diff --git a/npm/npm-push/action.yaml b/npm/npm-push/action.yaml
index 5b5aceb..6494136 100644
--- a/npm/npm-push/action.yaml
+++ b/npm/npm-push/action.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ inputs:
   tgz:
     description: "Path to the tarball file to publish."
     required: true
+  workingDirectory:
+    description: "Working directory for the publish operation."
+    required: false
+    default: "."
   registry:
     description: "NPM registry URL."
     required: false
@@ -33,24 +37,32 @@ runs:
       # Trim whitespace
       TGZ_PATH=$(echo "$TGZ_PATH" | xargs)
 
-      if [[ ! "$TGZ_PATH" =~ ^[./~] ]]; then
-        echo "Path does not start with . / or ~, adding ./ prefix"
+      if [[ ! "$TGZ_PATH" =~ ^(\./|/|~) ]]; then
+        echo "Path does not start with ./ / or ~, adding ./ prefix"
         TGZ_PATH="./$TGZ_PATH"
       fi
 
+      # Verify the tarball exists
+      if [ ! -f "$TGZ_PATH" ]; then
+        echo "Error: Tarball not found at $TGZ_PATH (working directory: $(pwd))"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+
       # Configure npm authentication for the registry (scoped to project)
       REGISTRY_PATH=$(echo "${{ inputs.registry }}" | sed -E 's|https?://||')
       npm config set --location=project registry "${{ inputs.registry }}"
       npm config set --location=project "//${REGISTRY_PATH}:_authToken" "${{ inputs.apiKey }}"
 
       echo "Publishing $TGZ_PATH to ${{ inputs.registry }}"
-      npm publish --location=project "$TGZ_PATH" --access ${{ inputs.access }}
+      npm publish "$TGZ_PATH" --access ${{ inputs.access }}
 
       echo "Package published successfully"
+    working-directory: ${{ inputs.workingDirectory }}
     shell: bash
   - name: "Clean up npm authentication"
     if: always()
     run: |
       # Clean up project .npmrc in case of early exit
       rm -f .npmrc
+    working-directory: ${{ inputs.workingDirectory }}
     shell: bash
\ No newline at end of file