publishConfig

PublishConfig is a field in a package manifest (most commonly package.json) used to influence the publishing behavior of a package. It allows a package author to override default publish settings for that specific package, rather than applying the same settings to all packages in a project.

The publishConfig object typically includes keys such as:

- access: controls whether the published package is public or restricted (commonly used for scoped packages).

- registry: a custom registry URL to publish to, overriding the default registry.

- tag: the distribution tag under which the package should be published (for example, "latest" or "next").

For example, a package.json with publishConfig: { "access": "public", "registry": "https://registry.npmjs.org/", "tag": "latest" } directs the publish process to publish publicly to the specified registry under the given tag.

Behavior and overrides: When you run a publish command, the package manager consults publishConfig to determine how to publish unless you override the settings with CLI options. Commands like npm publish --tag beta or npm publish --registry https://custom.registry.org can override the publishConfig values for that invocation.

Scope and usage: publishConfig is commonly used in multi-package repositories or workspaces to tailor publishing behavior per package. While it is a standard feature in npm’s workflow, the exact support and behavior can vary across different package managers, so users should verify compatibility with their tooling.

See also: package.json, npm publish, dist-tags, registries.