JFrog Skill
The foundational skill for all JFrog agent interactions. Covers JFrog Platform concepts, jf CLI setup and authentication, and intent routing to workflow skills.
Interact with the JFrog Platform through the JFrog CLI (jf) and, where the CLI falls short, through REST APIs and GraphQL. In code examples below, <skill_path> refers to this skill's directory and is resolved automatically by the agent. If the agent does not resolve it, determine the path by locating this SKILL.md file and using its parent directory.
Prerequisites
The following tools must be available on PATH:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
jq | JSON parsing of CLI and API output |
All HTTP traffic to JFrog Platform APIs goes through the jf CLI itself (jf api, see Invoking platform APIs with jf api below) — no standalone curl is required for any JFrog interaction.
Environment check
Before your first JFrog operation in a session, run the environment check. It verifies the CLI is installed, checks for updates, and exports JFROG_CLI_USER_AGENT so every outbound request is identifiable:
eval "$(JFROG_SKILL_MODEL="<model-slug>" bash <skill_path>/scripts/check-environment.sh)"Set JFROG_SKILL_MODEL to the precise slug of the underlying LLM, with version (e.g. opus-4.7, sonnet-4.5, gpt-5-codex, gemini-2.5-pro). Do not use harness/role names like subagent, cursor-agent, agent, assistant, or a family without a version (claude, gpt). Subagents pass through the parent's slug. If genuinely unknown, use unknown.
The eval is required — the script outputs export JFROG_CLI_USER_AGENT='model/<model-slug> jfrog-skills/<version> jfrog-cli-go/<cli-version>' on stdout. The JFrog CLI picks this up natively and injects it as the User-Agent header on every HTTP request. JSON state is printed to stderr for informational purposes (also written to the cache file).
The script uses a 24-hour cache at <skill_path>/local-cache/jfrog-skill-state.json. If the cache is fresh, it returns immediately. If stale or missing, it checks whether jf is installed, its version, and whether a newer version is available.
- Exit 0: cache is fresh, CLI is ready — proceed
- Exit 1: cache was stale and has been refreshed, CLI is ready — proceed
- Exit 2:
jfis not installed — STOP (see below) - Exit 3:
jfis installed but below the minimum version required by this skill (the script prints the minimum and the detected version to stderr) — STOP (see below)
Bypass the cache only when the user explicitly asks to install, upgrade, or reconfigure the CLI.
On exit 2 or 3, stop and ask the user to install or upgrade. Do not work around it with jf rt curl, raw curl, or other fallbacks — see references/jfrog-cli-install-upgrade.md.
JSON parsing (jq)
Use jq for all JSON parsing of CLI and API output (pipes, -r, filters).
Network permissions
JFrog servers are not on the default sandbox network allowlist. Every Shell call that contacts a JFrog server requires required_permissions: ["full_network"].
Without this permission, commands fail silently: jf exits with code 1 and empty output, and downstream JSON parsing crashes. All JFrog operations that touch the network need this permission.
Agent execution environments
check-environment.sh does not call your JFrog server, but it may make an outbound request to releases.jfrog.io for version checking and may write <skill_path>/local-cache/jfrog-skill-state.json when the cache is stale. In a sandboxed agent environment, full_network alone may not suffice: if the workspace cannot be written, the check can fail before any JFrog call. Request permissions that allow writing <skill_path>/local-cache (or run outside a restrictive sandbox) when you see filesystem errors from the environment check.
local-cache/ — allowed files only
<skill_path>/local-cache/ is not a general scratch or temp directory. Use it only for these two artifacts:
jfrog-skill-state.json— written byscripts/check-environment.sh(24-hour CLI check cache).onemodel-schema-${JFROG_SERVER_ID}.graphql— cached OneModel supergraph schema (seereferences/onemodel-graphql.md).
Do not save HTTP response bodies, GraphQL query results, ad-hoc JSON, reports, or any other temporary files under local-cache/. Write those to a host temp path instead (for example /tmp/<name>-$$.json or mktemp -d), echo the path when a follow-up Shell step must read the file — same pattern as *Preserving command output* below.
Apply full_network on the first Shell call that hits JFrog. Once granted for a session, the agent environment typically retains it for subsequent calls, but always include it explicitly to avoid silent failures.
