pre-release-npm-package

name	pre-release-npm-package
description	Prepare already-public npm packages for pre-release publishing. Keywords: prerelease, pre-release, publish, npm, alpha, beta, rc, release group.

Pre-Release NPM Package Preparation

This skill prepares already-public packages for pre-release publishing. No code changes are needed — the skill validates the pre-release branch and guides the user to trigger the CI workflow, where the package(s) are selected via the workflow's projects input.

Scope: Only already-public packages can be pre-released. A private package ("private": true) must first be made public and released through the standard publishing pipeline before it is eligible for pre-release. Being already released also implies the package belongs to a release group under release.groups.*.projects in nx.json, which is what nx release publish requires.

After this skill completes, the Publish Prerelease NPM GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/publish-prerelease.yml) can be triggered to build, version, and publish the selected packages to npm. Each package is versioned and published independently.

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Step 1: Validate or Create Pre-Release Branch

Check the current git branch:

git branch --show-current

If the branch matches release/pre/react-icons/<feature-name>:

• Confirm with the user that they want to proceed on this branch.

If the branch does NOT match:

• Ask the user for the <feature-name> (kebab-case, e.g., sprite-subsetting).
• Create and checkout the branch:

git checkout -b "release/pre/react-icons/<feature-name>"

Important: The branch MUST follow the release/pre/react-icons/<feature-name> naming convention. The publish-prerelease workflow blocks execution on main.

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Step 2: Trigger the Pre-Release

Inform the user of next steps:

1. Push the branch to GitHub: git push -u origin release/pre/react-icons/<feature-name>
2. Navigate to Publish Prerelease NPM workflow
3. Click Run workflow and:
   • select the pre-release branch,
   • set projects to the already-public package(s) to pre-release using Nx selection syntax (e.g. react-icons, react-icons,react-icons-file-type, react-*, or tag:npm:standalone),
   • optionally set exclude,
   • choose preid (alpha/beta/rc), and optionally enable dry-run.
4. For detailed instructions, see Prerelease Publishing Guide

Note: Each selected package is versioned and published independently. Cross-package dependencies are not auto-included: a pre-released package keeps depending on the already-published version of its repo dependencies. If you also want a dependent to consume a new prerelease, select it explicitly too.