diff --git a/docs/BUILDING.md b/docs/BUILDING.md
index cece7684..49683e99 100644
--- a/docs/BUILDING.md
+++ b/docs/BUILDING.md
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ that basic build as reproduction of the full experimental Public Build.
 
 Run `./Setup-macOS.sh` to install and check prerequisites, or
 `./Setup-macOS.sh --skip-deps` to check without installing. Setup and Build's
-preparation share the same checks: full Xcode with Metal, GNU Make 4+ (`gmake`),
+preparation share the same checks: the Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`;
+full Xcode is not needed, RT64's Metal shaders compile at runtime), GNU Make 4+ (`gmake`),
 CMake, Ninja, Python, SDL2, PCRE2, and a `sha1sum` supporting `-c --quiet`
 (Homebrew `coreutils`). The verifier is checked before ROM extraction.
 
@@ -188,7 +189,7 @@ Set `DKR_MAC_BUNDLE_VERSION=N[.N[.N]]` for an explicit release/CI build number
 Packaging checks the version metadata copied beside the executable after linking,
 so a new package label cannot silently rename a build of a different version.
 
-With Xcode setup and Homebrew installed:
+With the Command Line Tools and Homebrew installed:
 
 ```bash
 ./Build-macOS.sh --rom-v77 "/path/to/US 1.0.z64" --rom-v80 "/path/to/US Rev A.z64"
diff --git a/patches/manifest.json b/patches/manifest.json
index 5cfd7e29..537e46d8 100644
--- a/patches/manifest.json
+++ b/patches/manifest.json
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@
         {
           "path": "patches/n64recomp/0002-name-recomp-context-struct.patch",
           "sha256": "6cf31eebf6a5f0a9a31c2912f562f8ef977c0a43dfffd76531f3ceb94ae2bee7"
+        },
+        {
+          "path": "patches/n64recomp/0003-null-statement-before-instruction-hooks.patch",
+          "sha256": "f864ffd285ff4b09f2a3f4e453e5f0e5b2c39e345bc05dd88f47a46b01d3dac7"
         }
       ]
     },
@@ -226,6 +230,10 @@
         {
           "path": "patches/rt64/0020-ios-imgui-pixel-size.patch",
           "sha256": "d346ecb854a422b3c9b0349a72b8217a08e4b0b5dc86e22f5b1ab995d25a7ca5"
+        },
+        {
+          "path": "patches/rt64/0021-macos-runtime-msl-shaders.patch",
+          "sha256": "441fe5f1dc8edf646d8f4ea3a76d25a65e86fc836aa8ae9cea637c9bde22128b"
         }
       ]
     },
@@ -309,6 +317,10 @@
         {
           "path": "patches/plume/0002-ios-metal-device-os27-upstream.patch",
           "sha256": "a1c559877eaa59a5cf8878c4e0879f15aa5ffbd0455b8e5a5d593289348709ce"
+        },
+        {
+          "path": "patches/plume/0003-compile-msl-source-shaders.patch",
+          "sha256": "80947b240d7a3bd5e3f9434df7501fc54d130d4e06942e36705f2238d8fb3565"
         }
       ]
     },
diff --git a/patches/n64recomp/0003-null-statement-before-instruction-hooks.patch b/patches/n64recomp/0003-null-statement-before-instruction-hooks.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23bf1459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patches/n64recomp/0003-null-statement-before-instruction-hooks.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+diff --git a/src/recompilation.cpp b/src/recompilation.cpp
+index c228433..afdfe63 100644
+--- a/src/recompilation.cpp
++++ b/src/recompilation.cpp
+@@ -128,7 +128,10 @@ bool process_instruction(GeneratorType& generator, const N64Recomp::Context& con
+ 
+     auto hook_find = func.function_hooks.find(instr_index);
+     if (hook_find != func.function_hooks.end()) {
+-        fmt::print(output_file, "    {}\n", hook_find->second);
++        // The leading null statement lets a hook that declares something follow a
++        // branch label under C17 (Clang before 18 rejects it). It is not braced:
++        // hooks declare locals that later hooks in the function read.
++        fmt::print(output_file, "    ; {}\n", hook_find->second);
+         if (indent) {
+             print_indent();
+         }
diff --git a/patches/plume/0003-compile-msl-source-shaders.patch b/patches/plume/0003-compile-msl-source-shaders.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..131ff0c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patches/plume/0003-compile-msl-source-shaders.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+diff --git a/plume_metal.cpp b/plume_metal.cpp
+index b670ed3..f0ca614 100644
+--- a/plume_metal.cpp
++++ b/plume_metal.cpp
+@@ -1342,8 +1342,16 @@ namespace plume {
+         functionName->retain();
+ 
+         NS::Error *error = nullptr;
+-        const dispatch_data_t dispatchData = dispatch_data_create(data, size, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{});
+-        library = device->mtl->newLibrary(dispatchData, &error);
++        // Precompiled libraries start with the "MTLB" magic. Anything else is MSL source,
++        // compiled by the OS so macOS builds don't need Xcode's offline Metal compiler.
++        if ((size >= 4) && (memcmp(data, "MTLB", 4) == 0)) {
++            const dispatch_data_t dispatchData = dispatch_data_create(data, size, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{});
++            library = device->mtl->newLibrary(dispatchData, &error);
++        }
++        else {
++            const std::string source(static_cast<const char *>(data), size);
++            library = device->mtl->newLibrary(NS::String::string(source.c_str(), NS::UTF8StringEncoding), nullptr, &error);
++        }
+ 
+         if (error != nullptr) {