Server management
Server configuration is always read live from jf config (never cached).
- List servers:
jf config show(local operation, no network needed) - Use a specific server: pass
--server-id <id>to any command - Switch default:
jf config use <server-id> - Add a new server: read
references/jfrog-login-flow.mdfor the full login procedure (web login or manual token setup)
Server selection rules (mandatory)
Exactly one server (or an explicit set of servers) must be resolved before any operation. The rules are strict and apply to every CLI command, API call, and subagent prompt:
- User named specific server(s) — use those and only those. Pass
--server-id <id>to everyjfcommand. Do not touch any other configured server. - User did not name a server — use the current default server and only it. Determine the default via
jf config show(the entry marked as default). If no default is set, stop and ask the user which server to use. - Verify before executing — after resolving the server, confirm it exists in
jf config showoutput before running any command against it. If the server-id is not listed, stop and tell the user.
Do not fall back to a different server. Silently switching servers is dangerous because different servers hold different data, permissions, and configurations — an operation that succeeds on the wrong server can corrupt state, leak data across environments, or produce results the user cannot reproduce. If the resolved server produces any error — does not exist in jf config, authentication failure (401/403), network error, connection refused, or any other failure — stop immediately and report the error to the user. Do not try other configured servers, do not iterate through the server list, and do not silently switch servers. Ask the user how to proceed.
Command discovery
Use the commands listed below as your primary reference. Run --help to verify options you are unsure about or to discover commands not listed here — do not rely on memorized commands outside this skill, as they may be outdated.
jf --help— list all namespaces and top-level commandsjf <namespace> --help— list subcommands in a namespacejf <command> --help— show usage, arguments, and options
CLI namespaces
| Namespace | Alias | Product |
|---|---|---|
rt | Artifactory | |
xr | Xray | |
ds | Distribution V1 | |
at | apptrust | AppTrust |
evd | Evidence | |
mc | Mission Control | |
worker | Workers | |
config | c | CLI server configuration |
plugin | CLI plugin management | |
ide | IDE integration |
Sunset notice: JFrog Pipelines has been sunset and is no longer supported. Do not use theplCLI namespace or the Pipelines REST API (/pipelines/api/...). If a user asks about Pipelines, inform them the product has been sunset.
Top-level lifecycle commands (no namespace): rbc, rbp, rbd, rba, rbf, rbe, rbi, rbs, rbu, rbdell, rbdelr.
Top-level security commands: audit, scan, build-scan, curation-audit, sbom-enrich.
Top-level other: access-token-create (atc), login, how, stats, generate-summary-markdown, exchange-oidc-token, completion.
Artifactory operations
Artifactory resources are managed through the jf rt namespace — repos, files, builds, permissions, users/groups, and replication. Read references/artifactory-operations.md when performing any of these operations.
Platform administration
Access tokens, login, stats, projects, and system health. Read references/platform-admin-operations.md when performing any of these operations.
Invoking platform APIs with jf api
When the CLI lacks a dedicated subcommand, use jf api — the unified entry point for every JFrog Platform REST and GraphQL endpoint, auto-authenticated against the resolved server. Do not use jf rt curl or jf xr curl — they are superseded by jf api. All jf api calls require required_permissions: ["full_network"] (see Network permissions).
Product-prefix table
jf api requires the full path including the product prefix; omitting it returns 404.
| Product | Path prefix |
|---|---|
| Artifactory | /artifactory/api/... |
| Xray | /xray/api/... |
| Access (users, groups, tokens, permissions, projects) | /access/api/... |
| Evidence | /evidence/api/... |
| Release Lifecycle | /lifecycle/api/... |
| AppTrust | /apptrust/api/... |
| Distribution | /distribution/api/... |
| OneModel (GraphQL) | /onemodel/api/v1/graphql, /onemodel/api/v1/supergraph/schema |
| Mission Control | /mc/api/... |
| Curation | /xray/api/v1/curation/... (lives under Xray) |
Examples
jf api /artifactory/api/repositories
jf api /artifactory/api/system/version --server-id <id>
# AQL (POST with text/plain body)
jf api /artifactory/api/search/aql \
-X POST -H "Content-Type: text/plain" -d '<aql-query>'Common flags: -X/--method, -H/--header, -d/--data, --input <file>, --server-id, --timeout. Body on stdout, status on stderr — see Gotchas.
