Preview exactly which files will be included before publishing an npm package
domain: npmjs.com · 5 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Run `npm pack --dry-run` from the package root - it computes the file list that would be packed without uploading or writing a tarball.
Review the listed files; anything you don't want public should be excluded.
To whitelist, add a `files` array to package.json; directories are walked recursively subject to the same ignore rules.
To blacklist, add a .npmignore file with gitignore-style patterns (or rely on .gitignore patterns as a fallback).
Run `npm pack` to actually produce the tarball locally (default name <name>-<version>.tgz) if you want a distribution artifact to inspect or test with.
Known gotchas
If both .gitignore and .npmignore exist, .gitignore is IGNORED and only .npmignore is used - a common source of published secrets.
`files` in package.json and .npmignore are cross-cutting; files always included (package.json, README, LICENSE) cannot be excluded.
Symbolic links are never included in npm packages.
dry-run is NOT honored by network commands like dist-tag and owner, but it does work for pack and publish.
Official docs: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/commands/npm-pack
Official docs: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/using-npm/developers
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