JFrog CLI for Skills

This page is the complete CLI reference for jf agent skills in JFrog CLI v2.98.0 or later. It covers every command, flag, and environment variable.

For repository setup, REST API usage, and semantic scanning, see Skills Repositories.

All examples use the full command path (for example, jf agent skills publish). Standard JFrog CLI server override flags (--url, --user, --password, --access-token, --server-id) apply to every command. When omitted, credentials and server URL come from your active jf config profile.

Commands and reference

When to Use

Use jf agent skills when you manage AI agent skills in JFrog Artifactory Skills repositories. You can publish skill bundles, install them for supported harnesses, search the registry, update local installs, list repository or installed skills, and delete versions from a repository.

Prerequisites

Before using jf agent skills, you need:

• A Skills local repository in JFrog Artifactory. See Create Skills Repository.
• JFrog CLI v2.98.0 or later configured to point to your JFrog Artifactory server. For installation, see JFrog CLI quick start. For Skills-specific configuration, see Configure JFrog CLI for Skills.

The following tasks cover each command in the jf agent skills namespace:

• Publish a Skill
• Install a Skill
• Search Skills
• Update a Skill
• List Skills
• Delete a Skill

Commands at a Glance

The following table summarizes each command in the jf agent skills namespace (same order as jf agent skills --help).

Publish a Skill

Packages the local skill folder into a zip and uploads it to JFrog Artifactory. The version is read from the version field in SKILL.md frontmatter. If no version is present, the CLI prompts you to enter one. In CI or --quiet mode, the CLI auto-increments to the next minor SemVer from the latest published version (or defaults to 0.1.0 when no versions exist).

For evidence signing and semantic scanning details, see Publish Skills with JFrog CLI.

To publish a skill folder to a Skills repository:

jf agent skills publish <PATH_TO_SKILL_FOLDER> --repo <REPOSITORY_NAME>

Where:

• <PATH_TO_SKILL_FOLDER>: Path to the skill folder containing SKILL.md (CLI argument name: path)
• <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Skills local repository key in JFrog Artifactory

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills publish.

Examples

Publish with auto-discovered repository:

jf agent skills publish ~/skills_dev/myskill

Publish to a specific repository and record build-info:

jf agent skills publish ~/skills_dev/myskill \
  --repo skills-local \
  --build-name my-pipeline \
  --build-number 42

Publish with a version override:

jf agent skills publish ~/skills_dev/myskill --repo skills-local --version 1.2.0

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Note

The scan timeout is configurable via JFROG_CLI_SKILLS_SCAN_TIMEOUT (default: 5m). See Skills Environment Variables.

Install a Skill

Downloads a skill zip from JFrog Artifactory and installs it for one or more AI agent harnesses, or to a custom local directory.

To install a skill from a Skills repository:

jf agent skills install <SKILL_NAME> \
  (--harness <HARNESS_NAME[,HARNESS_NAME...]> [--project-dir <DIR>] | --harness <HARNESS_NAME> --global | --path <DIR>) \
  [--repo <REPOSITORY_NAME>] \
  [--version <SKILL_VERSION>]

This matches the usage string registered in the CLI: jf agent skills install <slug> (--harness … | --path <dir>) [--repo <repo>] [--version <ver>].

Where:

• <SKILL_NAME>: Skill slug in the repository (CLI argument name: slug)
• <HARNESS_NAME>: Built-in or custom harness name (comma-separated for multiple harnesses)
• <DIR>: Project root (--project-dir) or direct install base path (--path)
• <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Skills local repository key (optional when auto-discovered)
• <SKILL_VERSION>: SemVer or latest. When omitted, the CLI resolves the highest available SemVer.

One of --harness or --path is required.

Install Modes

The following table describes where installed skills are placed.

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills install.

Evidence Verification

During installation, the CLI automatically verifies evidence using public keys stored in JFrog Artifactory. No local signing keys are needed on the installer's side.

If verification fails:

• Interactive terminal: You are prompted to proceed or abort.
• CI or --quiet mode: The install fails. Set JFROG_SKILLS_DISABLE_QUIET_FAILURE=true to convert a failure to a warning and proceed.

