Fixing VSCode ‘command not found: code’ in MacOS

AI-generated visual representation to illustrate the issue.

Introduction

If you’ve ever restarted your Mac and found that the code command no longer works, you’re not alone. This issue is often caused by App Translocation, a macOS security feature that runs applications from a temporary location. As a result, the symlink for code (Visual Studio Code’s CLI command) breaks after a reboot.

In this guide, we’ll explain why this happens and how to fix it permanently.

The Problem: Why Does This Happen?

When running the ls -l /usr/local/bin/code command after a restart, you might see something like this:

lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  167 Feb  5 10:10 /usr/local/bin/code -> /private/var/folders/5b/a1b2c3d4e5_6f7g8h9i_jk10000lm/T/AppTranslocation/F1234567-89AB-CDEF-0123-456789ABCDEF/d/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code

The key issue is that the path points to a translocated version of VS Code inside /private/var/folders/.../AppTranslocation/. This happens when:

• You run VS Code directly from the .dmg file instead of installing it properly.
• macOS treats the app as unverified and runs it from a temporary directory.
• The temporary path disappears after a restart, breaking the code command.

The Solution: Properly Installing VS Code and Fixing the Symlink

To fix this issue permanently, follow these steps:

1. Install VS Code Correctly

Just make sure you’ve VSCode in the Application directory.

2. Remove the Broken Symlink

Delete the incorrect code command symlink:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/code

3. Create a New Symlink

Now, create a correct symlink pointing to the proper VS Code installation:

sudo ln -s /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code /usr/local/bin/code

This ensures that the code command always points to the actual installed location.

4. Verify the Fix

Run the following command to check that the symlink is correct:

ls -l /usr/local/bin/code

Expected output:

/usr/local/bin/code -> /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code

That’s it