Jfrog Package Curation

JFrog Package Curation

Prerequisites

• Read ../jfrog/SKILL.md for JFrog Platform concepts, domain model, CLI setup, and API patterns.
• OneModel shapes drift by server version. Before inventing GraphQL fields or where filters, read ../jfrog/references/onemodel-graphql.md (schema fetch workflow) and ../jfrog/references/onemodel-query-examples.md (Public packages, Stored packages). Regenerate or verify queries against GET "$JFROG_URL/onemodel/api/v1/supergraph/schema" when examples fail validation.

Which path do I need?

• Package hasn't been checked or downloaded yet (is it safe / allowed / curated? download it) → go to Check & download below.
• A package operation already failed — ETARGET (npm), "no matching distribution" (pip), NU1102 (NuGet), a version missing/stripped from the registry, 403 / "blocked by curation policy", or an approved waiver not taking effect → go to Troubleshoot a failure below.

Troubleshoot a failure

Requires the JFrog MCP curation tools (jfs_curation_*); no jf CLI equivalent is used in this path. See the skill's compatibility note.

Root-causing a curation-attributable failure (ETARGET, 403, a version missing from the index, a waiver not taking effect) is a multi-step investigation — preflight checks, the two-gate model, symptom classification, then a full RCA procedure. It doesn't belong inline here since a plain download never touches it. Open references/rca-procedure.md and follow it from the top — one file, covering preflight, the #1 RULE, the two-gate model, symptom classification (Step 0), and the RCA itself (Steps 1–4, worked examples, gotchas).

Check & download

Workflow overview

flowchart TD
    A[User requests package check / download] --> B{Package in Public Catalog?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Get latest version from Catalog]
    B -->|No| D{Package in JFrog Platform Stored Packages?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Get latest version from Stored Packages]
    D -->|No| F[Package not found — stop]
    C --> G{Latest version in JFrog Platform?}
    E --> G
    G -->|Yes| H[Safe — download from JFrog Platform]
    G -->|No| I{Curation entitled?}
    I -->|Yes| J[Check curation policy via API]
    I -->|No| K[Download via remote repo]
    J -->|200 Allowed| K
    J -->|403 Blocked| M[Report curation blocked — see Troubleshoot a failure]

Parallelization opportunities

Several steps in this workflow are independent and can run in parallel to reduce total latency:

• Step 1 + Step 1 fallback: When package type is known, query both the Public Catalog (getPackage) and Stored Packages (getPackage) in parallel. Use whichever returns data; if the Public Catalog returns a hit, prefer its latestVersion for Step 2.
• Step 3 + Step 5: After determining the version, query stored package versions (JFrog Platform check) and curation entitlement (/api/system/version) in parallel. Both are independent reads — the curation result is needed immediately if the JFrog Platform check returns empty.

When issuing parallel Shell calls, each jf api call authenticates independently against the active jf config server; no shell state needs to be passed between calls.

Step 1: Find the package

Search the Public Catalog first via OneModel GraphQL, then fall back to Stored Packages if not found.

Execute the query through jf api as described in ../jfrog/references/onemodel-graphql.md; refer to ../jfrog/references/onemodel-query-examples.md for concrete query shapes.

When package type is known (e.g. npm, maven, pypi), use publicPackages.getPackage(type:, name:) (see Get a public package). Include the latestVersion { version } selection set — latestVersion is an object, not a scalar.

When type is unknown, use publicPackages.searchPackages with nameContains (see Search public packages). Add type: when the user narrows the ecosystem.

• Found → note type and latestVersion.version. Proceed to Step 2.
• Not found → the package may be 1st/2nd party. Search Stored Packages using storedPackages.searchPackages or storedPackages.getPackage (see Stored packages domain in onemodel-query-examples.md). Prefer filtering by type when known; if not, use nameContains alone.
  • Found → note type and latestVersionName (or derive a version from versionsConnection). Proceed to Step 2.
  • Not found in either → report "package not found" and stop.

If multiple results with different type values, ask the user which package type they mean.

Step 2: Determine latest version

Step 3: Check if package + latest version exists in JFrog Platform

Query stored package versions using storedPackages.searchPackageVersions with a hasPackageWith filter (see ../jfrog/references/onemodel-query-examples.md → Search stored package versions). Add a version filter for the specific version from Step 2, and request locationsConnection to get repository details (repositoryKey, repositoryType, leadArtifactPath).

Execute the query through jf api (see ../jfrog/references/onemodel-graphql.md for the invocation pattern).

• Found with locations → package is in the JFrog Platform. Report as safe to download. Proceed to Step 4.
• Not found → proceed to Step 5.

Step 4: Download from JFrog Platform

Use the location info from Step 3. Binary artifact downloads go through jf rt dl — not jf api. jf api is the unified entry point for the JFrog REST APIs (metadata, admin, curation, etc.) and does not expose the -L / -o flags needed to stream binary content through a redirect chain.

