Github action cannot install NPM package hosted on the Github package registry.

[wrux]

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I have published a NPM package on Github, set it up as a dependency locally and in Vercel no problem. I'm just having issues getting it installing as a dependency in Github actions.

My package: https://github.com/wrux/sanity-analytics-dashboard-widgets/pkgs/npm/sanity-analytics-dashboard-widgets

Here's my local .npmrc config, nothing special:

@wrux:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com
npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken=XXXXXX

I understand that I need to setup my action properly with actions/setup-node@v3, but I'm not sure where I'm going wrong. I assume the configuration will be very simple and I've read through the readme, but not sure where to proceed.

Here's what my workflow file looks like.

Any ideas here? I cannot really find much info on how to setup a project with Github's NPM package registry as a dependency.

[arafajs]

1. Make sure you are using actions/setup-node@v3 or later. Earlier versions did not support installing from GitHub's package registry by default.
2. Set the node-version input for actions/setup-node to match the Node.js version used in your package.json.

- uses: actions/setup-node@v3
  with: 
    node-version: 16

3. Add the .npmrc file to your repository with the GitHub registry and auth token configured.
4. In your workflow, use the settings input for actions/setup-node to point to the .npmrc file.

- uses: actions/setup-node@v3
  with:
    settings-path: .npmrc

5. Make sure you are authenticating with the GitHub registry before trying to install packages. You can use the actions/npm-auth action for this.

- uses: actions/npm-auth@v1
  with:
    registry-url: 'https://npm.pkg.github.com'

6. Run npm install after the auth step to install your dependencies.
   That should allow npm to find and install your GitHub hosted package in the workflow.

[wrux]

I'm confused, was this a Chat GPT response?

Asking because most of this reply was suggesting something that does not exist:

1. The action actions/setup-node has no argument settings-path
2. The package actions/npm-auth doesn't even exist.

[sciutand]

I guess you found your answer by now but these are these are the requirements

1: in the package repository settings add the repository you want to checkout from in the authorised GitHub action repositories

2: in your workflow grant the token read permissions:

permissions:
   packages: read

3: add the required env. actions/setup-node assumes the correct token is set at env:NODE_AUTH_TOKEN

env:
     NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}

4 use actions/setup-node

 - name: Install Node.js
    uses: actions/setup-node@v3
    with:
      registry-url: https://npm.pkg.github.com/

[thisizkp]

@sciutand thanks for these steps. Was struggling for half a day before I found this.

[Phil-Turner87]

For anyone else struggling with the npm install, this is what worked for me:

On the package page, ensure that the repo which is installing the package has read access. You might need GitHub admin access to do this, but there should be a link to Package settings on the package page under contributors. You can set read access to other repos under Manage Actions access.

In the workflow .yml file where the package is being installed, provide the GITHUB_TOKEN as the auth token before the install:

- name: Install dependencies
  run: |
    npm set "//npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken=${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
    npm ci

This is all that I needed to do for this to work, no need to create a .npmrc file or any other permissions.