GraphQL (OneModel)
OneModel is the unified GraphQL API. Do not embed the query inside a JSON literal (-d '{"query":"..."}') — escaping breaks requests. Build the payload with jq -n --arg, pass it via --input, and save the response to a file before running jq on it.
QUERY='{ evidence { searchEvidence(first: 5, where: { hasSubjectWith: { repositoryKey: "my-repo-local" } }) { totalCount } } }'
PAYLOAD=/tmp/onemodel-payload-$$.json RESPONSE=/tmp/onemodel-$$.json
jq -n --arg q "$QUERY" '{query:$q}' > "$PAYLOAD"
jf api /onemodel/api/v1/graphql -X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" --input "$PAYLOAD" > "$RESPONSE"
jq . "$RESPONSE"Schema discovery: jf api /onemodel/api/v1/supergraph/schema > "$SCHEMA_FILE" (store only under <skill_path>/local-cache/, never query responses). Read references/onemodel-graphql.md for the full workflow (schema fetch, validation, pagination, errors), plus references/onemodel-query-examples.md and references/onemodel-common-patterns.md for query shapes, pagination, variables, and dates.
Structured inputs
Several CLI commands require JSON template files. The templates are normally created by interactive wizard commands (jf rt rpt, jf rt ptt, jf rt rplt) which agents cannot use. Instead, retrieve an existing config via REST API as a starting point and modify it:
jf api /artifactory/api/repositories/<repo-key>For other Artifactory or platform REST patterns, or when you need more than this repo GET, see Any API gap under When to read reference files.
Gotchas
- JFrog network calls require
required_permissions: ["full_network"]in the Shell tool. Without it, commands fail silently with empty output. The environment check does not call your JFrog server (it may contactreleases.jfrog.iofor version checking), but it may need workspace write access for its cache file (see Agent execution environments). jf apirequires the product prefix in the path (/artifactory/...,/xray/...,/access/...,/evidence/...,/lifecycle/...,/apptrust/...,/distribution/...,/onemodel/...,/mc/...). Omitting the prefix returns 404. See the product-prefix table above.jf apiwrites the body (success or error JSON) to stdout and[Info] Http Status: NNNto stderr on every call; non-2xx also exits 1 and adds[Warn] jf api: <method> <url> returned NNN. Pipe stdout tojqdirectly; never2>&1 | jq— stderr corrupts the JSON. To keep diagnostics:jf api <path> 2>/tmp/err-$$.log | jq..jf apihas no-L(follow redirects) and no-o(output file). Save bodies with shell redirection (jf api... > /tmp/out-$$.json); for binary downloads through the Artifactory remote proxy preferjf rt dl, which handles the cache and redirect semantics natively.- Remote repository content is stored in a
-cachesuffixed repo. Properties and AQL queries for remote repo artifacts must target the cache repo. Conversely,/api/repositories/<key>only accepts the parent remote key (without-cache) — strip the suffix for configuration lookups. - Do not use
jf rt search— always use a direct AQL query viajf api /artifactory/api/search/aql -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/plain" -d '<aql>'. Seereferences/artifactory-aql-syntax.md. - Use
--quietflag for non-interactive execution (suppresses confirmation prompts). Caution:--quietis not a global flag — commands that do not support it (e.g.jf rt s,jf rt ping) will fail with misleading errors like "Wrong number of arguments" or "flag provided but not defined". Check--helpfor a command before adding--quiet. - Use
--server-idwhen targeting a non-default server. If a command fails with--server-id, do not retry without it — that silently targets the default server instead. See Server selection rules. - Never use interactive commands. All JFrog CLI operations must be performed non-interactively. Known interactive commands to avoid:
jf config add,jf login,jf rt repo-template,jf rt permission-target-template, andjf rt replication-template. For server setup, followreferences/jfrog-login-flow.md. For templates, use JSON schemas or REST API. If a command prompts for input unexpectedly, find the non-interactive alternative via--helpor REST API. jf config exportoutput is base64-encoded JSON. Decode withbase64 -d | jqto extract fields.- Build info lookups require a scope (
?buildRepo=or?project=) — resolve it before calling the API. Seereferences/artifactory-operations.md§Retrieving build info for the full workflow. - If a
