Jfrog Create Repos

JFrog Create Repositories

Prefer jf api (../../../platform-features/skills/jfrog-cli/jf-api-patterns.md) after jf config; curl snippets are fallback when the CLI is unavailable.

Creates repositories scoped to a JFrog project. Supports three modes:

1. Ecosystem-only -- auto-generates standard trios (local + remote + virtual) per ecosystem
2. Repositories-only -- creates exactly the repos listed in custom definitions
3. Both (smart merge) -- generates ecosystem trios, then applies custom overrides and additions

Inputs

• project_key -- the JFrog project key (must already exist)
• ecosystems -- (optional) list from: npm, maven, pip, go, docker, helm
• repositories -- (optional) list of custom repository definitions from the manifest (see schema in templates/manifest-template.yaml)
• xray_enabled -- boolean, resolved by the orchestration skill (per-project override or global default). When true, Xray indexing is enabled on local and remote repos and {{XRAY_INDEX}} in templates is set to true. When false, indexing is skipped and {{XRAY_INDEX}} is set to false.
• curation_enabled -- boolean, resolved by the orchestration skill (per-project override or global default). When true, Curation is activated on remote repos after creation.
• naming_pattern -- (optional) object from detect-existing-patterns skill that controls how repo names are generated. When not provided, the standard pattern is used. See Dynamic Naming below.

At least one of ecosystems or repositories must be provided. If neither is set, skip repo creation for this project.

Repository Naming

Standard Pattern (default)

The standard naming convention, used when naming_pattern is not provided:

Dynamic Naming (from detected patterns)

When naming_pattern is provided, repo names are generated dynamically using its fields:

Name generation logic

SEP="${NAMING_SEPARATOR:--}"

# Map ecosystem name to repo name token
ECO_TOKEN="$ECOSYSTEM"
case "$ECOSYSTEM" in
  pip) ECO_TOKEN="${ECO_MAP_PIP:-pypi}" ;;
  # Add additional eco_map entries here if detected
esac

# Local repo key
LOCAL_TYPE="${TYPE_MAP_LOCAL:-local}"
LOCAL_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}${SEP}${ECO_TOKEN}${SEP}${LOCAL_TYPE}"

# Remote repo key
REMOTE_TYPE="${TYPE_MAP_REMOTE:-remote}"
REMOTE_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}${SEP}${ECO_TOKEN}${SEP}${REMOTE_TYPE}"

# Virtual repo key
VIRTUAL_SUFFIX="${NAMING_VIRTUAL_SUFFIX:-}"
if [ -z "$VIRTUAL_SUFFIX" ]; then
  VIRTUAL_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}${SEP}${ECO_TOKEN}"
else
  VIRTUAL_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}${SEP}${ECO_TOKEN}${SEP}${VIRTUAL_SUFFIX}"
fi

When naming_pattern is not provided, the logic above produces the same names as the standard pattern table (separator -, no virtual suffix, pip -> pypi).

Important: Custom repos defined in the repositories list always use their explicit key values, regardless of naming_pattern. Dynamic naming only applies to ecosystem-generated trios.

Smart Merge Logic (ecosystems + repositories)

When both ecosystems and repositories inputs are provided, build a merged repo list before creating anything:

Step A: Generate ecosystem repos

For each ecosystem, generate the three repos (local, remote, virtual) using the Dynamic Naming logic above (or the standard pattern if naming_pattern is not provided). Build their JSON payloads from the templates. Store them in a map keyed by the generated repo key.

Step B: Apply custom overrides and additions

Iterate through the repositories list:

1. Override -- if a custom repo's key matches an ecosystem-generated key, merge the custom fields into the ecosystem-generated payload. Custom fields take precedence. For example, a custom entry for myproj-npm-local with description: "Custom desc" and xray_index: false overrides those fields while keeping the rest from the template.
2. Addition -- if the custom repo's key does not match any ecosystem-generated key, add it as a new entry.

