Cannot install google-cloud-sdk or gcloud-cli

[jamescnowell]

Verification

• I understand that if I ignore these instructions, my issue may be closed without review.
• I have retried my command with --force.
• I ran brew update-reset && brew update and retried my command.
• I ran brew doctor, fixed as many issues as possible and retried my command.
• I have checked the instructions for reporting bugs.
• I made doubly sure this is not a checksum does not match / SHA256 mismatch error (do not open an issue before trying to open a PR to fix first).

Description of issue

Installing gcloud-cli or google-cloud-sdk fails because it's directly looking for a python3 binary rather than the python binary.

Can work around with ln /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin/python /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin/python3

Command that failed

brew install --cask google-cloud-sdk

Output of command with --verbose --debug

==> Caveats
To use additional binary components installed via gcloud, add the "/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/bin"
directory to your PATH environment variable, e.g., (for Bash shell):
   export PATH=/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/bin:"$PATH"

==> Downloading https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-550.0.0-darwin-arm.tar.gz
Already downloaded: /Users/james.nowell/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/2ed2c95ea0caea277ba96574bd0a34bb1bb827043b0d724a5a002061e9b2e074--google-cloud-cli-550.0.0-darwin-arm.tar.gz
All dependencies satisfied.
==> Installing Cask gcloud-cli
==> Running installer script 'google-cloud-sdk/install.sh'
Welcome to the Google Cloud CLI!

All components are up to date.

This will install all the core command line tools necessary for working with
the Google Cloud Platform.

==> Source [/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc] in your profile to enable shell command completion for gcloud.
==> Source [/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc] in your profile to add the Google Cloud SDK command line tools to your $PATH.

For more information on how to get started, please visit:
  https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/quickstarts


==> Linking Bash Completion 'completion.bash.inc' to '/opt/homebrew/etc/bash_completion.d/google-cloud-sdk'
==> Linking Zsh Completion 'completion.zsh.inc' to '/opt/homebrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_google_cloud_sdk'
==> Linking Binary 'gsutil' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/gsutil'
==> Linking Binary 'bq' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/bq'
==> Linking Binary 'docker-credential-gcloud' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/docker-credential-gcloud'
==> Linking Binary 'gcloud' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/gcloud'
==> Linking Binary 'git-credential-gcloud.sh' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/git-credential-gcloud'
deleting existing virtual env before enabling virtual env with current Python version
WARNING:  Python 3.9 will be deprecated on January 27th, 2026. Please use Python version 3.10 and up.
To reinstall gcloud, run:
    $ gcloud components reinstall

This will also prompt to install a compatible version of Python.

If you have a compatible Python interpreter installed, you can use it by setting
the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON environment variable to point to it.

WARNING:  Python 3.9 will be deprecated on January 27th, 2026. Please use Python version 3.10 and up.
To reinstall gcloud, run:
    $ gcloud components reinstall

This will also prompt to install a compatible version of Python.

If you have a compatible Python interpreter installed, you can use it by setting
the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON environment variable to point to it.

Creating virtualenv...
ERROR: (gcloud.config.virtualenv.create) /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin/python3: command not found
==> Unlinking Binary '/opt/homebrew/bin/git-credential-gcloud'
==> Unlinking Binary '/opt/homebrew/bin/gcloud'
==> Unlinking Binary '/opt/homebrew/bin/docker-credential-gcloud'
==> Unlinking Binary '/opt/homebrew/bin/bq'
==> Unlinking Binary '/opt/homebrew/bin/gsutil'
==> Unlinking Zsh Completion '/opt/homebrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_google_cloud_sdk'
==> Unlinking Bash Completion '/opt/homebrew/etc/bash_completion.d/google-cloud-sdk'
==> Purging files for version 550.0.0 of Cask gcloud-cli
Error: Failure while executing; `/usr/bin/env /opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud config virtualenv create --python-to-use /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin/python3` exited with 1. Here's the output:
WARNING:  Python 3.9 will be deprecated on January 27th, 2026. Please use Python version 3.10 and up.
To reinstall gcloud, run:
    $ gcloud components reinstall

This will also prompt to install a compatible version of Python.

