How to Publish an NPM Package Automatically with GitHub Actions

1. Prepare Your Project

Make sure your project has a package.json file with basic information:

{
  "name": "your-package-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "build": "echo 'Building project...'",
    "generate": "echo 'Generating files...'",
    "build:all": "npm run build && npm run generate"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git"
  },
  "author": "Your Name",
  "license": "MIT"
}

Here, build:all will run both build and generate before publishing.

2. Push Your Project to GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git
git push -u origin main

3. Create an NPM Token

1. Go to NPM Tokens
2. Click Create New Token → Classic Token
3. Copy the token

Classic tokens work best for CI/CD workflows.

4. Add the Token to GitHub Secrets

1. Go to your GitHub repository → Settings → Secrets → Actions → New repository secret
2. Name it NPM_TOKEN
3. Paste your NPM token and save

5. Add GitHub Actions Workflow

Create a file .github/workflows/publish.yml in your repo:

name: Publish Package

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  publish-npm:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Build all
        run: npm run build:all

      - name: Publish to NPM
        run: npm publish
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

This workflow runs build:all before publishing to NPM whenever you push to main.

6. Trusted Publisher (Optional but Recommended)

1. Go to your NPM package → Trusted Publisher

2. Select GitHub Actions

3. Fill in:

   • Organization/User: your GitHub username
   • Repository: your repo name
   • Workflow filename: publish.yml

4. (Optional) Set an Environment for extra security

This allows NPM to verify your GitHub workflow using OpenID Connect (OIDC).

7. Publish Automatically

1. Push any commit to main

2. GitHub Actions will:

   • Install dependencies
   • Run npm run build:all
   • Publish your package to NPM

✅ Conclusion

Now your NPM package is connected with GitHub Actions and publishes automatically. You can focus on development while the workflow handles building and publishing reliably.