bun publish

Use `bun publish` to publish a package to the npm registry

bun publish packs your package into a tarball and strips catalog and workspace protocols from the package.json, resolving versions if necessary. It then publishes to the registry specified in your configuration files. Both bunfig.toml and .npmrc files are supported.

terminal
## Publishing the package from the current working directory
bun publish
bun publish v1.3.3 (ca7428e9)

packed 203B package.json
packed 224B README.md
packed 30B index.ts
packed 0.64KB tsconfig.json

Total files: 4
Shasum: 79e2b4377b63f4de38dc7ea6e5e9dbee08311a69
Integrity: sha512-6QSNlDdSwyG/+[...]X6wXHriDWr6fA==
Unpacked size: 1.1KB
Packed size: 0.76KB
Tag: latest
Access: default
Registry: http://localhost:4873/

 + publish-1@1.0.0

To pack and publish separately, run bun pm pack, then bun publish with the path to the output tarball.

terminal
bun pm pack
...
bun publish ./package.tgz

bun publish does not run lifecycle scripts (prepublishOnly/prepack/prepare/postpack/publish/postpublish) if you provide a tarball path. Scripts run only when bun publish packs the package itself.

--access#

--access sets the access level of the package being published, either public or restricted. Unscoped packages are always public, and publishing an unscoped package with --access restricted is an error.

terminal
bun publish --access public

You can also set --access in the publishConfig field of your package.json.

package.json
{
  "publishConfig": {
    "access": "restricted"
  }
}

--tag#

Set the tag of the package version being published. By default, the tag is latest. The initial version of a package is always given the latest tag in addition to the specified tag.

terminal
bun publish --tag alpha

You can also set --tag in the publishConfig field of your package.json.

package.json
{
  "publishConfig": {
    "tag": "next"
  }
}

--dry-run#

--dry-run runs the publish process without publishing the package, so you can verify what would be published.

terminal
bun publish --dry-run

--tolerate-republish#

Exit with code 0 instead of 1 if the package version already exists. Useful in CI/CD where jobs may be re-run.

terminal
bun publish --tolerate-republish

--gzip-level#

Set the gzip compression level used when packing the package, from 0 to 9 (default 9). Only applies to bun publish without a tarball path argument.

--auth-type#

If you have 2FA enabled for your npm account, bun publish prompts you for a one-time password, either through a browser or in the CLI. --auth-type tells the npm registry which method you prefer: web (the default) or legacy.

terminal
bun publish --auth-type legacy
...
This operation requires a one-time password.
Enter OTP: 123456
...

--otp#

Provide a one-time password directly to the CLI. If the password is valid, bun publish skips the extra one-time password prompt before publishing:

terminal
bun publish --otp 123456

bun publish respects the NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN environment variable, useful when publishing from GitHub Actions or other automated workflows.

CLI Usage#

terminal
bun publish dist

Publishing Options#

--accessstring

Set the access level of the package being published, either public or restricted. Unscoped packages are always public; publishing an unscoped package with --access restricted is an error.

terminal
bun publish --access public

You can also set --access in the publishConfig field of your package.json.

package.json
{
  "publishConfig": {
    "access": "restricted" 
  }
}
--tagstringdefault:latest

Set the tag of the package version being published. By default, the tag is latest. The initial version of a package is always given the latest tag in addition to the specified tag.

terminal
bun publish --tag alpha

You can also set --tag in the publishConfig field of your package.json.

package.json
{
  "publishConfig": {
    "tag": "next" 
  }
}
--dry-runboolean

Simulate the publish process without publishing the package, to verify its contents first.

bun publish --dry-run
--tolerate-republishboolean

bun publish exits with code 0 instead of 1 when the version being published already exists in the registry.

--gzip-levelstringdefault:9

Specify the level of gzip compression to use when packing the package. Only applies to bun publish without a tarball path argument. Values range from 0 to 9 (default is 9).

--auth-typestringdefault:web

If you have 2FA enabled for your npm account, bun publish prompts you for a one-time password, either through a browser or the CLI. --auth-type tells the npm registry which method you prefer: web (the default) or legacy.

terminal
bun publish --auth-type legacy
...
This operation requires a one-time password.
Enter OTP: 123456
...
--otpstring

Provide a one-time password directly to the CLI. A valid password skips the extra one-time password prompt before publishing.

terminal
bun publish --otp 123456

bun publish respects the NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN environment variable, so you can publish from GitHub Actions or other automated workflows.

Registry Configuration#

Custom Registry#

--registrystring

Use a specific registry by default, overriding .npmrc, bunfig.toml and environment variables. A registry configured for the package's scope (@scope:registry= in .npmrc or [install.scopes] in bunfig.toml) still takes precedence.

bun publish --registry https://my-private-registry.com

SSL Certificates#

--castring

Provide Certificate Authority signing certificate

--cafilestring

Path to Certificate Authority certificate file

bun publish --ca "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----..."

General Options#

Dependency Management#

-p, --productionboolean

Don't install devDependencies

--omitstring

Exclude dependency types: dev, optional, or peer

-f, --forceboolean

Always request the latest versions from the registry & reinstall all dependencies

Script Control#

--ignore-scriptsboolean

Skip lifecycle scripts during packing and publishing

--trustboolean

Add packages to trustedDependencies and run their scripts

Lifecycle Scripts — When you publish a pre-built tarball, Bun does not run lifecycle scripts such as prepublishOnly and prepack; they only run when Bun packs the package itself.

File Management#

--no-saveboolean

Don't update package.json or lockfile

--frozen-lockfileboolean

Disallow changes to lockfile

--yarnboolean

Generate yarn.lock file (yarn v1 compatible)

Performance#

--backendstring

Platform optimizations: clonefile (default on macOS), hardlink (default on Linux and Windows), symlink, or copyfile

--network-concurrencynumberdefault:48

Maximum concurrent network requests

--concurrent-scriptsnumber

Maximum concurrent lifecycle scripts (default: 2x CPU cores)

Output Control#

--silentboolean

Suppress all output

--verboseboolean

Show detailed logging

--no-progressboolean

Hide progress bar

--no-summaryboolean

Don't print publish summary