bun publish

Use bun publish to publish a package to the npm registry

bun publish will automatically pack your package into a tarball, strip catalog and workspace protocols from the package.json (resolving versions if necessary), and publish 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

Alternatively, you can pack and publish your package separately by using bun pm pack followed by bun publish with the path to the output tarball.

terminal

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

bun publish will not run lifecycle scripts (prepublishOnly/prepack/prepare/postpack/publish/postpublish) if a tarball path is provided. Scripts will only be run if the package is packed by bun publish.

--access

The --access flag can be used to set the access level of the package being published. The access level can be one of public or restricted. Unscoped packages are always public, and attempting to publish an unscoped package with --access restricted will result in 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

The --dry-run flag can be used to simulate the publish process without actually publishing the package. This is useful for verifying the contents of the published package without actually publishing the package.

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

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-type

If you have 2FA enabled for your npm account, bun publish will prompt you for a one-time password. This can be done through a browser or the CLI. The --auth-type flag can be used to tell the npm registry which method you prefer. The possible values are web and legacy, with web being the default.

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, this will skip the extra prompt for a one-time password before publishing. Example usage:

terminal

bun publish --otp 123456

bun publish respects the NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN environment variable which can be used when publishing in github actions or automated workflows.

---

CLI Usage

terminal

bun publish dist

Publishing Options

--access · string

The --access flag can be used to set the access level of the package being published. The access level can be one of public or restricted. Unscoped packages are always public, and attempting to publish an unscoped package with --access restricted will result in 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 · 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"
  }
}

--dry-run=<val> · string

The --dry-run flag can be used to simulate the publish process without actually publishing the package. This is useful for verifying the contents of the published package without actually publishing the package.

bun publish --dry-run

--gzip-level · 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).

--auth-type · string · default: "web"

If you have 2FA enabled for your npm account, bun publish will prompt you for a one-time password. This can be done through a browser or the CLI. The --auth-type flag can be used to tell the npm registry which method you prefer. The possible values are web and legacy, with web being the default.

terminal

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

--otp · string · default: "web"

Provide a one-time password directly to the CLI. If the password is valid, this will skip the extra prompt for a one-time password before publishing. Example usage:

terminal

bun publish --otp 123456

bun publish respects the NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN environment variable which can be used when publishing in github actions or automated workflows.

Registry Configuration

Custom Registry

--registry · string

Specify registry URL, overriding .npmrc and bunfig.toml

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

SSL Certificates

--ca · string

Provide Certificate Authority signing certificate

--cafile · string

Path to Certificate Authority certificate file

Inline Certificate

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

Publishing Options

Dependency Management

-p, --production · boolean

Don’t install devDependencies

--omit · string

Exclude dependency types: dev, optional, or peer

-f, --force · boolean

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

Script Control

--ignore-scripts · boolean

Skip lifecycle scripts during packing and publishing

--trust · boolean

Add packages to trustedDependencies and run their scripts

Lifecycle Scripts — When providing a pre-built tarball, lifecycle scripts (prepublishOnly, prepack, etc.) are not executed. Scripts only run when Bun packs the package itself.

File Management

--no-save · boolean

Don’t update package.json or lockfile

--frozen-lockfile · boolean

Disallow changes to lockfile

--yarn · boolean

Generate yarn.lock file (yarn v1 compatible)

Performance

--backend · string

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

--network-concurrency · number · default: "48"

Maximum concurrent network requests

--concurrent-scripts · number · default: "5"

Maximum concurrent lifecycle scripts

Output Control

--silent · boolean

Suppress all output

--verbose · boolean

Show detailed logging

--no-progress · boolean

Hide progress bar

--no-summary · boolean

Don’t print publish summary