Gem will not install sqlite3 despite sqlite3 being installed (Mac) - ruby

Question

I'm trying to install Ruby (3.2.0) (and Rails [7.0.4]) on an Intel Mac (OS 12.6). I'm running into issues with sqlite3 — no surprise. My current error message is this:
package configuration for /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/gems/sqlite3-1.5.4/ports/x86_64-apple-darwin21.6.0/sqlite3/3.40.0/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc is not found
When I enter gem install sqlite3 I get the following ugly error message:
Building native extensions. This could take a while...
ERROR: Error installing sqlite3:
ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
current directory: /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/gems/sqlite3-1.5.4/ext/sqlite3
/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin/ruby -I /usr/local/lib/ruby/site_ruby/3.2.0 extconf.rb
Building sqlite3-ruby using packaged sqlite3.
Extracting sqlite-autoconf-3400000.tar.gz into tmp/x86_64-apple-darwin21.6.0/ports/sqlite3/3.40.0... OK
Running 'configure' for sqlite3 3.40.0... OK
Running 'compile' for sqlite3 3.40.0... OK
Running 'install' for sqlite3 3.40.0... OK
Activating sqlite3 3.40.0 (from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/gems/sqlite3-1.5.4/ports/x86_64-apple-darwin21.6.0/sqlite3/3.40.0)...
Could not configure the build properly (pkg_config). Please install either the `pkg-config` utility or the `pkg-config` rubygem.
*** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of necessary
libraries and/or headers. Check the mkmf.log file for more details. You may
need configuration options.
Provided configuration options:
[insert long list of options...]
To see why this extension failed to compile, please check the mkmf.log which can be found here:
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/extensions/x86_64-darwin-21/3.2.0/sqlite3-1.5.4/mkmf.log
extconf failed, exit code 1
Gem files will remain installed in /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/gems/sqlite3-1.5.4 for inspection.
Results logged to /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/3.2.0/extensions/x86_64-darwin-21/3.2.0/sqlite3-1.5.4/gem_make.out
I've been through many iterations of solutions found across the interwebs (changing permissions, installing pkg-config per the error message, changing $PATH in .zshrc, installing sqlite binary packages, modifying the Gemfile, total uninstalls of both, and restarts) to no avail.
The Homebrew-installed sqlite3 is working properly. which sqlite3 produces
/usr/local/opt/sqlite3/bin/sqlite3
Happy to provide any more relevant information that's helpful. Any guidance appreciated!

Answer 1

If you do not have pkg-config installed, you should install to proceed
You can check it using:
$ which pkg-config
If not found, install it:
$ curl https://pkg-config.freedesktop.org/releases/pkg-config-0.28.tar.gz -o pkgconfig.tgz
$ tar -zxf pkgconfig.tgz && cd pkg-config-0.28
$ ./configure && make install
I'm just following this page