diff --git a/.changes/cli-add-npm.md b/.changes/cli-add-npm.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..addd51e5415f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/cli-add-npm.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"tauri-cli": "patch:bug"
+"@tauri-apps/cli": "patch:bug"
+---
+
+Fix `tauri add` failing to add NPM depenency with `npm` package manager.
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-cli-js.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-cli-js.yml
index f744ff01f4b5..93900949ffcf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-cli-js.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-cli-js.yml
@@ -30,45 +30,45 @@ jobs:
             target: x86_64-apple-darwin
             architecture: x64
             build: |
-              pnpm build:release --target=x86_64-apple-darwin
+              pnpm build --target=x86_64-apple-darwin
               strip -x *.node
           - host: windows-latest
-            build: pnpm build:release
+            build: pnpm build
             target: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
             architecture: x64
           - host: windows-latest
-            build: pnpm build:release --target i686-pc-windows-msvc
+            build: pnpm build --target i686-pc-windows-msvc
             target: i686-pc-windows-msvc
             architecture: x64
           - host: windows-latest
             architecture: x64
             target: aarch64-pc-windows-msvc
-            build: pnpm build:release --target aarch64-pc-windows-msvc --features native-tls-vendored --cargo-flags="--no-default-features"
+            build: pnpm build --target aarch64-pc-windows-msvc --features native-tls-vendored --cargo-flags="--no-default-features"
           - host: ubuntu-20.04
             target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
             docker: ghcr.io/napi-rs/napi-rs/nodejs-rust:lts-debian
             build: |
               cd packages/cli
-              pnpm build:release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+              pnpm build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
               strip *.node
           - host: ubuntu-20.04
             target: x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
             docker: ghcr.io/napi-rs/napi-rs/nodejs-rust:lts-alpine
             build: |
               cd packages/cli
-              pnpm build:release
+              pnpm build
               strip *.node
           - host: macos-latest
             target: aarch64-apple-darwin
             build: |
-              pnpm build:release --features native-tls-vendored --target=aarch64-apple-darwin
+              pnpm build --features native-tls-vendored --target=aarch64-apple-darwin
               strip -x *.node
           - host: ubuntu-20.04
             target: aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
             docker: ghcr.io/napi-rs/napi-rs/nodejs-rust:lts-debian-aarch64
             build: |
               cd packages/cli
-              pnpm build:release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
+              pnpm build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
               aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-strip *.node
           - host: ubuntu-20.04
             architecture: x64
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ jobs:
               sudo apt-get update
               sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf g++-arm-linux-gnueabihf -y
             build: |
-              pnpm build:release --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
+              pnpm build --target=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
               arm-linux-gnueabihf-strip *.node
           - host: ubuntu-20.04
             architecture: x64
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ jobs:
             build: |
               cd packages/cli
               rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-musl
-              pnpm build:release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-musl
+              pnpm build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-musl
               /aarch64-linux-musl-cross/bin/aarch64-linux-musl-strip *.node
     name: stable - ${{ matrix.settings.target }} - node@20
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.settings.host }}
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ jobs:
   #            freebsd-version
   #            cd ./packages/cli/
   #            pnpm i --frozen-lockfile --ignore-scripts
-  #            pnpm build:release
+  #            pnpm build
   #            strip -x *.node
   #            rm -rf node_modules
   #            rm -rf ../../target
diff --git a/crates/tauri-cli/src/add.rs b/crates/tauri-cli/src/add.rs
index e6efc5a3c557..96830a4a341d 100644
--- a/crates/tauri-cli/src/add.rs
+++ b/crates/tauri-cli/src/add.rs
@@ -69,9 +69,6 @@ pub fn run(options: Options) -> Result<()> {
     });
 
   let cargo_version_req = version.or(metadata.version_req.as_deref());
-  let npm_version_req = version
-    .map(ToString::to_string)
-    .or(metadata.version_req.as_ref().map(|v| format!("^{v}")));
 
   cargo::install_one(cargo::CargoInstallOptions {
     name: &crate_name,
@@ -88,6 +85,13 @@ pub fn run(options: Options) -> Result<()> {
       .map(PackageManager::from_project)
       .and_then(|managers| managers.into_iter().next())
     {
+      let npm_version_req = version
+        .map(ToString::to_string)
+        .or(metadata.version_req.as_ref().map(|v| match manager {
+          PackageManager::Npm => format!(">={v}"),
+          _ => format!("~{v}"),
+        }));
+
       let npm_spec = match (npm_version_req, options.tag, options.rev, options.branch) {
         (Some(version), _, _, _) => {
           format!("{npm_name}@{version}")
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 847a37ed52d7..2e4de5c7dc11 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,7 +14,12 @@
     "format": "prettier --write .",
     "format:check": "prettier --check .",
     "eslint:check": "pnpm run -r eslint:check",
-    "ts:check": "pnpm run -r ts:check"
+    "ts:check": "pnpm run -r ts:check",
+    "build": "pnpm run -r build",
+    "build:api": "pnpm run --filter \"@tauri-apps/api\" build",
+    "build:cli": "pnpm run --filter \"@tauri-apps/cli\" build",
+    "build:cli:debug": "pnpm run --filter \"@tauri-apps/cli\" build:debug",
+    "test": "pnpm run -r build"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "prettier": "^3.3.3"
diff --git a/packages/cli/append-headers.js b/packages/cli/append-headers.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..055512eb317e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/append-headers.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const HEADERS = `// Copyright 2019-2024 Tauri Programme within The Commons Conservancy
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT`
+
+const fs = require('fs')
+
+for (const file of ['index.js', 'index.d.ts']) {
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf8')
+  const newContent = `${HEADERS}\n\n${content}`
+  fs.writeFileSync(file, newContent, 'utf8')
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 77cb16553aff..004990ee6e46 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -51,8 +51,10 @@
   },
   "scripts": {
     "artifacts": "napi artifacts",
-    "build:release": "cross-env TARGET=node napi build --platform --profile release-size-optimized",
-    "build": "cross-env TARGET=node napi build --platform",
+    "build": "cross-env TARGET=node napi build --platform --profile release-size-optimized",
+    "postbuild": "node append-headers.js",
+    "build:debug": "cross-env TARGET=node napi build --platform",
+    "postbuild:debug": "node append-headers.js",
     "prepublishOnly": "napi prepublish -t npm --gh-release-id $RELEASE_ID",
     "prepack": "cp ../../crates/tauri-schema-generator/schemas/config.schema.json .",
     "version": "napi version",