Step C: Validate virtual repo references

For each virtual repo (ecosystem-generated or custom), check that every entry in aggregated_repos refers to a repo key that exists in the merged list. If any reference is missing, abort and report the invalid reference before creating any repos.

Step D: Determine creation order

Sort the merged list for creation: remote repos first, then local repos, then virtual repos. This ensures virtual repos can reference already-created repos.

Custom Repository JSON Payload

For custom repos (those not derived from ecosystem templates), build the JSON payload inline from manifest fields:

# Example: custom local repo
cat <<REPOEOF
{
  "key": "${REPO_KEY}",
  "rclass": "${REPO_TYPE}",
  "packageType": "${PACKAGE_TYPE}",
  "projectKey": "${PROJECT_KEY}",
  "description": "${DESCRIPTION}",
  "xrayIndex": ${XRAY_INDEX}
}
REPOEOF

For custom remote repos, also include "url": "${URL}".

For custom virtual repos, include "repositories" (the aggregated list) and optionally "defaultDeploymentRepo":

cat <<REPOEOF
{
  "key": "${REPO_KEY}",
  "rclass": "virtual",
  "packageType": "${PACKAGE_TYPE}",
  "projectKey": "${PROJECT_KEY}",
  "description": "${DESCRIPTION}",
  "repositories": ["repo-a", "repo-b"],
  "defaultDeploymentRepo": "${DEFAULT_DEPLOY_REPO}"
}
REPOEOF

Per-repo xray_index in custom definitions: if the custom repo specifies xray_index, use that value. Otherwise, inherit from the resolved xray_enabled input (project-level or global).

Workflow

0. Load credentials

# Load .env if JFROG_URL or JFROG_ACCESS_TOKEN are not already set
if [ -z "$JFROG_URL" ] || [ -z "$JFROG_ACCESS_TOKEN" ]; then
  if [ -f .env ]; then
    set -a; source .env; set +a
  fi
fi

0b. Verify project exists (MANDATORY)

Before creating any repositories, verify the target project exists. If the project does not exist, Artifactory silently ignores the projectKey in the repo payload and creates repos that are not assigned to any project. This makes them invisible to project-scoped queries (?project={key}) and breaks deletion, reconciliation, and other project-aware operations.

jf api "/access/api/v1/projects/$PROJECT_KEY" >/tmp/jf-cr-proj.json 2>/tmp/jf-cr-proj.code
HTTP_CODE=$(tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/jf-cr-proj.code)

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" != "200" ]; then
  echo "ABORT: Project '$PROJECT_KEY' does not exist (HTTP $HTTP_CODE)."
  echo "Create the project first using the jfrog-provision-project skill."
  exit 1
fi

Do not proceed with repo creation if this check fails.

Build the merged repo list (see Smart Merge Logic above), then create repos in order: remote first, then local, then virtual.

For each repo in the merged list:

1. Create Repository

Ecosystem-generated repos (from templates):

# Generate REPO_KEY using the Dynamic Naming logic (see above).
# Example with standard pattern:
#   REPO_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}-${ECO_TOKEN}-${LOCAL_TYPE}"
# Example with detected pattern (separator="_", virtual_suffix="virtual"):
#   REPO_KEY="${PROJECT_KEY}_${ECO_TOKEN}_${LOCAL_TYPE}"

PAYLOAD=$(sed "s/{{PROJECT_KEY}}/$PROJECT_KEY/g; s/{{REPO_KEY}}/$REPO_KEY/g; s/{{XRAY_INDEX}}/$XRAY_INDEX/g" \
  templates/repos/${ECOSYSTEM}-${TYPE}.json)
jf api "/artifactory/api/repositories/$REPO_KEY" -X PUT \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$PAYLOAD"

Custom repos (from repositories list, no matching template):

# Build JSON payload inline from manifest fields (see Custom Repository JSON Payload above)
jf api "/artifactory/api/repositories/$REPO_KEY" -X PUT \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$CUSTOM_JSON_PAYLOAD"

