Xcode 26 build fails with “Could not locate icontool” when using .icon file — how to fix?

Hi there,

I am new to Xcode26 and dragged my AppIcon.icon (created with Icon Composer) into the project. Then build failed with "Could not locate icontool".

Could anyone point me to the cleanest way to solve this? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

CompileAssetCatalogVariant thinned /Users/jaffron/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/KuuDraft-dsmpyalldiyuusdldnjihwrtzmab/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/KuuDraft/InstallationBuildProductsLocation/Applications/KuuDraft.app /Users/jaffron/Documents/augment-projects/WalletPin/KuuDraft/AppIcon.icon /Users/jaffron/Documents/augment-projects/WalletPin/KuuDraft/Assets.xcassets (in target 'KuuDraft' from project 'KuuDraft')
    cd /Users/jaffron/Documents/augment-projects/WalletPin
    /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/actool /Users/jaffron/Documents/augment-projects/WalletPin/KuuDraft/AppIcon.icon /Users/jaffron/Documents/augment-projects/WalletPin/KuuDraft/Assets.xcassets --compile /Users/jaffron/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/KuuDraft-dsmpyalldiyuusdldnjihwrtzmab/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/KuuDraft/IntermediateBuildFilesPath/KuuDraft.build/Release-iphoneos/KuuDraft.build/assetcatalog_output/thinned --output-format human-readable-text --notices --warnings --export-dependency-info /Users/jaffron/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/KuuDraft-dsmpyalldiyuusdldnjihwrtzmab/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/KuuDraft/IntermediateBuildFilesPath/KuuDraft.build/Release-iphoneos/KuuDraft.build/assetcatalog_dependencies_thinned --output-partial-info-plist /Users/jaffron/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/KuuDraft-dsmpyalldiyuusdldnjihwrtzmab/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/KuuDraft/IntermediateBuildFilesPath/KuuDraft.build/Release-iphoneos/KuuDraft.build/assetcatalog_generated_info.plist_thinned --app-icon AppIcon --include-all-app-icons --compress-pngs --enable-on-demand-resources YES --development-region en --target-device iphone --minimum-deployment-target 16.0 --platform iphoneos

error: unable to open dependencies file (/Users/jaffron/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/KuuDraft-dsmpyalldiyuusdldnjihwrtzmab/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/KuuDraft/IntermediateBuildFilesPath/KuuDraft.build/Release-iphoneos/KuuDraft.build/assetcatalog_dependencies_thinned) (in target 'KuuDraft' from project 'KuuDraft')
/* com.apple.actool.notices */
warning: Could not locate icontool.
Answered by Lee1862 in 859708022

Just reinstall Xcode.

In my personal analysis, the root cause of this error is this: when using Xcode 16, I manually installed Icon Composer. Later, after upgrading to Xcode 26, I found that there were two Icon Composer instances. I mistakenly delete the Icon Composer located in the Xcode path from Finder, the component will go missing.

Did you find a solution to this? I get the same thing but with Xcode Cloud

Xcode 26 build fails with “Could not locate icontool” when using .icon file — how to fix?
 
 
Q