Publishing to npm

Publishing to npm

Publishing a Cordova Plugin to npm

A plugin is published like any npm 2,036 package. Its package.json adds the ecosystem:cordova keyword, which tools use to find plugins, a cordova block naming the plugin ID and platforms, and optional cordovaDependencies, which the CLI checks before choosing a version (Managing Plugins):

local-plugins/cordova-plugin-booknest/package.jsonJSON

{
  "name": "cordova-plugin-booknest",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Reading helpers for BookNest: font scale and reading reminders",
  "keywords": ["ecosystem:cordova", "cordova-android"],
  "license": "Apache-2.0",
  "repository": "github:example/cordova-plugin-booknest",
  "files": ["plugin.xml", "www/", "src/"],
  "cordova": { "id": "cordova-plugin-booknest", "platforms": ["android"] },
  "engines": {
    "cordovaDependencies": { "1.0.0": { "cordova-android": ">=14.0.0" } }
  }
}

files keeps test folders and notes out of the tarball. Check the name is free with npm view (it returned 404 here), then do a dry run, which shows exactly what would be uploaded:

A dry run of publishing the pluginShell

cd local-plugins/cordova-plugin-booknest
npm publish --dry-run

Output

...
npm notice === Tarball Contents ===
npm notice 499B  package.json
npm notice 979B  plugin.xml
npm notice 2.6kB src/android/BookNestPlugin.java
npm notice 344B  www/booknest.js
...
+ cordova-plugin-booknest@1.0.0

A real npm publish needs npm login (the dry run warned about it). Keep plugin.xml's version equal to package.json's, and publish a new major version whenever you raise the <engine> floor.

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