[cupertino_http] Build fails on Flutter 3.38.5: "Android NDK Clang could not be found"

[MatteoBax]

I know that cupertino_http is not intended for Android, however it still compiled correctly in previous Flutter versions.
The dependency is required because the app targets both iOS and Android, and I can't remove it..
I originally filed this issue in the Flutter repository, but I was redirected here.
flutter/flutter#180163

Steps to reproduce

Build the project with flutter build apk --release

Expected results

The APK generation.

Actual results

The command flutter build apk --release fails with: Android NDK Clang could not be found..
The problem does not occur if I remove the cupertino_http dependency or use Flutter version 3.35.7.

Code sample

Since the code for this issue is irrelevant, I'm attaching the pubspec.yaml.

pubspec.yaml

name: prova_deps
description: "A new Flutter project."
# The following line prevents the package from being accidentally published to
# pub.dev using `flutter pub publish`. This is preferred for private packages.
publish_to: 'none' # Remove this line if you wish to publish to pub.dev

# The following defines the version and build number for your application.
# A version number is three numbers separated by dots, like 1.2.43
# followed by an optional build number separated by a +.
# Both the version and the builder number may be overridden in flutter
# build by specifying --build-name and --build-number, respectively.
# In Android, build-name is used as versionName while build-number used as versionCode.
# Read more about Android versioning at https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/versioning
# In iOS, build-name is used as CFBundleShortVersionString while build-number is used as CFBundleVersion.
# Read more about iOS versioning at
# https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/CoreFoundationKeys.html
# In Windows, build-name is used as the major, minor, and patch parts
# of the product and file versions while build-number is used as the build suffix.
version: 1.0.0+1

environment:
  sdk: ^3.9.2

# Dependencies specify other packages that your package needs in order to work.
# To automatically upgrade your package dependencies to the latest versions
# consider running `flutter pub upgrade --major-versions`. Alternatively,
# dependencies can be manually updated by changing the version numbers below to
# the latest version available on pub.dev. To see which dependencies have newer
# versions available, run `flutter pub outdated`.
dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter

  # The following adds the Cupertino Icons font to your application.
  # Use with the CupertinoIcons class for iOS style icons.
  cupertino_icons: ^1.0.8
  http: ^1.6.0
  provider: ^6.1.5
  auto_scroll_text: ^0.0.7
  cupertino_http: ^2.4.0
  dio: ^5.9.0
  cookie_jar: ^4.0.8
  dio_cookie_manager: ^3.3.0
  shared_preferences: ^2.5.4
  simple_dns_client:
    path: "/media/matteo/Dati/dart projects/simple_dns_client"
  package_info_plus: ^9.0.0
  synchronized: ^3.4.0
  reorderables: ^0.6.0
  audio_service: ^0.18.18
  taudio: ^10.3.8
  fluttertoast: ^9.0.0
  crypto: ^3.0.6
  sqflite: ^2.4.2
  path_provider: ^2.1.5
  mutex: ^3.1.0
  flutter_image_cache: ^1.0.2
  objectbox_flutter_libs: ^5.1.0
  objectbox: ^5.1.0

dev_dependencies:
  flutter_test:
    sdk: flutter

  # The "flutter_lints" package below contains a set of recommended lints to
  # encourage good coding practices. The lint set provided by the package is
  # activated in the `analysis_options.yaml` file located at the root of your
  # package. See that file for information about deactivating specific lint
  # rules and activating additional ones.
  flutter_lints: ^6.0.0

# For information on the generic Dart part of this file, see the
# following page: https://dart.dev/tools/pub/pubspec

# The following section is specific to Flutter packages.
flutter:

  # The following line ensures that the Material Icons font is
  # included with your application, so that you can use the icons in
  # the material Icons class.
  uses-material-design: true

  # To add assets to your application, add an assets section, like this:
  # assets:
  #   - images/a_dot_burr.jpeg
  #   - images/a_dot_ham.jpeg

  # An image asset can refer to one or more resolution-specific "variants", see
  # https://flutter.dev/to/resolution-aware-images

  # For details regarding adding assets from package dependencies, see
  # https://flutter.dev/to/asset-from-package

  # To add custom fonts to your application, add a fonts section here,
  # in this "flutter" section. Each entry in this list should have a
  # "family" key with the font family name, and a "fonts" key with a
  # list giving the asset and other descriptors for the font. For
  # example:
  # fonts:
  #   - family: Schyler
  #     fonts:
  #       - asset: fonts/Schyler-Regular.ttf
  #       - asset: fonts/Schyler-Italic.ttf
  #         style: italic
  #   - family: Trajan Pro
  #     fonts:
  #       - asset: fonts/TrajanPro.ttf
  #       - asset: fonts/TrajanPro_Bold.ttf
  #         weight: 700
  #
  # For details regarding fonts from package dependencies,
  # see https://flutter.dev/to/font-from-package

