ruby/rubygems · error · RuntimeError

Can't standalone without an explicit path set

Error message

Can't standalone without an explicit path set

What it means

Error "Can't standalone without an explicit path set" thrown in ruby/rubygems.

Source

Thrown at lib/bundler/installer.rb:168

        case exists.size
        when 1
          Bundler.ui.warn "Skipped #{exists[0]} since it already exists."
        when 2
          Bundler.ui.warn "Skipped #{exists.join(" and ")} since they already exist."
        else
          items = exists[0...-1].empty? ? nil : exists[0...-1].join(", ")
          skipped = [items, exists[-1]].compact.join(" and ")
          Bundler.ui.warn "Skipped #{skipped} since they already exist."
        end
        Bundler.ui.warn "If you want to overwrite skipped stubs, use --force."
      end
    end

    def generate_standalone_bundler_executable_stubs(spec, options = {})
      # double-assignment to avoid warnings about variables that will be used by ERB
      bin_path = Bundler.bin_path
      unless path = Bundler.settings[:path]
        raise "Can't standalone without an explicit path set"
      end
      standalone_path = Bundler.root.join(path).relative_path_from(bin_path)
      standalone_path = standalone_path
      template = File.read(File.expand_path("templates/Executable.standalone", __dir__))
      ruby_command = Thor::Util.ruby_command
      ruby_command = ruby_command

      spec.executables.each do |executable|
        next if executable == "bundle"
        executable_path = Pathname(spec.full_gem_path).join(spec.bindir, executable).relative_path_from(bin_path)
        executable_path = executable_path

        mode = Gem.win_platform? ? "wb:UTF-8" : "w"
        require "erb"
        content = ERB.new(template, trim_mode: "-").result(binding)

        File.write("#{bin_path}/#{executable}", content, mode: mode, perm: 0o755)
        if Gem.win_platform? || options[:all_platforms]

View on GitHub (pinned to 86cbb817a3)

Solutions

1. Set an explicit install path first: `bundle config set --local path vendor/bundle`

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/bundler/installer.rb:168 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ruby/rubygems@86cbb817a3 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8eb4048d4d780458. Report an issue: GitHub.