fix prepublish smoke test

Author: emeeks

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ jobs:
             echo "tag=latest" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           fi
 
+      # Pack-and-import smoke test runs BEFORE publish (not inside
+      # prepublishOnly). Running `npm pack` inside the prepublishOnly
+      # hook of `npm publish` can hit a re-entrancy edge case on some
+      # npm versions where the inner pack returns 0 without producing
+      # a tarball, breaking the smoke check (seen on Node 22 / npm 10
+      # in CI). Splitting it out keeps the validation while sidestepping
+      # the lifecycle interaction.
+      - name: Pack-and-import smoke test
+        run: npm run check:pack
+
       - name: Dry-run publish (validate package)
         run: npm publish --dry-run --tag ${{ steps.dist-tag.outputs.tag }}
         env:

package.json

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@
     "check:ai-examples-coverage": "node scripts/check-ai-examples-coverage.mjs",
     "check:docs-routes": "node scripts/check-docs-routes.mjs",
     "release:check": "npm run lint && npm run typescript && npm run typescript:mcp && npm run test && npm run check:chart-specs && npm run check:claude-md-coverage && npm run check:context7 && npm run check:mcp-registry && npm run check:surface && npm run check:ai-contracts && npm run check:ssr && npm run check:test-quality && npm run check:jsdoc-coverage && npm run check:ai-examples-coverage && npm run dist:prod && npm run size && npm run check:pack && npm pack --dry-run",
-    "prepublishOnly": "npm run lint && npm run typescript && npm run typescript:mcp && npm run test && npm run check:chart-specs && npm run check:claude-md-coverage && npm run check:context7 && npm run check:mcp-registry && npm run check:surface && npm run check:ai-contracts && npm run check:ssr && npm run check:test-quality && npm run check:jsdoc-coverage && npm run check:ai-examples-coverage && rm -rf dist && npm run dist:prod && npm run size && npm run check:pack"
+    "prepublishOnly": "npm run lint && npm run typescript && npm run typescript:mcp && npm run test && npm run check:chart-specs && npm run check:claude-md-coverage && npm run check:context7 && npm run check:mcp-registry && npm run check:surface && npm run check:ai-contracts && npm run check:ssr && npm run check:test-quality && npm run check:jsdoc-coverage && npm run check:ai-examples-coverage && rm -rf dist && npm run dist:prod && npm run size"
   },
   "targets": {
     "website": {

scripts/smoke-pack.mjs

@@ -49,7 +49,14 @@ function firstLine(err) {
 function findTarball(dir) {
   const files = readdirSync(dir)
   const tarball = files.find((f) => f.startsWith("semiotic-") && f.endsWith(".tgz"))
-  if (!tarball) throw new Error(`no tarball produced in ${dir}`)
+  if (!tarball) {
+    // Surface what's actually in the dir so CI logs aren't a dead end —
+    // npm pack returning 0 without producing a tarball is rare enough
+    // that the directory listing is the single most useful breadcrumb.
+    throw new Error(
+      `no tarball produced in ${dir} (contents: ${files.length === 0 ? "<empty>" : files.join(", ")})`,
+    )
+  }
   return join(dir, tarball)
 }
 
@@ -61,8 +68,13 @@ const failures = []
 
 try {
   // Pack the working repo into a tarball inside the temp dir.
+  // `--pack-destination` lands the tarball next to our temp consumer
+  // project; capturing combined output keeps CI logs useful when npm
+  // pack exits 0 but produces nothing (rare, but seen on some runners
+  // when --pack-destination is silently ignored).
   console.log("▶ npm pack")
-  run(`npm pack --pack-destination "${tmp}"`, { cwd: repoRoot })
+  const packOut = run(`npm pack --pack-destination "${tmp}" 2>&1`, { cwd: repoRoot })
+  if (packOut?.trim()) console.log(packOut.trim().split("\n").map((l) => `  ${l}`).join("\n"))
   const tarball = findTarball(tmp)
   console.log(`  tarball: ${tarball}`)