Overridden repos (ecosystem-generated + custom fields merged):

Start from the ecosystem template JSON, then overlay custom fields using jq:

PAYLOAD=$(sed "s/{{PROJECT_KEY}}/$PROJECT_KEY/g; s/{{REPO_KEY}}/$REPO_KEY/g; s/{{XRAY_INDEX}}/$XRAY_INDEX/g" \
  templates/repos/${ECOSYSTEM}-${TYPE}.json)
# Merge custom overrides
PAYLOAD=$(echo "$PAYLOAD" | jq '. + {"description": "Custom desc", "xrayIndex": false}')
jf api "/artifactory/api/repositories/$REPO_KEY" -X PUT \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$PAYLOAD"

2. Verify

jf api "/artifactory/api/repositories/$REPO_KEY" | jq '.key, .type, .packageType'

Template Substitution

Before sending each JSON template, replace these placeholders:

• {{PROJECT_KEY}} -- the project key
• {{REPO_KEY}} -- the full repository key (e.g., myproj-npm-local)
• {{XRAY_INDEX}} -- true or false based on the resolved xray_enabled input

Use sed or string substitution in the shell:

# Determine XRAY_INDEX value from the resolved xray_enabled input
XRAY_INDEX="true"   # or "false" based on xray_enabled

sed "s/{{PROJECT_KEY}}/$PROJECT_KEY/g; s/{{REPO_KEY}}/$REPO_KEY/g; s/{{XRAY_INDEX}}/$XRAY_INDEX/g" \
  templates/repos/npm-local.json

5. Xray Indexing (Conditional)

Skip this step entirely if xray_enabled is false. When xray_enabled is false, the {{XRAY_INDEX}} placeholder was already set to false in the repo templates, so repos are created without Xray indexing and no further action is needed.

When xray_enabled is true, after all repositories for a project are created, check if Xray is available on the platform and add repos to the indexed resources.

Check Xray Availability and Get Binary Manager ID

All API calls below follow the Safe API Call Pattern (see jfrog-platform rule) -- capture HTTP status and body separately, check status before parsing with jq.

jf api /artifactory/api/xrayRepo/getIntegrationConfig \
  >/tmp/xray-config.json 2>/tmp/xray-config.code
HTTP_CODE=$(tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/xray-config.code)

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ]; then
  XRAY_AVAILABLE=$(jq -r '.xrayEnabled' /tmp/xray-config.json)
else
  XRAY_AVAILABLE="false"
fi

• XRAY_AVAILABLE="true" -- Xray is available and enabled on the platform
• XRAY_AVAILABLE="false" or null/empty -- Xray is not available; skip indexing and warn the user

If Xray is available, discover the binary manager ID (required for the indexing API):

HTTP_CODE=$( (jf api "/xray/api/v1/binMgr" >/tmp/xray-binmgr.json 2>/tmp/xray-binmgr.code) ; tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/xray-binmgr.code )

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ]; then
  BIN_MGR_ID=$(jq -r '.[0].bin_mgr_id // "default"' /tmp/xray-binmgr.json)
else
  BIN_MGR_ID="default"
fi

Important: If xray_enabled is true in the manifest but Xray is not available on the platform, do not abort. Log a warning to the user:

"Xray indexing was requested but Xray is not available on this platform. Repositories were created without Xray indexing."

Enable Indexing on Repositories

If Xray is available, enable indexing on all newly created local and remote repos (not virtual). This includes both ecosystem-generated repos and custom repos from the repositories list. For custom repos, only index those whose resolved xray_index is true (explicit per-repo value, or inherited from xray_enabled).

Uses the PUT /xray/api/v1/binMgr/{id}/repos API (docs).

IMPORTANT: The PUT /xray/api/v1/binMgr/{id}/repos endpoint replaces the entire indexed repos list. Sending only the new repos will remove all previously indexed repos. Always GET the current list first, merge in new repos (dedup by name), and PUT the combined set. Add a 1-second delay between sequential API calls to avoid triggering platform rate limits.

