NPM-STAGE(1)

NAME
npm-stage

Synopsis
<!-- AUTOGENERATED USAGE DESCRIPTIONS -->.SH Description

Staged publishing allows package maintainers to require proof-of-presence
for all publishes. Proof-of-presence is where a human is involved,
interjects, and provides authentication (2FA) during an action — in this
case, publishing an npm package.

Typically when maintainers use automated workflows to publish,
proof-of-presence is lacking as there's no convenient way to interject the
process and provide 2FA, as is the case for publishing with a granular
access token with bypass and the trusted publishing flow. Staged publishing
allows users to have their automated workflows stage a package without a 2FA
prompt, deferring the act of 2FA, allowing the maintainer to approve the
staged package and publish at a later point.

The npm stage publish command packs the current working directory and
places that version of the package into the registry in a state where it's
not available for public access, allowing maintainers to approve the package
at a later point in time. The act of staging does not prompt for 2FA and can be done with any token
type, the act of approving will.

Key behaviors:

    •   Staged packages share the same semver version unique index as published
        packages — you cannot publish a version that already exists as a staged
        version for that package.

    •   You can still publish packages normally while you have staged packages
        pending.

    •   You can stage multiple versions of the same package.

    •   npm stage publish has parity with npm publish and will respect
        "private": true in package.json, refusing to stage the package.

Prerequisites

Before using npm stage commands, ensure the following requirements are met:

    •   Write permissions on the package: You must have write access to the
        package you're configuring.

    •   Package must exist: The package you're configuring must already exist
        on the npm registry.

    •   2FA enabled on your account: Commands that require 2FA will prompt you
        to authenticate. If you don't already have 2FA enabled on your account,
        you must enable it before using these commands.

Subcommands

    •   npm stage publish [<package-spec>] - Stage a package for publishing

    •   npm stage list [<package-spec>] - List all staged package versions

    •   npm stage view <stage-id> - View details of a specific staged package

    •   npm stage approve <stage-id> - Approve a staged package for publishing

    •   npm stage reject <stage-id> - Reject a staged package

    •   npm stage download <stage-id> - Download the tarball for inspection

2FA Requirements by Subcommand
Command | Requires 2FA | Notes
npm stage publish | No | Designed for automated workflows; defers 2FA to approval
npm stage list | No | View staged packages
npm stage view | No | View staged package details
npm stage approve | Yes | Prompts for 2FA to publish the staged package
npm stage reject | Yes | Prompts for 2FA to permanently remove the staged package
npm stage download | No | Downloads the tarball for local inspection

Tag Behavior

The --tag flag follows the same logic as npm publish. If no tag is
provided, the latest tag is used by default. For pre-release versions
(e.g., 1.0.0-beta.1) and non-latest semver versions, the tag must be
explicitly provided — otherwise the CLI will error, just as npm publish
would.

The tag is an immutable property of the staged package. Once a package is
staged with a given tag, the tag cannot be changed. If you need to stage the
same version with a different tag, you must first reject the existing staged
package using npm stage reject and then re-stage it with the desired tag.

Token Behavior

The key difference with staged publishing is that npm stage publish never
requires a 2FA prompt, regardless of token type. This is what makes it
suitable for automated workflows. The goal of npm stage publish is
deferring proof-of-presence to a later point in time.
Token Type | npm stage publish | npm publish
GAT with bypass | Can stage | Can publish (if allowed by package publishing access)
GAT without bypass | Can stage | 2FA prompt (if allowed by package publishing access)
Session token | Can stage | 2FA prompt
Trust token (OIDC) | Can stage (if allowed) | Can publish (if allowed)

Trust Relationship Permissions

With staged publishing, trust relationships now support granular command
permissions. Shortlived tokens issued through trust relationships can only be
used with npm stage publish and npm publish. Shortlived tokens cannot run
npm stage subcommands.

npm trust <provider> supports --allow-publish and --allow-stage-publish
to control which commands are available through each trust relationship.

Best Practices

Note: The addition of staged publishing does not make your account or org
more secure. Maintainers must still use the best practices listed below.

    •   Delete Granular Access Tokens (GAT) with bypass 2FA enabled.
        Now with staged publishing, we've eliminated the need for a GAT token
        that can bypass 2FA. We encourage you to delete all your tokens with
        bypass enabled and switch to using a trust relationship in your automated
        workflows, or create a GAT without bypass and use npm stage publish.

    •   Disallow tokens from publishing at the package level.
        All packages have their own access controls under "package access"
        allowing packages to be published with bypass tokens, which is no longer
        a necessity. We encourage you to select "Require two-factor
        authentication and disallow tokens (recommended)" for all your packages
        on the package access page.

    •   Configure trust relationship permissions to prevent npm publish.
        We encourage you to only enable npm stage publish on your trust
        relationships and disable npm publish.

Configuration
<!-- AUTOGENERATED CONFIG DESCRIPTIONS -->.SH See Also

    •   npm publish

    •   npm unpublish

    •   npm trust