Binary Management with Artifactory

JFrog CLI is a lightweight, intelligent client that streamlines automation across JFrog products. By simplifying automation scripts, it improves both readability and maintainability. When integrated with JFrog Artifactory, JFrog CLI enhances script efficiency and reliability through several key capabilities.

Before You Begin

To use the features described on this page:

Install JFrog CLI — see Installing JFrog CLI.
Configure a server — run jf config add to connect JFrog CLI to your Artifactory instance. See Artifactory Authentication for all available authentication methods.

Structured command output

JFrog CLI 2.105.0 and later support --format json and --format table on many jf rt commands for script-friendly output. See jf rt output format for supported commands, defaults, and examples.

Advanced Upload and Download Capabilities

Concurrent Operations

JFrog CLI accelerates automated builds by enabling concurrent artifact uploads and downloads using a configurable number of threads (controlled by the --threads flag). For large artifacts, you can specify the number of chunks to enable parallel downloads (controlled by the --split-count flag).

Resume capability: Chunked (multi-part) transfers allow interrupted downloads to restart from where they left off — only the missing chunks are re-fetched, identified by checksum. This means you can pause lengthy operations and resume them later without restarting from scratch.

Checksum-Based Optimization

The CLI optimizes both upload and download operations by skipping artifacts that already exist at their target location:

Upload optimization: Before uploading, JFrog CLI queries Artifactory using the artifact's checksum. If the artifact already exists in Artifactory's storage, the CLI skips transmission and Artifactory updates only its database as needed.
Download optimization: Downloads automatically skip artifacts whose checksum matches a file already present at the target path — if the local file has changed, it is re-downloaded.

Flexible Pattern Matching

JFrog CLI provides flexible file collection options for streamlined artifact management:

Operation	Supported Patterns
Upload	Wildcard patterns, Regular expressions, ANT patterns
Download	Wildcard patterns

Package Manager and Build Tool Integration

JFrog CLI provides native integration with popular package managers and build tools, simplifying package management and publishing workflows across your development ecosystem.

Supported technologies include:

Technology	Command
npm	`jf npm`
Yarn	`jf yarn`
Maven	`jf mvn`
Gradle	`jf gradle`
Docker / Podman	`jf docker`
Go	`jf go`
Python pip	`jf pip`
Python pipenv	`jf pipenv`
Python poetry	`jf poetry`
Python twine	`jf twine`
NuGet / .NET	`jf nuget` / `jf dotnet`
Ruby gems	`jf ruby-config` (configuration only — use bundle install / gem natively for package operations)
Conan	`jf conan`
Terraform	`jf terraform`
Helm	`jf helm`

For native mode setup shared across all build tools, see Setting Up a Build Tool with Artifactory.

Ruby gems — configuration only (current release): JFrog CLI currently supports Ruby projects through jf ruby-config, which saves your Artifactory server and repository preferences locally. Package installation and publishing continue to use native bundle install and gem commands directly. Broader Ruby gem command integration is planned for a future release.

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Ruby gems — configuration only: JFrog CLI currently supports Ruby projects through jf ruby-config, which saves your Artifactory server and repository preferences locally. Package installation and publishing continue to use the native bundle install directly. Broader Ruby gem command integration is planned for a future release.

Build-Info Support

What is Build-Info?

Build-Info is a comprehensive metadata Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) that captures detailed information about build components. It serves as a vital source of information for traceability and security.

Key Benefits

Storing Build-Info metadata in Artifactory enables:

Traceability - Track components across your software supply chain
Analysis - Gain insights into build composition and dependencies
Security - Identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance
Quality assurance - Monitor and improve build quality over time

Captured Metadata

Build-Info captures critical build data in JSON format for access and integration:

Project module details
Artifacts and binaries
Dependencies and transitive dependencies
Environment variables
Version history
Build timestamps and identifiers

For more information, see Build Integration.

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Note
JFrog CLI is designed to work across the entire JFrog Platform, providing a unified automation interface for DevOps workflows.