From 2b4cb4e901ad8459793cf02939f4317a7dd9dea5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zeya Peng <zeyap@meta.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 10:10:52 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Fix release e2e local testing on macOS / npm >= 11
 (prerelease --tag + gradle.properties) (#57469)
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Summary:
Two fixes that make `test-release-local` work again for release-candidate testing on macOS with modern npm. Both are in the local release-testing scripts only (no product code).

### 1. `npm publish` needs `--tag` for prereleases (npm >= 11)

Publishing the monorepo packages to the local Verdaccio proxy fails on npm >= 11 for a prerelease version (e.g. `0.87.0-rc.0`):

```
react-native/asset-utils (packages/asset-utils) ........................ Failed ❌
npm error You must specify a tag using --tag when publishing a prerelease version.
```

npm now refuses to publish a prerelease to the default `latest` dist-tag without an explicit `--tag`. Fix: when the version is a prerelease (contains `-`), pass `--tag prerelease`. Stable versions are unaffected. (`scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js`)

### 2. `echo -e` corrupts `gradle.properties` on macOS

Setting up the Android test project, the script appends the maven-local repo path with `echo -e`. On macOS, `/bin/sh`'s `echo` doesn't support `-e`, so it writes a literal `-e ` onto the previous property, corrupting the file:

```
Cannot parse project property android.newDsl='false-e ' of type
'class java.lang.String' as boolean. Expected 'true' or 'false'.
```

Fix: use `printf`, which is portable. (`scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js`)

## Changelog

[INTERNAL] - Fix `test-release-local` for prerelease testing on macOS / npm >= 11


Test Plan:
On npm 11.4.2 / Node 24, `yarn test-release-local -t RNTestProject -p Android -c <token>` against `0.87.0-rc.0`:
- **Before:** failed at "Publishing packages to local npm proxy" (prerelease `--tag` error); after working around that, failed at `app:installDebug` with the `android.newDsl='false-e '` parse error.
- **After:** packages publish to the local proxy with `--tag prerelease`, `gradle.properties` gets a well-formed `react.internal.mavenLocalRepo` line, and the app builds/installs against the RC's maven-local artifacts.
- iOS (`-t RNTestProject -p iOS`) also gets past the publish step with fix https://github.com/react/react-native/issues/1.
- Stable (non-prerelease) versions: `publishTag` is empty and `printf` behaves identically, so no behavior change.

Reviewed By: christophpurrer

Differential Revision: D110925222

Pulled By: zeyap
---
 scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js               | 6 +++++-
 scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js | 6 ++++--
 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js b/scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js
index 30db3b9c33d2..d8869d1ce0f7 100644
--- a/scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js
+++ b/scripts/e2e/init-project-e2e.js
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ async function initNewProjectFromSource(
     // packages are updated in a lockstep, let's get the version of the first one
     const version = packages[Object.keys(packages)[0]].packageJson.version;
 
+    // npm >= 11 refuses to publish a prerelease version (e.g. 0.87.0-rc.0)
+    // without an explicit --tag, since it would otherwise become `latest`.
+    const publishTag = version.includes('-') ? ' --tag prerelease' : '';
+
     console.log('Publishing packages to local npm proxy\n');
     for (const {path: packagePath, packageJson} of Object.values(packages)) {
       const desc = `${packageJson.name} (${path.relative(
@@ -122,7 +126,7 @@ async function initNewProjectFromSource(
         `${desc} ${styleText('dim', '.').repeat(Math.max(0, 72 - desc.length))} `,
       );
       execSync(
-        `npm publish --registry ${VERDACCIO_SERVER_URL} --access public`,
+        `npm publish --registry ${VERDACCIO_SERVER_URL} --access public${publishTag}`,
         {
           cwd: packagePath,
           stdio: verbose ? 'inherit' : [process.stderr],
diff --git a/scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js b/scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js
index 31a0733af47b..c5593709e93e 100644
--- a/scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js
+++ b/scripts/release-testing/test-release-local.js
@@ -290,9 +290,11 @@ async function testRNTestProject(
 
   cd('RNTestProject');
 
-  // need to do this here so that Android will be properly setup either way
+  // need to do this here so that Android will be properly setup either way.
+  // Use printf, not `echo -e`: on macOS /bin/sh's echo doesn't support -e, so
+  // it appends a literal "-e " onto the previous property and corrupts the file.
   exec(
-    `echo -e "\nreact.internal.mavenLocalRepo=${mavenLocalPath}" >> android/gradle.properties`,
+    `printf '\\nreact.internal.mavenLocalRepo=%s\\n' "${mavenLocalPath}" >> android/gradle.properties`,
   );
 
   // Only build the simulator architecture. CI is however generating only that one.