On each commit that passes through GitHub actions workflow, the binaries are generated for linux-x64 and darwin-x64. These binaries can be downloaded when publishing the npm package.
Running npm publish uses the binaries present in the prebuilds directory. When the module is installed with npm install, a pre-built binary in the prebuilds directory is used if there's one that's suitable for the OS and architecture of the machine. Otherwise, the binary is built from the source when installing.
Typical workflow:
git checkout master
# increment version number
# https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/version
npm version major | minor | patch
# amend commit to include "[publish binary]"
git commit --amend
"x.y.z" -> "x.y.z [publish binary]"
# push commit and tag to remote
git push
git push --tags
# make a sandwich, check travis console for build successes
# test published binary (should install from remote)
npm install && npm test
# Make sure that the GHA workflow is successfull. Download the artifacts
npm run download-binaries
# publish to npm
npm publish
Note: gh CLI is required in order to download binaries from GH workflow runs. Follow the instruction in the link to install the CLI. Run
gh auth loginand follow the instructions to authenticate before downloading binaries.