GitHub Packages is a software package hosting service that allows you to host your software packages privately or publicly and use packages as dependencies in your projects.
GitHub Packages is a platform for hosting and managing packages, including containers and other dependencies. GitHub Packages combines your source code and packages in one place to provide integrated permissions management and billing, so you can centralize your software development on GitHub.
You can integrate GitHub Packages with GitHub's APIs, GitHub Actions, and webhooks to create an end-to-end DevOps workflow that includes your code, CI, and deployment solutions.
GitHub Packages offers different package registries for commonly used package managers, such as npm, RubyGems, Apache Maven, Gradle, Docker, and NuGet. GitHub's Container registry is optimized for containers and supports Docker and OCI images. For more information on the different package registries that GitHub Packages supports, see
Working with a GitHub Packages registry
.
You can view a package's README, as well as metadata such as licensing, download statistics, version history, and more on GitHub. For more information, see
.
Overview of package permissions
The permissions for a package are either inherited from the repository where the package is hosted, or can be defined for specific users or organizations. Some registries only support permissions inherited from a repository. For a list of these registries, see
About permissions for GitHub Packages
. For more information on package access, see
Configuring a package's access control and visibility
.
Overview of package visibility
You can publish packages in a public repository (public packages) to share with all of GitHub, or in a private repository (private packages) to share with collaborators or an organization.
About linked artifacts for organizations
The linked artifacts page is an alternative view that you can also access in the "Packages" section of an organization's settings.
Like GitHub Packages, the linked artifacts page allows you to collect information about your organization's builds in a single place. Teams can use the linked artifacts page to find an artifact's source code, build details, and deployment history.
Unlike GitHub Packages, the linked artifacts page does not host the package or image files themselves. Instead, it provides an authoritative source for the metadata associated with each package or image.
Your organization may benefit from using the linked artifacts page either:
Alongside GitHub Packages, as a complementary view focused on the compliance and security aspects of package consumption
As an alternative to GitHub Packages, allowing you to store your packages on an external registry of your choice while maintaining visibility of the packages on GitHub
For more information, see
.
About billing for GitHub Packages
GitHub Packages usage is free for public packages.
For private packages, each account on GitHub receives an amount of free storage and data transfer, determined by the account's plan. Any usage beyond the included amounts is controlled by budgets.
If your account does not have a valid payment method on file, usage is blocked once you use up your quota.
If you have a valid payment method on file, spending may be limited by one or more budgets. Check the budgets set for your account to ensure they are appropriate for your usage needs. See
Setting up budgets to control spending on metered products
.
For more information, see
.
GitHub Packages uses the native package tooling commands you're already familiar with to publish and install package versions.
Support for package registries
LanguageDescriptionPackage formatPackage clientJavaScriptNode package managerpackage.jsonnpmRubyRubyGems package managerGemfilegemJavaApache Maven project management and comprehension toolpom.xmlmvnJavaGradle build automation tool for Javabuild.gradle or build.gradle.ktsgradle.NETNuGet package management for .NETnupkgdotnet CLIN/ADocker container managementDockerfileDockerFor more information about configuring your package client for use with GitHub Packages, see
Working with a GitHub Packages registry
.
For more information about Docker and the Container registry, see
Working with the Container registry
.
Authenticating to GitHub Packages
You need an access token to publish, install, and delete private, internal, and public packages.
You can use a personal access token (classic) to authenticate to GitHub Packages or the GitHub API. When you create a personal access token (classic), you can assign the token different scopes depending on your needs. For more information about packages-related scopes for a personal access token (classic), see
About permissions for GitHub Packages
.
To authenticate to a GitHub Packages registry within a GitHub Actions workflow, you can use:
GITHUB_TOKEN to publish packages associated with the workflow repository.
A personal access token (classic) with at least read:packages scope to install packages associated with other private repositories (GITHUB_TOKEN can be used if the repository is granted read access to the package. See
Configuring a package's access control and visibility
).
For more information about GITHUB_TOKEN used in GitHub Actions workflows, see
Use GITHUB_TOKEN for authentication in workflows
.
You can delete a package in the GitHub user interface or using the REST API. For more information, see
Deleting and restoring a package
and the
REST API endpoints for packages
. For certain registries, you can use GraphQL to delete a version of a private package.
You cannot use the GitHub Packages GraphQL API with registries that support granular permissions. For the registries that only support repository-scoped permissions, and can be used with the GraphQL API, see
About permissions for GitHub Packages
.
When you use the GraphQL API to query and delete private packages, you must use the same personal access token (classic) you use to authenticate to GitHub Packages.
For more information, see
.
You can configure webhooks to subscribe to package-related events, such as when a package is published or updated. For more information, see the
.
If you have feedback or feature requests for GitHub Packages, use a
.
Contact us through the
about GitHub Packages if:
You experience anything that contradicts the documentation
You encounter vague or unclear errors
Your published package contains sensitive data, such as GDPR violations, API Keys, or personally identifying information