go-tokenless
Delete your NPM_TOKEN. One command switches npm publishing in GitHub Actions to trusted publishing (OIDC). No long-lived token is stored anywhere, and every release gets a provenance badge.
npm is retiring token publishing: from January 2027 a token can no longer publish on its own (npm docs).
Contents
- Quick start
- What it changes
- Supported release setups
- Private packages
- Keep it tokenless in CI
- Use it with AI agents
- Options
- What it accesses
- What only you can do
- Troubleshooting
- Contributing
- License
Quick start
From the root of the repository that publishes to npm:
npx go-tokenless # 1. preview: lists every change and shows a diff, writes nothing
npx go-tokenless apply # 2. edit the workflow and package.json files
Then follow the Next steps it prints: commit the change, connect the package to the workflow on npm, and delete the old secret. Needs Node 22.14+.
What it changes
Only the lines that need to change are touched: comments, quoting and layout in your workflows are kept, and in package.json only the repository field is edited. Before writing, go-tokenless re-reads both versions and refuses if anything other than the migration would change.
It stops with exit code 1 and writes nothing when a person needs to decide:
- Publishing reachable by outsiders: a publish job in a workflow started by
pull_request_target,issue_comment,workflow_runand similar triggers. Granting it OIDC would let a fork publish. - Self-hosted runners, which npm doesn't accept for trusted publishing.
repositorypointing at another repo.- YAML anchors. Edits could leak into other jobs.
- A hidden publish command: an npm token is passed but the publish command can't be found.
Dry runs (npm publish --dry-run) never count as publishing. Steps that publish to GitHub Packages, and GITHUB_TOKEN values, are left alone.
$ npx go-tokenless
go-tokenless: Ready to go tokenless. (acme/widgets)
Changes:
.github/workflows/release.yml
- publish: remove `NODE_AUTH_TOKEN` from job env
- publish: grant `id-token: write`
- publish: raise setup-node from Node 20 to 24 (trusted publishing needs Node 22.14+)
package.json
- widgets: add repository.url git+https://github.com/acme/widgets.git
Next:
1. Run `npx go-tokenless apply` (or apply the diff above) and commit the changes on a branch.
2. Add a trusted publisher for each package. With npm 11.15+ logged in with 2FA, run:
npm trust github widgets --repo acme/widgets --file release.yml --allow-publish --yes
3. Merge, then let the release workflow publish once. Check the new version shows a provenance badge.
4. Delete the old publish token secret (`gh secret delete NPM_TOKEN`) and revoke the token on npmjs.com.
Supported release setups
Private packages
If your installs need private packages from your npm org, give the install steps a read-only token. Publish steps stay token-free:
npx go-tokenless apply --read-token NPM_READ_TOKEN
- run: npm ci
+ env:
+ NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_READ_TOKEN }}
- run: npm publish
Every install step in the release workflow gets it, including separate build and test jobs. Create a granular token on npmjs.com with read-only access to your packages and save it with gh secret set NPM_READ_TOKEN.
Keep it tokenless in CI
Add the Action to CI. It fails the job if a token creeps back into a publish workflow, and the job summary lists the exact fixes:
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
jobs:
tokenless:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
contents: read
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v5
- uses: continuous-actions/go-tokenless@v1
# with:
# mode: report # annotate only, never fail
# read-token: NPM_READ_TOKEN # if installs use a read-only token
It runs go-tokenless --json read-only and needs no token. Its status output is already-tokenless, ready, blocked or no-publish-workflow.
Use it with AI agents
go-tokenless is built to be run by coding agents: --json output, clear exit codes, an MCP server and an Agent Skill. Ask your agent: "Move our npm publishing to trusted publishing."
{ "mcpServers": { "go-tokenless": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "go-tokenless", "mcp"] } } }
MCP tools: plan_trusted_publishing (read-only) and apply_trusted_publishing (writes files; no git or network writes). It is listed in the MCP Registry as io.github.continuous-actions/go-tokenless. See also llms.txt and the Agent Skill.
Options
npx go-tokenless [plan | apply | mcp] [options]
Exit codes: 0 ok · 1 blocked (needs a human fix) · 2 usage error · 3 unexpected error.
What it accesses
- Files: it reads
.github/workflows/*.yml,package.jsonfiles and related scripts in the repository you point it at.applyand theapply_trusted_publishingMCP tool write only to workflow andpackage.jsonfiles inside that repository. It never follows links out of the repository. - Network: read-only
GETrequests tohttps://registry.npmjs.org/<package>to check that each package already exists (--offlineor MCPoffline: trueturns this off). Nothing else is fetched or sent. There is no telemetry. - Never: it doesn't run repository code, read secrets or environment tokens, run git commands that change anything, or contact npm or GitHub on your behalf.
- Running it: the Claude Code plugin and the Gemini extension start the MCP server with
npx -y go-tokenless@<pinned version> mcp.
What only you can do
go-tokenless never touches your npm account, secrets or git history. After apply:
- Connect each package to the workflow: run the printed
npm trust github …commands (npm 11.15+, asks for 2FA), or go to npmjs.com → package → Settings → Trusted publishing. - New packages must be published once by hand first; npm can only connect a package that exists. The plan flags these.
- Delete the old secret and revoke the token after the first tokenless release.
Troubleshooting
Each error has its own page with causes and fixes: ENEEDAUTH, 404 on PUT, E422 repository.url, still using the token, and the 2FA-bypass notice.
Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run corepack enable && yarn install && yarn check (typecheck, build and end-to-end tests). See AGENTS.md for how the code is laid out, and SECURITY.md to report a vulnerability.
License
MIT © continuous-actions