1.5.0-beta.3 (X-Plane 12) macOS plugin fails to load due to hardcoded X-Plane SDK framework path

[slapheadted]

Human:

I'm excited to use StableApproach on my Mac setup (never used it before) but ran into an issue with the build. The following write-up is generated from a ChatGPT conversation. I've eyeballed it and the issue checks out. Happy to test and help out if I can. This plugin sounds amazing!

Non-Human:

Summary
The StableApproach plugin fails to load in X-Plane 12 on macOS due to a missing dependency. The binary appears to be compiled with a hardcoded path to the X-Plane SDK (lib/xplane_sdk/...), which does not exist on end-user systems.

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Environment

• OS: macOS (Apple Silicon) 26.4.1 (25E253)
• X-Plane version: 12.4.2-r2-e8339ac0 (build 124201 Apple Silicon)
• Plugin version: 1.5.0-beta.3

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Steps to reproduce

1. Install plugin into:

   X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/StableApproach/
   

2. Launch X-Plane
3. Check Plugins → Plugin Admin or review Log.txt

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Expected behaviour

Plugin loads successfully and appears in the Plugins menu.

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Actual behaviour

Plugin fails to load and does not appear in the Plugins menu.

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Relevant Log.txt output

dlerror:dlopen(.../StableApproach.xpl, 0x0006): Library not loaded: lib/xplane_sdk/sdk/Libraries/Mac/XPLM.framework/XPLM
  Referenced from: .../StableApproach.xpl
  Reason: tried: 'lib/xplane_sdk/sdk/Libraries/Mac/XPLM.framework/XPLM' (no such file)

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Additional investigation

Running otool -L StableApproach.xpl shows:

lib/xplane_sdk/sdk/Libraries/Mac/XPLM.framework/XPLM
lib/xplane_sdk/sdk/Libraries/Mac/XPWidgets.framework/XPWidgets

These paths indicate the plugin binary is linked against a local SDK path (lib/xplane_sdk/...) instead of relying on X-Plane’s runtime-provided SDK frameworks.

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Analysis

This suggests the plugin was compiled with incorrect linker settings, embedding a developer-local SDK path. On macOS, plugins should not reference a bundled or relative SDK path like this—X-Plane provides the required frameworks at runtime.

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Suggested fix

Rebuild the plugin with correct linkage against the X-Plane SDK:

• Ensure no hardcoded lib/xplane_sdk/... paths are embedded
• Link against the SDK as per official X-Plane plugin build guidelines

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Notes

• This issue is reproducible on a clean install
• Not related to permissions, quarantine flags, or plugin folder structure

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