Screenshots or Video

Screenshots / Video demonstration

[Upload media here]

Logs

output.log

Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output

[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.38.5, on Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
    6.12.57+deb13-amd64, locale it_IT.UTF-8) [399ms]
    • Flutter version 3.38.5 on channel stable at /home/matteo/sdk/flutter
    • Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
    • Framework revision f6ff1529fd (9 giorni fa), 2025-12-11 11:50:07 -0500
    • Engine revision 1527ae0ec5
    • Dart version 3.10.4
    • DevTools version 2.51.1
    • Feature flags: enable-web, enable-linux-desktop, enable-macos-desktop,
      enable-windows-desktop, enable-android, enable-ios, cli-animations,
      enable-native-assets, omit-legacy-version-file, enable-lldb-debugging

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 36.0.0)
    [10,0s]
    • Android SDK at /home/matteo/sdk/android
    • Emulator version 36.3.10.0 (build_id 14472402) (CL:N/A)
    • Platform android-36, build-tools 36.0.0
    • Java binary at: /snap/android-studio/209/jbr/bin/java
      This is the JDK bundled with the latest Android Studio installation on
      this machine.
      To manually set the JDK path, use: `flutter config
      --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.7+-13880790-b1038.58)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web [59ms]
    • Chrome at google-chrome

[✓] Linux toolchain - develop for Linux desktop [1.480ms]
    • Debian clang version 19.1.7 (3+b1)
    • cmake version 3.31.6
    • ninja version 1.12.1
    • pkg-config version 1.8.1
    • OpenGL core renderer: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics (CML GT2) (X11)
    • OpenGL core version: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 25.0.7-2 (X11)
    • OpenGL core shading language version: 4.60 (X11)
    • OpenGL ES renderer: Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics (CML GT2) (X11)
    • OpenGL ES version: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 25.0.7-2 (X11)
    • OpenGL ES shading language version: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20 (X11)
    • GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit: yes (X11)
    • GL_EXT_texture_format_BGRA8888: yes (X11)

[✓] Connected device (2 available) [619ms]
    • Linux (desktop) • linux  • linux-x64      • Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
      6.12.57+deb13-amd64
    • Chrome (web)    • chrome • web-javascript • Google Chrome 143.0.7499.169

[✓] Network resources [1.765ms]
    • All expected network resources are available.

• No issues found!

[brianquinlan]

@liamappelbe @dcharkes

It looks like the error is coming from native assets (from the logs):

[   +1 ms] [  +63 ms] Target dart_build failed: Error: Android NDK Clang could not be found.
[   +4 ms]            #0      throwToolExit (package:flutter_tools/src/base/common.dart:34:3)
[        ]            #1      cCompilerConfigAndroid (package:flutter_tools/src/isolated/native_assets/android/native_assets.dart:109:5)
[        ]            #2      AndroidAssetTarget.setCCompilerConfig (package:flutter_tools/src/isolated/native_assets/targets.dart:336:35)
[        ]            #3      FlutterNativeAssetsBuildRunnerImpl.setCCompilerConfig (package:flutter_tools/src/isolated/native_assets/native_assets.dart:262:75)
[        ]            #4      runFlutterSpecificHooks (package:flutter_tools/src/isolated/native_assets/native_assets.dart:82:23)
[        ]            <asynchronous suspension>
[        ]            #5      DartBuild.build (package:flutter_tools/src/build_system/targets/native_assets.dart:76:14)
[        ]            <asynchronous suspension>
[   +3 ms]            #6      _BuildInstance._invokeInternal (package:flutter_tools/src/build_system/build_system.dart:895:9)
[   +1 ms]            <asynchronous suspension>
[   +1 ms]            #7      Future.wait.<anonymous closure> (dart:async/future.dart:546:21)
[   +1 ms]            <asynchronous suspension>

[dcharkes]

Thanks for the report @MatteoBax!

Yes, this an error from Flutter tools.

I see flutter doctor is not in line with what's need for build hooks, we also need an Android NDK as part the Android SDK.

Please file an issue on the Flutter repo with a proposed solution.

Two parts of a solution:

• Make flutter doctor complain about the NDK missing.
• Don't error on a missing NDK, but pass null to the CCompilerConfig that is passed to the build hook.
  (We did a similar change to address Running flutter tests on linux might require clang and lld even if the app does not target linux since 3.38 flutter/flutter#178715, though there we do always require a clang for running on Linux desktop because you need clang anyway to compile your app.)