fix: update npm authentication logic and add token validation

Author: mitchelvanbever

.github/workflows/release.yaml

@@ -34,9 +34,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Test
         run: pnpm test
       - name: Setup npm auth
+        env:
+          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN_ESLINT }}
         run: |
-          echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN_ESLINT }}" > ~/.npmrc
-          cat ~/.npmrc
+          echo "Token length: ${#NPM_TOKEN}"
+          echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}" > ~/.npmrc
+          echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}" >> .npmrc
+          npm whoami || echo "whoami failed - token may be invalid"
       - name: Release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}