Examples

Install for Cursor (project-scoped, current directory):

jf agent skills install myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local --version 1.0.0

Install for multiple harnesses at once:

jf agent skills install myskill --harness cursor,claude-code --repo skills-local --version latest

Install globally for Cursor:

jf agent skills install myskill --harness cursor --global --repo skills-local

Install to a custom local path (--path only). Don't combine --path with --harness:

jf agent skills install myskill --path ./vendor/skills [--repo skills-local] [--version 1.0.0]

Get machine-readable output:

jf agent skills install myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local --format json

Example JSON response:

{
  "slug": "myskill",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "results": [
    {
      "agent": "cursor",
      "scope": "project",
      "path": "/path/to/project/.cursor/skills/myskill",
      "status": "ok",
      "detail": "Executed successfully with no issues."
    }
  ]
}

Install Metadata

On successful install, the CLI writes .jfrog/skill-info.json under each installed skill directory. This manifest records the source repository, installed version, harness, scope, and project directory. jf agent skills list --harness and jf agent skills update use this file for registry comparisons and update targeting.

Supported Built-in Harnesses

JFrog CLI resolves install paths from built-in defaults or from ~/.jfrog/agents/agent-config.json under the skills-agents key. The following harnesses are supported out of the box. All paths support ~/ expansion.

To add or override a harness, create or edit ~/.jfrog/agents/agent-config.json:

{
  "skills-agents": {
    "my-agent": {
      "projectDir": ".my-agent/skills",
      "globalDir": "~/.my-agent/skills"
    }
  }
}

Custom entries override built-in defaults with the same name (case-insensitive).

Search Skills

Searches for skills by name or keyword across one or all discoverable Skills repositories.

To search for skills by name or keyword:

jf agent skills search <QUERY> [--repo <REPOSITORY_NAME>]

Where:

• <QUERY>: Skill name or search term (CLI argument name: query)
• <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Optional Skills repository key to limit the search

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills search.

Examples

Search across all repositories:

jf agent skills search code-review

Search within a specific repository, JSON output:

jf agent skills search summarize --repo skills-local --format json

Example JSON response:

[
  {
    "name": "summarize-pr",
    "version": "1.2.0",
    "repository": "skills-local",
    "description": "Summarizes pull request changes."
  }
]

Update a Skill

Updates an installed skill to a newer (or specific) version. The command compares the currently installed version against the target version and skips targets that are already up to date. If the update fails, the previous install is automatically restored from a backup.

To update an installed skill to a newer or specific version:

jf agent skills update <SKILL_NAME> \
  (--harness <HARNESS_NAME[,HARNESS_NAME...]> [--project-dir <DIR>] | --harness <HARNESS_NAME> --global | --path <DIR>) \
  [--repo <REPOSITORY_NAME>] \
  [--version <TARGET_VERSION>]

Where:

• <SKILL_NAME>: Skill slug to update (CLI argument name: slug)
• <HARNESS_NAME>, <DIR>, <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Same as jf agent skills install
• <TARGET_VERSION>: Target SemVer or latest (default)

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills update.

Behavior

• Targets not yet installed are reported as failed (run jf agent skills install first).
• Targets already at the target version are reported as skipped (use --force to reinstall).
• Downloads the zip once and copies it to all eligible targets.
• On failure for any individual target, the previous install is restored from a temporary backup under <install-base>/.skill-backup/ (for example, .cursor/skills/.skill-backup/ in project-scoped mode).

Examples

Update myskill to the latest version for the Cursor harness (project-scoped):

jf agent skills update myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local

Update to a specific version with dry-run preview:

jf agent skills update myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local --version 2.0.0 --dry-run

Force reinstall even if already at target version:

jf agent skills update myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local --force

Get machine-readable update summary:

jf agent skills update myskill --harness cursor --repo skills-local --format json

Example JSON response:

{
  "slug": "myskill",
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "results": [
    {
      "agent": "cursor",
      "scope": "project",
      "path": "/path/to/project/.cursor/skills/myskill",
      "status": "ok",
      "detail": "Executed successfully with no issues."
    }
  ]
}

List Skills

Lists skills in the following modes (matching jf agent skills list --help):

• Registry (--repo): Skills in a Skills repository
• Project-local: --harness with optional --project-dir (default: current directory)
• Global-local: --harness --global

Exactly one of --repo or --harness is required. --repo and --harness are mutually exclusive. --global and --project-dir are mutually exclusive. For list mode, --harness accepts a single harness name (not comma-separated).