jf apicall returns 401, the configured token may have expired or been rotated — ask the user to re-run the login flow (seereferences/jfrog-login-flow.md) for the same server. If 403, the token lacks required permissions. If 404, verify the endpoint path (especially the product prefix) and target server version. On any of these errors, do not try a different configured server as a workaround — that targets a different environment. Report the error and ask the user. - Xray contextual analysis: the summary artifact response has two applicability fields —
applicability(top-level, often null) andapplicability_details(always present with aresultstring). Useapplicability_details[].resultfor counts and summaries. Using the top-levelapplicabilityfield for aggregation produces wrong counts because it is null when no scanner exists. Seereferences/xray-entities.md§Contextual analysis for the eight possible result values and jq snippets. - OneModel GraphQL: always fetch the supergraph schema from the same server you query before building operations (schemas differ by deployment); cache, validate, and execute per
references/onemodel-graphql.md. - Never duplicate a network-fetching command to retry
jqparsing — save the response to a temp file first (see Preserving command output). - When collecting detail responses in a loop (e.g. per-repo GETs), validate each body with
jq -e.before appending to a results file. One non-JSON or empty response corrupts a downstreamjq -sslurp. Write validated lines to an NDJSON file, thenjq -s '.' file.ndjsonto produce the final array. Seereferences/general-bulk-operations-and-agent-patterns.md. - Accumulated edge cases from real tasks live in
references/general-use-case-hints.md— read when debugging odd failures; append a short entry when you confirm a new, reusable gotcha.
Cautious execution
Do not run commands speculatively. Before executing any JFrog CLI command or API call:
- Confirm the operation is needed to fulfill the user's request
- Resolve the target server using the Server selection rules above — there must be no ambiguity about which server is used
- For mutating operations (create, update, delete, upload), confirm with the user unless the intent is clearly implied
- Prefer read operations first to understand current state before making changes
- If any command fails with a server-level error (not found, auth, network), stop and ask the user — never retry against a different server
- Never invent preparatory mutations. If the requested operation fails because a precondition is not met (artifact missing from the specified repo, repository does not exist, package not at the expected location, build not found), stop and report the gap to the user. Do not perform copy, move, upload, create-repo, or any other mutating operation to satisfy the precondition unless the user explicitly asks for it. These "helper" mutations can have cascading effects the user has not considered — virtual repository resolution changes, storage quota consumption, replication triggers, Xray re-indexing, or permission propagation.
Batch and parallel execution
When a task requires multiple independent operations, use the lightest parallelism mechanism that fits. Three tiers: (1) batch commands in a single Shell call using loops or &, (2) issue parallel Shell tool calls, (3) launch parallel subagents for large fan-out. Read references/general-parallel-execution.md (~135 lines) for tier selection, examples, and subagent prompt structuring.
Preserving command output
When a CLI command or API call returns data, redirect the output to a temporary file so you can re-read it without re-executing the call:
OUT=/tmp/jf-repos-$$.json
jf api /artifactory/api/repositories > "$OUT"
echo "$OUT"Use $$ (the shell PID) in the filename to prevent collisions across concurrent sessions or processes.
Cross-call gotcha: each Shell tool invocation runs in a new process with a different PID, so $$ expands to a different value in each call. Always echo the expanded filename so the agent can read it from the output and reuse the literal path in subsequent calls. Three patterns, in priority order:
$$+ echo (preferred): use$$for collision safety, echo the path as shown above. The agent reads/tmp/jf-repos-12345.jsonfrom the output and passes that literal value to the next Shell call.- Session ID: when many files share a prefix across calls, generate an ID once (
SID=$(date +%s)-$$), echo it, and reuse in later calls. - Hardcoded names: last resort — risks collisions when parallel calls or subagents write to the same path.
This protects against wasted round-trips when you need to retry parsing — for example, if a jq filter fails or you extract the wrong field on the first attempt. Re-read the file instead of hitting the server again.
