirements.
 * @param {String} name       The name of requirements. Human-readable field.
 * @param {String} version    The version of requirement installed. In some cases could be an array of strings
 *                            (for example, check_android_target returns an array of android targets installed)
 * @param {Boolean} installed Indicates whether the requirement is installed or not
 */
const Requirement = function (id, name, version, installed) {
    this.id = id;
    this.name = name;
    this.installed = installed || false;
    this.metadata = {
        version

View on GitHub (pinned to 7c1e190064)

Solutions

Re-run `cordova requirements android` and read the earlier ANDROID_HOME-specific error it prints - fix that one (set ANDROID_HOME, fix its path, install cmdline-tools).
Install the SDK and export ANDROID_HOME/ANDROID_SDK_ROOT plus PATH entries for platform-tools and cmdline-tools.
Confirm the fix with `cordova requirements android` until all rows pass.

Example fix

# before
$ cordova requirements android
Requirements check failed for Android SDK! Android SDK was not detected.

# after
export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/Android/Sdk"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"
$ cordova requirements android

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const [javaOk, androidOk] = await Promise.all([check_reqs.check_java(), check_reqs.check_android()]);
if (!androidOk) {
  throw new Error('Android SDK not detected - set ANDROID_HOME and rerun `cordova requirements android`');
}

Try / catch

try {
  await check_reqs.run();
} catch (e) {
  if (/Android SDK was not detected/.test(e.message)) {
    // re-run check_android alone to surface the specific ANDROID_HOME error, then guide setup
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Treat `cordova requirements android` as a required gate in CI before build jobs.
Fix root cause (ANDROID_HOME / SDK presence) rather than skipping the requirements step.

When it happens

Trigger: `cordova requirements android` (or any consumer of check_reqs.run) when check_android resolves falsy - which is always downstream of one of the detection failures in the same file (unset ANDROID_HOME with no inferable tools, non-existent ANDROID_HOME path, etc.).

Common situations: CI container without Android env vars; a machine where ANDROID_HOME was typo'd; the final state after any of the check_android branches failed to establish a valid SDK root.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cordova-android@7c1e190064 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d6c81773ef0bcdc6. Report an issue: GitHub.