bun.sh/docs/cli/publish.md

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.

## Publishing the package from the current working directory
$ bun publish

## Output
bun publish v$BUN_LATEST_VERSION (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.

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

{% callout %} Note - 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. {% /callout %}

--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.

$ bun publish --access public

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

$ bun publish --tag alpha

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

$ bun publish --dry-run

--tolerate-republish

The --tolerate-republish flag makes bun publish exit with code 0 instead of code 1 when attempting to republish over an existing version number. This is useful in automated workflows where republishing the same version might occur and should not be treated as an error.

$ bun publish --tolerate-republish

Without this flag, attempting to publish a version that already exists will result in an error and exit code 1. With this flag, the command will exit successfully even when trying to republish an existing version.

--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). {% bunCLIUsage command="publish" /%}

--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.

$ 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:

$ bun publish --otp 123456

{% callout %} Note - bun publish respects the NPM_CONFIG_TOKEN environment variable which can be used when publishing in github actions or automated workflows. {% /callout %}