bun publish

bun publish packs your package into a tarball, strips catalog and workspace protocols from the package.json (resolving versions if necessary), and 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 a tarball path is provided. 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

--access can also be set 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

--tag can also be set 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

string

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

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

package.json

{
  "publishConfig": {
    "access": "restricted"
  }
}

string

default:"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

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

package.json

{
  "publishConfig": {
    "tag": "next"
  }
}

boolean

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

bun publish --dry-run

string

default:"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).

string

default:"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
...

string

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

string

Specify registry URL, overriding .npmrc and bunfig.toml

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

SSL Certificates

string

Provide Certificate Authority signing certificate

string

Path to Certificate Authority certificate file

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

bun publish --cafile ./ca-cert.pem

Publishing Options

Dependency Management

boolean

Don’t install devDependencies

string

Exclude dependency types: dev, optional, or peer

boolean

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

Script Control

boolean

Skip lifecycle scripts during packing and publishing

boolean

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

boolean

Don’t update package.json or lockfile

boolean

Disallow changes to lockfile

boolean

Generate yarn.lock file (yarn v1 compatible)

Performance

string

Platform optimizations: clonefile (default), hardlink, symlink, or copyfile

number

default:"48"

Maximum concurrent network requests

number

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

Output Control

boolean

Suppress all output

boolean

Show detailed logging

boolean

Hide progress bar

boolean

Don’t print publish summary

Core Commands

Publishing & Analysis

Workspace Management

Advanced Configuration

bun publish

`--access`

`--tag`

`--dry-run`

`--tolerate-republish`

`--gzip-level`

`--auth-type`

`--otp`

CLI Usage

Publishing Options

Registry Configuration

Custom Registry

SSL Certificates

Publishing Options

Dependency Management

Script Control

File Management

Performance

Output Control

​--access

​--tag

​--dry-run

​--tolerate-republish

​--gzip-level

​--auth-type

​--otp

​CLI Usage

​Publishing Options

​Registry Configuration

​Custom Registry

​SSL Certificates

​Publishing Options

​Dependency Management

​Script Control

​File Management

​Performance

​Output Control

`--access`

`--tag`

`--dry-run`

`--tolerate-republish`

`--gzip-level`

`--auth-type`

`--otp`

CLI Usage

Publishing Options

Registry Configuration

Custom Registry

SSL Certificates

Publishing Options

Dependency Management

Script Control

File Management

Performance

Output Control