npm staged publishing is live - a human approval step enters the JavaScript supply chain

npm has shipped staged publishing: packages can now sit in a pending state requiring explicit human approval before becoming installable—a direct response to AI-assisted publishing pipelines creating new supply chain exposure.

In plain terms. npm, the world's largest JavaScript package registry, added a staged publishing mode. Developers publish a package visible for review but not yet installable, then manually promote it live—a mandatory human checkpoint before code reaches the supply chain.

Analysis. The timing is not coincidental. AI coding assistants generate dependency suggestions, and sometimes hallucinate package names that collide with real but malicious packages (typosquatting). AI tools that auto-install dependencies on mention compound the risk. Staged publishing creates a review window that matters in two specific scenarios: automated CI pipelines where a compromised token could push a malicious release before anyone notices, and AI-assisted workflows where a hallucinated package name gets published before human review. The feature also integrates with npm's existing provenance attestation, making the full chain—code provenance, staged review, promotion—auditable.

Under the hood. Staged packages appear in registry metadata but are excluded from install resolution until explicitly promoted. The feature works with existing access control scopes.

So what. Staged publishing shifts npm from "publish = live" to "publish = pending." Adoption velocity is the key variable—the feature only works if popular package maintainers enable it. Watch whether major frameworks make it mandatory for contributors.