First-time NuGet package push via GitHub Actions fails with 403 until manual push and package setup

[kudima03]

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Bug

Body

Describe the bug
When using GitHub Actions to publish a NuGet package to GitHub Packages for the first time, the workflow fails with a 403 error, despite using the correct GITHUB_TOKEN and having the permissions configured properly. The same package can be pushed manually from a local machine, and only after that can the pipeline succeed.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Create a new NuGet package in a GitHub repository that has never published a package before.

Set up a GitHub Actions workflow like in NuGet sample:

Run the workflow.

Observe that it fails with:
error: Response status code does not indicate success: 403 (Forbidden).

Check https://nuget.pkg.github.com/{OWNER}/query — no packages exist yet.

Expected behavior
The workflow should be able to push the first version of a NuGet package to GitHub Packages using GitHub Actions and a valid GITHUB_TOKEN or PAT.

Workaround
To make the pipeline succeed:

Push the package manually from a local machine using:

dotnet nuget push *.nupkg --api-key <PAT> --source "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/{OWNER}/index.json"

Go to the Packages tab under the user/org profile.

Find the newly created package and click "Manage Actions access".

Explicitly assign the repository permission to publish the package.

Retry the workflow with new version — it now completes successfully.

Environment

GitHub Actions (ubuntu-latest)

.NET SDK 9.0.x

GitHub Packages (NuGet)

Additional context
This issue seems to occur only on the first publish attempt via Actions. It appears that repository access must be explicitly granted in the UI after the package exists, which cannot be done ahead of time from the pipeline.

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[kudima03]

Think #47973 and actions/setup-dotnet#521 are about the same.

[kudima03]

It seems that this issue occurs specifically when publishing the very first NuGet package for a given GitHub account or organization. Until the package exists, the first publish attempt via GitHub Actions fails with a 403 error. Once the package is manually pushed and configured, subsequent automated publishes work as expected.