If you have a compatible Python interpreter installed, you can use it by setting
the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON environment variable to point to it.

Creating virtualenv...
ERROR: (gcloud.config.virtualenv.create) /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin/python3: command not found

Output of brew doctor and brew config

brew doctor                                                                                                                                                            ✔  12:34:05
Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry or file an issue; just ignore this. Thanks!

Warning: Some installed casks are deprecated or disabled.
You should find replacements for the following casks:
  codux
  diffmerge
  remarkable

Warning: Some installed formulae are deprecated or disabled.
You should find replacements for the following formulae:
  terraform

brew config                                                                                                                                                        INT ✘  12:35:13
HOMEBREW_VERSION: 5.0.6
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: d28a8210ba87786bd2553a1d1d410c40ebd18c9f
Last commit: 2 days ago
Branch: stable
Core tap JSON: 18 Dec 18:30 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 18 Dec 18:30 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY: 24
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: emacs -nw
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 12
HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.4.7 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.4.7/bin/ruby
CPU: dodeca-core 64-bit arm_brava
Clang: 17.0.0 build 1700
Git: 2.49.0 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 15.7.2-arm64
CLT: 26.1.0.0.1.1761104275
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew tap

brew tap                                                                                                                                                               ✔  12:35:56
auth0/auth0-cli

[aancw]

In your output, it say python3 in /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin not found. But in mine, it already there

ls /opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.13/libexec/bin
idle  idle3   pip  pip3   pydoc   pydoc3   python   python-config   python3   python3-config   wheel   wheel3

Here is the full log when i try to install gcloud-cli

❯ brew install gcloud-cli
Found existing alias for "brew install". You should use: "bi"
==> Auto-updating Homebrew...
Adjust how often this is run with `$HOMEBREW_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS` or disable with
`$HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1`. Hide these hints with `$HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS=1` (see `man brew`).
==> Caveats
To use additional binary components installed via gcloud, add the "/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/bin"
directory to your PATH environment variable, e.g., (for Bash shell):
   export PATH=/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/bin:"$PATH"

==> Downloading https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/615258f647e5ad2b1f748d718c739facad1d5bef/Casks/g/gcloud-cli.rb
######################################################################################################################################################################################################################################## 100.0%
==> Downloading https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-550.0.0-darwin-arm.tar.gz
######################################################################################################################################################################################################################################## 100.0%
All dependencies satisfied.
==> Installing Cask gcloud-cli
==> Running installer script 'google-cloud-sdk/install.sh'
Welcome to the Google Cloud CLI!


Your current Google Cloud CLI version is: 550.0.0
Installing components from version: 550.0.0

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                These components will be installed.                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬─────────┤
│                     Name                    │  Version   │   Size  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────┤
│ gcloud cli dependencies (Platform Specific) │ 2021.04.16 │ < 1 MiB │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴─────────┘

For the latest full release notes, please visit:
  https://cloud.google.com/sdk/release_notes

Performing in place update...