To list skills in a repository or installed for a harness:

# List skills in a repository
jf agent skills list --repo <REPOSITORY_NAME> [--limit <N>] [--sort-by updated|downloads]

# List skills installed for a harness (project-scoped)
jf agent skills list --harness <HARNESS_NAME> [--project-dir <DIR>]

# List skills installed for a harness (global)
jf agent skills list --harness <HARNESS_NAME> --global

Where:

• <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Skills repository to list (mutually exclusive with --harness)
• <HARNESS_NAME>: Harness for installed-skill listing (single name only)
• <N>: Maximum number of results when listing a repository

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills list.

Status Values for Check Updates

When you use --check-updates with --harness, the STATUS column uses the following values.

Examples

List all skills in a repository, sorted by most downloaded:

jf agent skills list --repo skills-local --sort-by downloads

List skills installed for the Cursor harness and check for updates:

jf agent skills list --harness cursor --check-updates

JSON output of locally installed skills:

jf agent skills list --harness cursor --format json

Example JSON response (harness mode):

[
  {
    "name": "myskill",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "description": "Does something useful.",
    "repo": "skills-local",
    "path": ".cursor/skills/myskill"
  }
]

JSON output from a repository listing:

jf agent skills list --repo skills-local --format json

Example JSON response (repository mode):

[
  {
    "name": "myskill",
    "version": "1.2.0",
    "description": "Does something useful.",
    "source": "Repo: skills-local"
  }
]

Delete a Skill

Removes a specific version of a skill from a Skills repository. The CLI doesn't show an interactive confirmation prompt. Deletion is immediate.

For the full delete walkthrough, see Delete Skills.

To delete a skill version from a Skills repository:

jf agent skills delete <SKILL_NAME> --version <SKILL_VERSION> [--repo <REPOSITORY_NAME>]

Where:

• <SKILL_NAME>: Skill slug to delete (CLI argument name: slug)
• <SKILL_VERSION>: Version to remove (required)
• <REPOSITORY_NAME>: Skills repository key (optional when auto-discovered)

Flags

The following table lists flags for jf agent skills delete.

Examples

Delete a specific version:

jf agent skills delete myskill --version 1.0.0 --repo skills-local

Preview what would be deleted:

jf agent skills delete myskill --version 1.0.0 --repo skills-local --dry-run

Skills Repository Resolution

All jf agent skills commands accept --repo to specify the target Skills repository. When --repo is omitted, the CLI resolves the repository using the following priority order:

1. --repo flag value
2. JFROG_SKILLS_REPO environment variable
3. Auto-discovery: queries JFrog Artifactory for all local Skills repositories
   • If exactly one is found, it is used automatically.
   • If multiple are found in interactive mode, you are prompted to select one.
   • If multiple are found in CI or quiet mode, the command fails with the list of options.

Skills Environment Variables

Consolidated Reference

The following table lists environment variables for the jf agent skills namespace.

Key-Resolution Order for Signing Keys on Publish

The publish command checks signing key sources in this order, using the first non-empty value:

1. --signing-key flag
2. EVD_SIGNING_KEY_PATH environment variable
3. JFROG_CLI_SIGNING_KEY environment variable

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Note

For build-info on publish, JFROG_CLI_BUILD_NAME and JFROG_CLI_BUILD_NUMBER set the build name and number when the corresponding flags are omitted. The --build-name and --build-number flags override the environment variables.

Related Topics

• Skills Repositories
• Agent Commands
• JFrog CLI Command Reference
• JFrog CLI quick start
• Publish Skills with JFrog CLI
• Install Skills with JFrog CLI