<target> must be a full file path (e.g. ./downloads/lodash-4.18.1.tgz), not a bare directory. jf rt dl --flat treats the target as a file name; passing a directory causes a misleading "open path: is a directory" error.

local / federated / remote download:

jf rt dl "<baseRepoKey>/<leadArtifactPath>" <target-file> --flat

Resolving the remote repo key: The repositoryKey returned by OneModel for remote locations often already ends in -cache (e.g. devNPM-remote-cache). jf rt dl needs the base remote repo name (without -cache). Strip the -cache suffix when present (e.g. devNPM-remote-cache → devNPM-remote). If the key does not end in -cache, use it as-is.

See the Protocol endpoints table below for the package-type-specific path format inside the repo.

Step 5: Check curation entitlement

jf api /artifactory/api/system/version \
  | jq '.addons | index("curation") != null'

• true → curation is entitled. Proceed to Step 6a.
• false → curation not available. Proceed to Step 6b.

Step 6a: Check curation policy and download

When curation is entitled, use the Xray curation API to check whether the package version is allowed across all repositories before downloading.

RESPONSE_FILE="/tmp/curation-status-$$.json"
PAYLOAD_FILE="/tmp/curation-payload-$$.json"
STDERR_FILE="/tmp/curation-err-$$.log"

jq -n \
  --arg type    "<TYPE>"    \
  --arg name    "<NAME>"    \
  --arg version "<VERSION>" \
  '{packageType:$type, packageName:$name, packageVersion:$version}' \
  > "$PAYLOAD_FILE"

set +e
jf api /xray/api/v1/curation/package_status/all_repos \
  -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --input "$PAYLOAD_FILE" \
  > "$RESPONSE_FILE" 2> "$STDERR_FILE"
RC=$?
set -e
echo "RC=$RC"; echo "$RESPONSE_FILE"

Supported packageType values: npm, pypi, maven, go, nuget, docker, gradle.

Interpreting the result with jf api: unlike plain curl, jf api surfaces the HTTP result through its exit code and a "<hh:mm:ss> [Warn] ... returned 4xx/5xx" line on stderr (not a %{http_code} suffix in stdout). The response body is always written to stdout. Parse both:

if [ "$RC" -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "Package is allowed by curation."
elif grep -q 'returned 403' "$STDERR_FILE"; then
  echo "Blocked by curation policy:"
  cat "$RESPONSE_FILE"
else
  echo "Curation check failed (rc=$RC):"
  cat "$STDERR_FILE"
fi

Evaluate the outcome:

• exit 0 → package is allowed by curation policy. Proceed to download via a remote repo (same as Step 6b).
• returned 403 on stderr → package is blocked by a curation policy. The response body explains which policy rule blocked it. Report the block reason to the user and stop — do not attempt to download. For root-cause detail beyond the block reason (why this version specifically, whether a waiver applies, what to use instead), see Troubleshoot a failure above.
• Any other non-zero exit → treat as an operational failure (auth, DNS, endpoint disabled) and report.

Step 6b: Download without curation

When curation is not entitled and the package is not in the JFrog Platform, download directly through a remote repo.

1. Find a remote repo of the right package type:

   jf api \
     "/artifactory/api/repositories?type=remote&packageType=<TYPE>" \
     | jq '.[].key'
   

2. Download — use jf rt dl against the base remote repo (without -cache); it handles both cached and uncached artifacts:

   jf rt dl "<repo>/<artifact-path>" <target-file> --flat
   

Artifact paths by package type

Use these path patterns when leadArtifactPath is not available from OneModel. The leading <repo>/ is the base repo key you pass to jf rt dl.

Gotchas

• Binary downloads vs. jf api: jf api is for REST APIs, not binary content. It does not follow redirects transparently into a binary payload and does not expose -L / -o. Always use jf rt dl (against the base remote repo, not the -cache one) for the actual artifact download.
• jf rt dl and uncached remotes: jf rt dl "<remote>/<path>" — targeting the base remote repo rather than <remote>-cache/<path> — transparently triggers the remote fetch and caches the artifact. Do not try to pre-query the proxy via jf api.
• jf rt dl --flat target must be a file path: When downloading a single artifact, pass a full output file path (e.g. ./downloads/lodash-4.18.1.tgz), not a directory. The CLI opens the target path as a file; a directory causes a cryptic "open path: is a directory" error that retries four times before failing. Derive the filename from leadArtifactPath (take the segment after the last /).
• Package type detection: If the user doesn't specify the package type, the Public Catalog search by name alone may return multiple types. Ask the user to disambiguate before proceeding.
• Curation endpoint lives under Xray: use /xray/api/v1/curation/package_status/all_repos (via jf api). Do not prefix it with /artifactory.
• Curation result discrimination with jf api: the 200/403 signal comes from jf api's exit code plus a returned NNN line on stderr, not from a %{http_code} appended to stdout. Capture stderr to a file (2> "$STDERR_FILE") and branch on RC + grep 'returned 403' as shown in Step 6a.
• Curation API package type values: Must be lowercase and match one of npm, pypi, maven, go, nuget, docker, gradle. Other values will return an error.