Packaging and Publishing to npm

Once you have created a new Roar app, have set up the necessary GitHUb automations, Sentry, and Cypress integrations you are ready to publish it to npm.

Generating an npm token

Each app needs a npm token which allows automatic publishing to npm. To generate a new token, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to your user profile on npmjs.com
  2. Click your avatar in the top right corner and select "Access Tokens"
  3. Click "Generate New Token"
  4. Select "Classic Token"
  5. Name the token appropriately, e.g. ROAR-SWR GitHub Actions Token and selected automation for the scope
  6. Click "Generate Token"
  7. Copy the token and store it in a secure location
  8. Add the token to the GitHub repository secrets as NPM_TOKEN

Publishing to npm

Publishing to npm for the first time

  1. In a terminal window, navigate to the root directory of the app
  2. Run the following command to publish the app to npm:
    npm publish --access public
  3. Verify that the app is published by navigating to the app's npm page, e.g. https://www.npmjs.com/package/@bdelab/roar-swr

This command will publish the app to npm and make it available for installation in other projects.

Automated npm publishing

If you have set up GitHub actions for the app using the scripts outlined in the previous pages, the app will be automatically published to npm when a new release is created. The GitHub action workflow file will contain the necessary steps to publish the app to npm. You can also trigger a manual publish in the following way:

  1. In a terminal window, navigate to the root directory of the app
  2. Run the following command to publish the app to npm:
    npm version [major|minor|patch]

Where [major|minor|patch] is the type of version bump you want to make. This command will bump the version number in the package.json file and create a new release in the GitHub repository. The GitHub action workflow will then automatically publish the app to npm. This action triggers a new release on GitHub, on Sentry, and it will also push any changes from the staging branch into production.