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
╠═ Downloading: gcloud cli dependencies (Platform Specific) ═╣
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
╠═ Installing: gcloud cli dependencies (Platform Specific)  ═╣
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Performing post processing steps...
.................done.
Creating virtualenv...
Installing modules...
Collecting cryptography==42.0.7
  Downloading https://github.com/googleapis/enterprise-certificate-proxy/releases/download/v0.3.6/cryptography-42.0.7-cp39-abi3-macosx_10_12_universal2.whl (5.6 MB)
     ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 5.6/5.6 MB 19.6 MB/s  0:00:00
Collecting crcmod
  Downloading crcmod-1.7.tar.gz (89 kB)
  Installing build dependencies: started
  Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
  Getting requirements to build wheel: started
  Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
  Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
  Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'done'
Collecting grpcio
  Downloading grpcio-1.76.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_universal2.whl.metadata (3.7 kB)
Collecting pyopenssl==24.2.1
  Downloading pyOpenSSL-24.2.1-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (13 kB)
Collecting google_crc32c
  Downloading google_crc32c-1.8.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_12_0_arm64.whl.metadata (1.7 kB)
Collecting certifi
  Downloading certifi-2025.11.12-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (2.5 kB)
Collecting setuptools
  Using cached setuptools-80.9.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (6.6 kB)
Collecting cffi>=1.12 (from cryptography==42.0.7)
  Downloading cffi-2.0.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl.metadata (2.6 kB)
Collecting typing-extensions~=4.12 (from grpcio)
  Downloading typing_extensions-4.15.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (3.3 kB)
Collecting pycparser (from cffi>=1.12->cryptography==42.0.7)
  Downloading pycparser-2.23-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (993 bytes)
Downloading pyOpenSSL-24.2.1-py3-none-any.whl (58 kB)
Downloading grpcio-1.76.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_universal2.whl (11.8 MB)
   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 11.8/11.8 MB 19.0 MB/s  0:00:00
Downloading typing_extensions-4.15.0-py3-none-any.whl (44 kB)
Downloading google_crc32c-1.8.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_12_0_arm64.whl (31 kB)
Downloading certifi-2025.11.12-py3-none-any.whl (159 kB)
Using cached setuptools-80.9.0-py3-none-any.whl (1.2 MB)
Downloading cffi-2.0.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl (181 kB)
Downloading pycparser-2.23-py3-none-any.whl (118 kB)
Building wheels for collected packages: crcmod
  Building wheel for crcmod (pyproject.toml): started
  Building wheel for crcmod (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'done'
  Created wheel for crcmod: filename=crcmod-1.7-cp313-cp313-macosx_26_0_arm64.whl size=22111 sha256=ac2268aad467aaae34948b9e5bbe2ad6087bf233db1e5a494fce629ba28b337a
  Stored in directory: /Users/petruknisme/Library/Caches/pip/wheels/c5/b4/7d/51d3485a8022501c7f7dba78b6c945088ff93d40142c9a96f4
Successfully built crcmod
Installing collected packages: crcmod, typing-extensions, setuptools, pycparser, google_crc32c, certifi, grpcio, cffi, cryptography, pyopenssl

Successfully installed certifi-2025.11.12 cffi-2.0.0 crcmod-1.7 cryptography-42.0.7 google_crc32c-1.8.0 grpcio-1.76.0 pycparser-2.23 pyopenssl-24.2.1 setuptools-80.9.0 typing-extensions-4.15.0

This will install all the core command line tools necessary for working with
the Google Cloud Platform.


Google Cloud CLI works best with Python 3.13 and certain modules.

Setting up virtual environment
Virtual env enabled.

Update done!

==> Source [/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/completion.zsh.inc] in your profile to enable shell command completion for gcloud.
==> Source [/opt/homebrew/share/google-cloud-sdk/path.zsh.inc] in your profile to add the Google Cloud SDK command line tools to your $PATH.

For more information on how to get started, please visit:
  https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/quickstarts


==> Linking Bash Completion 'completion.bash.inc' to '/opt/homebrew/etc/bash_completion.d/google-cloud-sdk'
==> Linking Zsh Completion 'completion.zsh.inc' to '/opt/homebrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_google_cloud_sdk'
==> Linking Binary 'gsutil' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/gsutil'
==> Linking Binary 'bq' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/bq'
==> Linking Binary 'docker-credential-gcloud' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/docker-credential-gcloud'
==> Linking Binary 'gcloud' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/gcloud'
==> Linking Binary 'git-credential-gcloud.sh' to '/opt/homebrew/bin/git-credential-gcloud'
deleting existing virtual env before enabling virtual env with current Python version
WARNING:  Python 3.9 will be deprecated on January 27th, 2026. Please use Python version 3.10 and up.
To reinstall gcloud, run:
    $ gcloud components reinstall

This will also prompt to install a compatible version of Python.

If you have a compatible Python interpreter installed, you can use it by setting
the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON environment variable to point to it.

Creating virtualenv...
Installing modules...
WARNING:  Python 3.9 will be deprecated on January 27th, 2026. Please use Python version 3.10 and up.
To reinstall gcloud, run:
    $ gcloud components reinstall

This will also prompt to install a compatible version of Python.

If you have a compatible Python interpreter installed, you can use it by setting
the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON environment variable to point to it.

Virtual env enabled.
🍺  gcloud-cli was successfully installed!

Can you reinstall python@3.13 and do the gcloud-cli install?