chore: release 12.0.0-pre.0.0

[github-actions]

🤖 I have created a release beep boop

12.0.0-pre.0.0

12.0.0-pre.0.0 (2026-04-16)

⚠️ BREAKING CHANGES

• the --json output of npm pack and npm publish have changed. They are now always consistent, and in the same format.
• the star, stars and unstar commands have been removed
• The npm adduser command has been removed. Create and manage user accounts on the npm website, and use npm login to authenticate on the command line.

Features

• 738be10 #9196 remove star commands (feat: remove star commands #9196) (@wraithgar)
• db7c1f8 #9163 add u as alias for update command (feat: add u as alias for update command #9163) (@Ausoj)
• 45e44dd #9228 adds a backport script (@owlstronaut)

Bug Fixes

• 2e9b26e #9247 sync json output of pack and publish (fix: sync json output of pack and publish #9247) (@wraithgar)
• 7357d7f #9036 remove npm adduser command (@owlstronaut)

Dependencies

• 9669d31 #9207 @sigstore/protobuf-specs@0.5.1
• b09a5ac #9207 tinyglobby@0.2.16
• 150231d #9207 picomatch@4.0.4
• 413e0a0 #9207 lru-cache@11.3.3
• 6faa25e #9207 diff@8.0.4
• 87bb9d0 #9207 minimatch@10.2.5
• 2501dd8 #9207 tar@7.5.13
• ccce5f6 #9207 minipass-flush@1.0.6

Chores

• 8131de4 #9239 add action permission for backport workflow (@owlstronaut)
• 6df5f91 #9232 backports can trigger CI (@owlstronaut)
• 07552f5 #9224 don't run npm update in CI (@owlstronaut)
• 05dbba5 #9195 enable prerelease mode (chore: enable prerelease mode #9195) (@wraithgar)
• workspace: @npmcli/arborist@9.4.3-pre.0.0
• workspace: libnpmdiff@8.1.6-pre.0.0
• workspace: libnpmexec@10.2.6-pre.0.0
• workspace: libnpmfund@7.0.20-pre.0.0
• workspace: libnpmpack@9.1.6-pre.0.0

arborist: 9.4.3-pre.0.0

9.4.3-pre.0.0 (2026-04-16)

Bug Fixes

• 1d058b0 #9221 arborist: do not install inert optional extraneous shared dependencies (fix(arborist): do not install inert optional extraneous shared dependencies #9221) (@lovell)
• dcad8ec #9206 pass _isRoot context where missing (fix: pass _isRoot context where missing #9206) (@wraithgar)

libnpmdiff: 8.1.6-pre.0.0

Dependencies

• workspace: @npmcli/arborist@9.4.3-pre.0.0

libnpmexec: 10.2.6-pre.0.0

Dependencies

• workspace: @npmcli/arborist@9.4.3-pre.0.0

libnpmfund: 7.0.20-pre.0.0

Dependencies

• workspace: @npmcli/arborist@9.4.3-pre.0.0

libnpmpack: 9.1.6-pre.0.0

Dependencies

• workspace: @npmcli/arborist@9.4.3-pre.0.0

---

This PR was generated with Release Please. See documentation.

[github-actions]

Release Manager

Release workflow run: https://github.com/npm/cli/actions/runs/24533456744

Release Checklist for v12.0.0-pre.0.0

• 1. Checkout the release branch

  Ensure git status is not dirty on this branch after resetting deps. If it is, then something is probably wrong with the automated release process.

  gh pr checkout 9229 --force

  npm run resetdeps

  node scripts/git-dirty.js

• 2. Check CI status

  gh pr checks --watch

• 3. Log in to npm

  npm login sessions are short lived, so you will want to have a fresh one before you publish.

  npm login

• 4. Publish the CLI and workspaces

  Warning:
  This will publish all updated workspaces to latest, prerelease or backport depending on their version, and will publish the CLI with the dist-tag set to next-12.

  Note:
  The --test argument can optionally be omitted to run the publish process without running any tests locally.

  node scripts/publish.js --test

• 5. Optionally install and test npm@12.0.0-pre.0.0 locally

  npm i -g npm@12.0.0-pre.0.0

  npm --version
  npm whoami
  npm help install
  # etc

• 6. Trigger docs.npmjs.com update

  gh workflow run update-cli.yml --repo npm/documentation

• 7. Approve and Merge release PR

  gh pr review --approve

  gh pr merge --rebase

  git checkout latest

  git fetch

  git reset --hard origin/latest

  node . run resetdeps

• 8. Wait For Release Tags

  Warning:
  The remaining steps all require the GitHub tags and releases to be created first. These are done once this PR has been labelled with autorelease: tagged.

  Release Please will run on the just merged release commit and create GitHub releases and tags for each package. The release bot will will comment on this PR when the releases and tags are created.

  Note:
  The release workflow also includes the Node integration tests which do not need to finish before continuing.

  You can watch the release workflow in your terminal with the following command:

  gh run watch `gh run list -R npm/cli -w release -b latest -L 1 --json databaseId -q ".[0].databaseId"`
  

• 9. Mark GitHub Release as latest

  Warning:
  You must wait for CI to create the release tags before running this step. These are done once this PR has been labelled with autorelease: tagged.

  Release Please will make GitHub Releases for the CLI and all workspaces, but GitHub has UI affordances for which release should appear as the "latest", which should always be the CLI. To mark the CLI release as latest run this command:

  gh release -R npm/cli edit v12.0.0-pre.0.0 --latest

• 10. Open nodejs/node PR to update npm

  Warning:
  You must wait for CI to create the release tags before running this step. These are done once this PR has been labelled with autorelease: tagged.

  Trigger the Create Node PR action. This will open a PR on nodejs/node to the main branch.

  First, sync our fork of node with the upstream source:

  gh repo sync npm/node --source nodejs/node --force

  Then, if we are opening a PR against the latest version of node:

  gh workflow run create-node-pr.yml -R npm/cli -f spec=next-12

  For backport releases, you must target the correct Node branch using -f branch=<NODE_MAJOR>. Make sure you are targeting the right Node major version for this npm version.

  For example, this will create a PR on nodejs/node to the v16.x-staging branch:

  gh workflow run create-node-pr.yml -R npm/cli -f spec=next-12 -f branch=16

• 11. Label and fast-track nodejs/node PR

  Note:
  This requires being a nodejs collaborator. This could be you!

  • Thumbs-up reaction on the Fast-track comment
  • Add an LGTM / Approval
  • Add request-ci label to get it running CI
  • Add commit-queue label once everything is green
  • For backport releases, comment on the PR asking the Node.js team to add dont-land-on-v<NODE_MAJOR> labels for Node versions where this npm version should not be included