# Step 1: GET the existing indexed repos (safe pattern)
HTTP_CODE=$( (jf api "/xray/api/v1/binMgr/$BIN_MGR_ID/repos" >/tmp/xray-current.json 2>/tmp/xray-current.code) ; tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/xray-current.code )

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ]; then
  EXISTING=$(jq '.indexed_repos // []' /tmp/xray-current.json)
else
  echo "WARN: Could not GET current Xray index (HTTP $HTTP_CODE), using empty list"
  EXISTING="[]"
fi

# Step 2: Build the JSON array of NEW repos to add
# Use known values from the ecosystem -- do NOT make extra API calls to look up rclass/packageType
NEW_REPOS='[
  {"name": "'${PROJECT_KEY}'-npm-local", "type": "local", "pkg_type": "npm"},
  {"name": "'${PROJECT_KEY}'-npm-remote", "type": "remote", "pkg_type": "npm"},
  {"name": "myproject-thirdparty-remote", "type": "remote", "pkg_type": "generic"}
]'

# Step 3: Merge existing + new, deduplicate by name
MERGED=$(echo "$EXISTING" "$NEW_REPOS" \
  | jq -s 'add | group_by(.name) | map(.[0])')

# Step 4: PUT the merged list (safe pattern)
echo "{\"indexed_repos\": $MERGED}" >/tmp/xray-merged-create-repos.json
jf api "/xray/api/v1/binMgr/$BIN_MGR_ID/repos" -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --input /tmp/xray-merged-create-repos.json >/tmp/xray-put-resp.json 2>/tmp/xray-put-resp.code
HTTP_CODE=$(tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/xray-put-resp.code)

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" = "200" ]; then
  echo "OK: Xray index updated"
else
  echo "ERROR: Xray index PUT failed (HTTP $HTTP_CODE)"
  cat /tmp/xray-put-resp.json
fi

Only include repos that were actually created and have Xray indexing enabled. Virtual repos do not need indexing -- Xray scans artifacts in local and remote repos.

Report the Xray indexing result to the user:

• If enabled: "Xray indexing enabled on {N} repositories"
• If not available: "Xray is not available on this platform; skipping indexing"

6. Curation (Conditional)

Skip this step entirely if curation_enabled is false. Curation only applies to remote repositories.

When curation_enabled is true, after all repositories for a project are created, check if Curation is available on the platform and enable it on remote repos.

Check Curation Availability

jf api /curation/api/v1/system/status >/dev/null 2>/tmp/curation-status.code
CURATION_STATUS=$(tr -d '\r\n' < /tmp/curation-status.code)

• HTTP 200 -- Curation is available
• Any other code -- Curation is not available; skip and warn the user

Important: If curation_enabled is true in the manifest but Curation is not available on the platform, do not abort. Log a warning to the user:

"Curation was requested but is not available on this platform. Repositories were created without Curation."

Enable Curation on Remote Repositories

If Curation is available, enable it on each newly created remote repository -- both ecosystem-generated and custom remote repos:

# For each remote repo (ecosystem-generated or custom):
REPO_KEY="${REMOTE_REPO_KEY}"
jf api "/curation/api/v1/repos/${REPO_KEY}" -X PUT \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"curated": true}'

Report the Curation result to the user:

• If enabled: "Curation enabled on {N} remote repositories"
• If not available: "Curation is not available on this platform; skipping"

Error Handling

• 409 Conflict: Repo already exists -- skip and continue
• 400 Bad Request: Invalid configuration -- check JSON template
• After all repos are created, report which succeeded and which were skipped

Official Documentation

For full API details and upstream URLs, see reference.md. For detailed npm setup, see npm.md. For detailed Docker setup, see docker.md.

• Artifactory REST APIs
• Repository Management

Related skills

For Artifactory repo schema, API reference, and general repository concepts, see platform-features (jfrog-artifactory).