NPM Registry Authentication Guide

NPM Registry Authentication Guide | Generated by AI

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Yes, you can use npm config set to configure authentication for npm registries. Here’s how it works:

Basic Usage

# For _authToken (recommended)
npm config set //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken "your-token-here"

# For _auth (legacy)
npm config set //registry.npmjs.org/:_auth "base64-encoded-credentials"

Note the syntax: it’s //registry.org/:_auth (with a colon before _auth), not //registry.org/_auth.

Difference between _auth and _authToken

_authToken (modern approach):

Accepts a plain authentication token directly
Used by most modern registries (npm, GitHub Packages, etc.)
The token is stored as-is in your .npmrc file
Example: //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=npm_abc123xyz...

_auth (legacy approach):

Requires base64-encoded credentials in the format username:password
Older authentication method, less commonly used today
You need to encode it yourself: echo -n "username:password" | base64
Example: //registry.npmjs.org/:_auth=dXNlcm5hbWU6cGFzc3dvcmQ=

Practical Example

For a private registry like GitHub Packages:

npm config set //npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken "ghp_yourGitHubToken"

For scoped packages, you might also need:

npm config set @yourscope:registry https://npm.pkg.github.com

Most modern workflows use _authToken since it’s simpler and works with token-based authentication systems. The _auth method is mainly for legacy systems that still use username/password authentication.

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