[BUG] npm pack in 10.5.0 introduces breaking change due to changed output

[falsyvalues]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

This issue exists in the latest npm version

• I am using the latest npm

Current Behavior

Prior to v10.5.0 there was possibility to directly redirect npm pack output to file and retrieve tarball file name for given package. Starting from 10.5.0 and above stdout is being polluted by prepare scripts output and command itself.

> library@1.0.0 prepare
> echo "Should not be visible"
library@1.0.0.tgz

Expected Behavior

npm pack should output to std only tarball file name as it was before otherwise its a breaking change.

Steps To Reproduce

1. In any package add prepare script which writes to stdout
2. Run npm pack and redirect stdout to file e.g. npm package > package-name
3. Inspect package-name file content
4. It should contain only package tarball name

Environment

• npm: v10.8.0
• Node.js: v20.13.1
• OS Name: macOS 14.4.1
• System Model Name: MacBook Pro

[milaninfy]

@falsyvalues This change was introduced as a fix to correct the regression. Follow discussion on this PR #7158 to get more background on this change. You can use this flag foreground-scripts or --silent to get expected output result.

[falsyvalues]

@milaninfy Will I get the reasoning, result remains the same - breaking for end user. Also --silent won't help because it mutes only script call not the result.

{
    "prepare": "echo \"Noise\""
}

$ npm pack --silent
Noise
library@1.0.0.tgz

[milaninfy]

@falsyvalues Apologies I must have thought something else when I suggested --silent flag
but here is the output with npm pack --foreground-scripts=false > test2.txt.

~/workarea/rep $ npm pack --foreground-scripts=false > test2.txt
npm notice
npm notice 📦  rep@1.0.0
npm notice Tarball Contents
npm notice 348B package.json
npm notice 361B rep-1.0.0.tgz
npm notice 91B test.txt
npm notice 0B test2.txt
npm notice Tarball Details
npm notice name: rep
npm notice version: 1.0.0
npm notice filename: rep-1.0.0.tgz
npm notice package size: 843 B
npm notice unpacked size: 800 B
npm notice shasum: 4c9cb5a1cdce1b1a5b8a25ea8fa8f7502693f68d
npm notice integrity: sha512-mhud3Gqlf4hPJ[...]pwBJEk6+zokgg==
npm notice total files: 4
npm notice

~/workarea/rep $ cat test2.txt 
rep-1.0.0.tgz

with --silent flag

~/workarea/rep $ npm pack --foreground-scripts=false --silent
rep-1.0.0.tgz

[milaninfy]

This is currently working as intended,