Subject: Persistent iOS build failure on Codemagic: Circular dependency with darwin-podhelper.rb (Module not found during pod install from flutter build ios)

[PowerFinderGlobal]

If you are looking for help, please confirm the following...

• I confirm I have searched the Docs, Codemagic Sample Projects, and GitHub Discussions.
• I confirm the software versions on my local computer match the ones in CI environment (e.g. Xcode version, Gradle version). See here
• I confirm I am able to do a fresh clone of the repository and build the project on my local computer.

Which mobile framework are you using?

Flutter (Dart)

Steps to reproduce

Create a new Flutter project (flutter create my_app).
Add a few common plugins (e.g., Maps_flutter, geolocator, flutter_native_splash).
Commit all files (including the standard Flutter ios/Podfile).
Create a new application in Codemagic.io.
Connect to the Git repository.
Select "Flutter" project type.
Select Flutter 3.29.0 and Xcode latest/16.0.x.
Upload iOS code signing assets (if trying a full build).
Select the Default Workflow.
Start a new build.

I have a working Flutter application on Android. I and using Codemagic to get it to run on iphone for the App Store. I originally could not get this to work in Workflow and then tried many times with Codemagic.yaml. I eventually archived my Codemagic application and started a new application with a new repo and a newbuild. It appears stuck in a circular logic loop trying to build darwin-podhelper.rb. I appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks!

Expected results

The build should complete successfully, generating an iOS app.

Actual results

The build fails during the iOS build phase with output similar to this:

Running pod install...
CocoaPods' output:
↳
[!] Invalid Podfile file: cannot load such file -- /Users/builder/clone/ios/Flutter/ephemeral/.symlinks/flutter/darwin-podhelper.rb.

 #  from /Users/builder/clone/ios/Podfile:6
 #  -------------------------------------------
 #  # ✅ Required to load Flutter helper methods like `flutter_install_ios_plugin_pods`
 >  require File.expand_path('../Flutter/ephemeral/.symlinks/flutter/darwin-podhelper.rb', __FILE__)
 #  -------------------------------------------

Error running pod install
... (rest of stack trace) ...
flutter build ios exited with code: 1

Build id (optional)

68387d23d4d33ddbe34acd84

[dtrdic]

hello @PowerFinderGlobal my suggestion is to clean your project first, as this seems to be project specific issue, not related to Codemagic. Try running these commands locally

cd ios
pod cache clean --all
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods
rm -rf Pods
rm -rf Podfile.lock
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*
pod deintegrate
flutter clean
flutter pub get
pod install
flutter build ios --debug --no-codesign

[dtrdic]

I'm tentatively closing the discussion since we haven't heard back from you. You can open the discussion again by replying to this message or opening a new discussion.