+             fprintf(stderr, "MTLDevice newLibraryWithSource: failed with error %s.\n", error->localizedDescription()->utf8String());
diff --git a/patches/rt64/0021-macos-runtime-msl-shaders.patch b/patches/rt64/0021-macos-runtime-msl-shaders.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d00be920
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patches/rt64/0021-macos-runtime-msl-shaders.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
+index 17563c1..d86dfec 100644
+--- a/CMakeLists.txt
++++ b/CMakeLists.txt
+@@ -163,17 +163,15 @@ function(build_shader_msl_impl TARGETOBJ FILENAME TARGET_NAME OUTNAME)
+         add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${OUTNAME}.metallib
+                 COMMAND xcrun -sdk ${_dkr_ios_metal_sdk} metallib ${OUTNAME}.ir -o ${OUTNAME}.metallib
+                 DEPENDS ${OUTNAME}.ir)
++        set(_dkr_msl_blob ${OUTNAME}.metallib)
+     else()
+-        add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${OUTNAME}.ir
+-                COMMAND xcrun -sdk macosx metal -o ${OUTNAME}.ir -c ${OUTNAME}.metal $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-frecord-sources>
+-                DEPENDS ${OUTNAME}.metal)
+-        add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${OUTNAME}.metallib
+-                COMMAND xcrun -sdk macosx metallib ${OUTNAME}.ir -o ${OUTNAME}.metallib
+-                DEPENDS ${OUTNAME}.ir)
++        # macOS embeds the MSL source; plume compiles it at runtime, so the
++        # build needs no Xcode Metal toolchain.
++        set(_dkr_msl_blob ${OUTNAME}.metal)
+     endif()
+     add_custom_command(OUTPUT ${OUTNAME}.metal.c
+-            COMMAND file_to_c ${OUTNAME}.metallib ${TARGET_NAME}BlobMSL ${OUTNAME}.metal.c ${OUTNAME}.metal.h
+-            DEPENDS ${OUTNAME}.metallib file_to_c
++            COMMAND file_to_c ${_dkr_msl_blob} ${TARGET_NAME}BlobMSL ${OUTNAME}.metal.c ${OUTNAME}.metal.h
++            DEPENDS ${_dkr_msl_blob} file_to_c
+             BYPRODUCTS ${OUTNAME}.metal.h)
+     target_sources(${TARGETOBJ} PRIVATE ${OUTNAME}.metal.c)
+ endfunction()
diff --git a/runtime-recomp/tests/build_tooling_tests.py b/runtime-recomp/tests/build_tooling_tests.py
index 76528a33..df9c23cc 100644
--- a/runtime-recomp/tests/build_tooling_tests.py
+++ b/runtime-recomp/tests/build_tooling_tests.py
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@ def executable(name, body="exit 0"):
                 p.chmod(0o755)
 
             for name in (
-                "xcodebuild",
+                "xcrun",
                 "git",
                 "python3",
                 "cmake",
diff --git a/scripts/lib/apple-build.sh b/scripts/lib/apple-build.sh
index 079f89f1..d1817fd6 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/apple-build.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/apple-build.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 dkr_require_macos() {
   [[ "$(uname -s)" == Darwin ]] || {
-    echo 'Apple builds require macOS with the full Xcode application installed.' >&2
+    echo 'Apple builds require macOS.' >&2
     return 1
   }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/macos-host-tools.sh b/scripts/macos-host-tools.sh
index 1ed56b7e..dbae23d1 100644
--- a/scripts/macos-host-tools.sh
+++ b/scripts/macos-host-tools.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,27 @@ source "${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*}/lib/apple-build.sh"
 dkr_macos_host_tools() {
   local skip_deps="$1" make_version probe
   dkr_require_macos || return 1
-  dkr_require_xcode || return 1
+  # Command Line Tools are enough: RT64's Metal shaders compile at runtime.
+  xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
+    echo 'Install the Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install' >&2
+    return 1
+  }
   if [[ "$skip_deps" -eq 0 ]]; then
     command -v brew >/dev/null || {
       echo 'Install Homebrew: https://brew.sh/' >&2
       return 1
     }
-    HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_UPGRADE=1 brew install --quiet cmake ninja make pcre2 python sdl2 coreutils || return 1
+    # Install only what is missing: on macOS releases Homebrew no longer
+    # bottles, reinstalling a present tool (python) means a failing source build.
+    local pair missing=()
+    for pair in cmake:cmake ninja:ninja make:gmake pcre2:pcre2-config sdl2:sdl2-config coreutils:sha1sum; do
+      command -v "${pair#*:}" >/dev/null || missing+=("${pair%%:*}")
+    done
+    # tomllib needs 3.11; the Command Line Tools ship 3.9.
+    python3 -c 'import sys; sys.exit(sys.version_info < (3, 11))' 2>/dev/null || missing+=(python)
+    if [[ "${#missing[@]}" -gt 0 ]]; then
+      HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_UPGRADE=1 brew install --quiet "${missing[@]}" || return 1
+    fi
   fi
   dkr_require_tools git python3 cmake ninja c++ shasum sha1sum pcre2-config sdl2-config || {
     echo 'Run ./Setup-macOS.sh (sha1sum is supplied by brew install coreutils).' >&2
@@ -39,11 +53,4 @@ dkr_macos_host_tools() {
     return 1
   fi
   rm -rf -- "$probe"
-  if ! xcrun metal -v >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    if [[ "$skip_deps" -eq 1 ]]; then
-      echo 'Install Metal: xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain' >&2
-      return 1
-    fi
-    xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain || return 1
-  fi
 }