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

Running npm publish with the following package.json:

{
    "name": "@hug/eslint-config",
    "version": "21.0.0-beta.8",
    "publishConfig": {
        "access": "public",
        "tag": "beta"
    },
    ...
}

produces the following error with npm@11.x:

npm error You must specify a tag using --tag when publishing a prerelease version.
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: ....

@reggi, @wraithgar, I think the issue lies here, where manifest should also be used to retrieve the tag:

Expected Behavior

I expect the package to be published successfully.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Create a package.json file
2. Add a pre-release version (ex: "2.0.0-beta.1")
3. Add a publishConfig with a tag (ex: "beta")
4. Run npm publish
5. See error npm error You must specify a tag using --tag when publishing a prerelease version.

Environment

• npm: 11.0.0
• Node.js: v22.12.0
• OS Name: macOS 15.2 (24C101)
• System Model Name: Macbook Pro