---
title: "bun publish"
description: Use `bun publish` to publish a package to the npm registry
---

import Publish from "/snippets/cli/publish.mdx";

`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.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
## Publishing the package from the current working directory
bun publish
```

```txt
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.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun pm pack
...
bun publish ./package.tgz
```

<Note>
  `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.
</Note>

### `--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.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun publish --access public
```

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

```json package.json icon="file-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.

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun publish --tag alpha
```

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

```json package.json icon="file-json"
{
  "publishConfig": {
    "tag": "next"
  }
}
```

### `--dry-run`

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

```sh terminal icon="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.

```sh terminal icon="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`.

```sh terminal icon="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:

```sh terminal icon="terminal"
bun publish --otp 123456
```

<Note>
  `bun publish` respects the `NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN` environment variable, useful when publishing from GitHub Actions or
  other automated workflows.
</Note>

---

<Publish />