Can't run Unreal 5.6 C++ project on Mac: Failed to open descriptor file

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I created a C++ project in Unreal Editor 5.6 on a Mac. It opened the project in Xcode. The project builds with no errors but then crashes with these error messages:

LogProjectManager: Error: Failed to open descriptor file ../../../../../../Shared/Epic Games/UE_5.6/../../../brian/Unreal5/Projects/U56_Cpp/U56_Cpp.uproject
LogGenericPlatformMisc: Warning: MessageBox: Message : Failed to open descriptor file ../../../../../../Shared/Epic Games/UE_5.6/../../../brian/Unreal5/Projects/U56_Cpp/U56_Cpp.uproject
[UE] MessageBox: Message : Failed to open descriptor file ../../../../../../Shared/Epic Games/UE_5.6/../../../brian/Unreal5/Projects/U56_Cpp/U56_Cpp.uproject
LogInit: Warning: Could not find a valid project file, the engine will exit now.
Preparing to exit.Destroying PakPlatformFileExiting.

The relative path in the messages is not correct (too many ..s at the beginning) but I don’t know how to fix it or how to set an absolute path to the project.

I originally encountered this problem with Unreal Engine 5.5. I’ve tried creating several different projects but have never been able to run a C++ project that doesn’t crash with those messages.

Can anyone tell me how to fix this problem?

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Make sure the .uproject file exists and is in the correct location—this error usually means Unreal can’t find it.

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