Local build fails with toolchain_java17 not found during Bazel build on macOS (Apple Silicon)

[gurnoorpannu]

Operating System

macOS (Apple Silicon / arm64)

Android Studio Version

Android Studio Otter2

RAM size

16 GB

Free disk space

~50 GB free

Which step are you stuck on?

I am following the official setup guide:
https://github.com/oppia/oppia-android/wiki/Installing-Oppia-Android#prepare-developer-environment

The failure occurs at the final build step when running:

bazel build //app:app

The setup steps completed successfully before this:

Android SDK installed via Android Studio

Android SDK Build-Tools 34.0.0 installed

Android API Level 35 (android-35) installed

Java tested with 11 and 17

Bazel tested with 6.5.0, 7.4.1, and 8.1.0

Clean clone and clean caches (bazel clean --expunge, cleared ~/.cache/bazelisk)

Android Studio proxy disabled

Error Log

ERROR: /Users/gurnoor/StudioProjects/oppia-android/app/BUILD.bazel:610:19: While resolving toolchains for target //app:app: invalid registered toolchain '@bazel_tools//tools/jdk:toolchain_java17': target 'toolchain_java17' not declared in package 'tools/jdk' defined by external/bazel_tools/tools/jdk/BUILD (did you mean toolchain_java10 or toolchain_java11?)

Approaches already used to resolve the issue

Tried Bazel versions: 6.5.0, 7.4.1, 8.1.0

Tried Java versions: 11 and 17

Installed and pinned Android SDK Build-Tools 34.0.0

Installed Android API Level 35

Disabled Android Studio HTTP proxy

Cleared Bazel and Bazelisk caches

Re-cloned the repository from scratch

Verified ANDROID_HOME, ANDROID_SDK_ROOT, and adb detection

Additional information

toolchain_java17 is referenced from app/BUILD.bazel

This toolchain does not appear to exist in @bazel_tools for Bazel 6.x or 7.x

Bazel 8 introduces other incompatibilities due to WORKSPACE / Android repo macros

This suggests a mismatch between the repository’s Java toolchain requirements and the supported Bazel toolchains for local builds

I wanted to check whether:

there is a specific commit/branch that currently builds locally,

a custom/internal Java toolchain is expected,

or if local builds are temporarily broken during the Java 17 / Bazel migration.

Happy to provide more logs or test fixes if helpful.

[adhiamboperes]

@gurnoorpannu, Please see #6021. With our current version of Bazel, we can only use an Android Studio version below Otter.

Meanwhile, please take note of this issue affecting Apple Silicon Macs as well: #6046 (comment).

[gurnoorpannu]

@gurnoorpannu, Please see #6021. With our current version of Bazel, we can only use an Android Studio version below Otter.

Meanwhile, please take note of this issue affecting Apple Silicon Macs as well: #6046 (comment).

okay so i installed the narwall verison of andorid studio
I went through the full setup on macOS Apple Silicon (arm64) using Bazelisk and tried the combinations discussed (Java 11 / Java 17, Bazel 6.5 → 7.0.2 → newer 7.x). The build now consistently fails during toolchain resolution on main, with Bazel attempting to resolve non-macOS JDK toolchains, for example:
remotejdk17_win_arm64_toolchain_config_repo
remotejdk11_linux_toolchain_config_repo

This happens even after:
Cleaning Bazel state (bazelisk clean --expunge, removing ~/.bazel)
Removing all platform overrides
Letting Bazel auto-detect the host
Using Bazel 7.0.2 (as well as newer 7.x)
Verifying Java setup locally

From debugging this deeply, it looks like:
The current main branch is not buildable on macOS arm64 using the wiki instructions
Toolchain registration for macOS arm64 may be incomplete or unstable while the repo is mid-transition (Java 11 → 17, Bazel 6 → 7)

Can you confirm, Is main currently supported on macOS Apple Silicon, or Should contributors use a specific release branch for local development on macOS?

[adhiamboperes]

@gurnoorpannu, we have not yet upgraded Bazel beyond 6.5.0. Installing Bazel 7.x could be a significant part of your issues. Also, it does not matter which Java version you have installed, as we use a remote jdk(11) to build Bazel. The only known issue we have with Macs is : #6046 (comment).

[gurnoorpannu]

@adhiamboperes I’m using Bazel 6.5.0 and I’m not forcing any local Java version (letting Bazel use the remote JDK 11 as intended).But while building the Bazel , I m getting,
invalid registered toolchain '@bazel_tools//tools/jdk:toolchain_java17'

is this like a known issue? also if there is a walkaround ?

[BenHenning]

@gurnoorpannu could you please attach a full log when you try running the local command in a terminal (from within the cloned Oppia Android repository):

bazel build --verbose_failures //:oppia_dev

No need to clean or anything before hand, but I think we need to see exactly where the failure is happening to provide guidance here. --verbose_failures will also provide a bit of extra context if this is failing within a particular Starlark rule, but I suspect it's failing higher up.

We've forced Oppia Android builds to use JDK 11 specifically for avoiding this particular problem, but the build graph is complex and it's possible there are some unexpected direct dependencies on JDK 17 somewhere, even if we don't end up using that path (which would fail the analysis phase of the build pipeline). I know the OS X specific setup is a bit picky on Java pathing, as well, so that could potentially be related.