Do not duplicate the same network request in a shell pipeline (e.g. with ||) only to re-run jq or to reveal jq diagnostics—the duplicate call adds load on JFrog without fetching new data. Run jq '<filter>' /tmp/jf-*-$$.json (or redirect stdin from the file) instead of re-running the same jf api or other identical network-backed command.
Do not reuse saved output across unrelated steps or changed contexts (different server, user, or intent). The file is only valid for the immediate sequence of operations that motivated the original call.
When to read reference files
Load the most specific file for the task at hand. Avoid loading more than 2-3 reference files for a single operation — start with the most relevant one and only load additional files if the first doesn't cover the need. File sizes vary (~25–640 lines); larger files are noted with approximate line counts below.
Cross-domain
- Disambiguating a JFrog entity, understanding entity types, or planning operations that span multiple products: read
references/jfrog-entity-index.md, then follow pointers to the relevant domain file - Looking up documentation URLs: read
references/jfrog-url-references.md
Artifactory
- Repository types, artifacts, builds, properties, or permission targets (concepts): read
references/artifactory-entities.md(~220 lines) - Stored packages, package versions, version locations, or the metadata layer over Artifactory (concepts): read
references/stored-packages-entities.md(~165 lines) - Repo, file, build, permission, user/group, or replication operations: read
references/artifactory-operations.md(for listing builds with a known project key: RESTGET /api/build?project=, thenGET /api/build/<name>?project=— see § *Listing builds when the project key is known*) - AQL queries: read
references/artifactory-aql-syntax.md(~585 lines) - Artifactory REST beyond the CLI, structured JSON templates (replacing interactive wizards), or any Artifactory API gap: read
references/artifactory-api-gaps.md(~220 lines)
Xray & security
- Watches, policies, violations, components, or vulnerability scanning (concepts): read
references/xray-entities.md(~290 lines) - Exposures scanning results (secrets, IaC, service misconfigurations, application security risks): read
references/xray-entities.md§ Exposures (Advanced Security) - Curation audit events (approved/blocked packages, dry-run policy evaluations, curation export): read
references/xray-entities.md§ Curation audit events
Release lifecycle & distribution
- Release bundles, lifecycle stages, distribution, or evidence (concepts): read
references/release-lifecycle-entities.md(~180 lines) - Applications, application versions, releasables, promotions, or AppTrust (concepts): read
references/apptrust-entities.md(~155 lines)
Catalog
- Public or custom catalog, package metadata, vulnerability advisories, licenses, OpenSSF, or MCP services (concepts): read
references/catalog-entities.md(~190 lines) - CVE details, vulnerability lookup by CVE ID, or severity/affected-packages/fix-versions for a specific CVE: go directly to
references/onemodel-query-examples.md§ *Public security domain* for thesearchVulnerabilitiesquery shape — this is self-contained; do not load thejfrog-package-safety-and-downloadskill for pure CVE lookups
OneModel (GraphQL)
- GraphQL queries (applications, packages, evidence, release bundles, catalog, cross-domain, or "list/search my" platform entities): read
references/onemodel-graphql.md(~325 lines) - Query templates and domain-specific examples: read
references/onemodel-query-examples.md(~555 lines) - Pagination, filtering, GraphQL variables, or date formatting: read
references/onemodel-common-patterns.md(~280 lines)
Platform administration
- Platform structure, project/repo membership, or project roles vs environments (concepts): read
references/platform-access-entities.md - Access tokens, stats, projects, or system health: read
references/platform-admin-operations.md - Managing JFrog Projects, members, or environments: read
references/projects-api.md(~260 lines) - Platform REST beyond the CLI, or any platform-level API gap: read
references/platform-admin-api-gaps.md(~180 lines)
CLI setup & authentication
- Adding a server or logging in: read
references/jfrog-login-flow.md(~130 lines) - CLI not installed, upgrade needed, or
jqunavailable: readreferences/jfrog-cli-install-upgrade.md
General patterns
- Batching, parallel Shell calls, or launching subagents: read
references/general-parallel-execution.md(~135 lines) - Large or parallel data gathering, list-vs-detail APIs, sandbox/cache issues: read
references/general-bulk-operations-and-agent-patterns.md - Standalone HTML report with JFrog-aligned styling: read
references/jfrog-brand-html-report.md - Reusable gotchas from past tasks: read or extend
references/general-use-case-hints.md