diff --git a/.github/workflows/alpha-npm.yml b/.github/workflows/alpha-npm.yml
index 6bd26dd50..fcf89e117 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/alpha-npm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/alpha-npm.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           cache: "true"
 
+      - name: Store NPM Registry Settings to .npmrc
+        run: |
+          echo -e "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=\${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}" > ~/.npmrc
+
       # Note - this is not required but it gives a clean failure prior to attempting a release if
       # the GH workflow runner is not authenticated with NPMjs.com
       - name: Verify NPM token is authenticated with NPMjs.com
@@ -55,14 +59,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build all workspace packages
         run: pnpm --recursive --stream build
-
+        
       - name: Publish selected @web5/* packages
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{secrets.npm_token}}
         run: |
           for package in $PACKAGES; do
             cd packages/$package
-            pnpm publish --tag alpha --access public --provenance
+            pnpm publish --tag alpha --access public --provenance --no-git-checks
             cd ../..
           done
         shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-npm.yml b/.github/workflows/release-npm.yml
index 038d583c3..60e9dc026 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-npm.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-npm.yml
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           cache: "true"
 
+      - name: Store NPM Registry Settings to .npmrc
+        run: |
+          echo -e "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=\${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}" > ~/.npmrc
+
       - name: Install semver utility
         run: pnpm install -g semver@7.5.1
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7722c51c7..4add76ec7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -164,4 +164,7 @@ dist
 results.xml
 
 .tbdocs
-temp
\ No newline at end of file
+temp
+
+# Hermit build output
+.hermit