[curation audit] jf ca with --working-dirs on npm workspace project fails with ENOWORKSPACES

Describe the bug

JFrog CLI version

2.71.4 and above

Operating system

Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Linux 6.17.0-22-generic)

Command

jf ca --working-dirs="<workspace-path>"

The project is an npm monorepo that utilises workspaces in the root package.json.

I am trying to run curation audit for a specific workspace directory using the --working-dirs option (both relative and absolute paths have been tested).

Setup / Environment

• Project type: npm monorepo with root workspaces
• Node.js version: 22.14.0
• Npm version: 10.9.2
• Workspace configuration in project's root package.json:

"workspaces": [
  "containers/frontend",
  "containers/backend",
  "containers/cms",
  "containers/jobs"
]

• Workspace package names: frontend, backend, jobs
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Linux 6.17.0-22-generic)
• JFrog CLI: reproducible on 2.71.4 (CI), also observed on newer local CLI (2.103.0)
• Registry setup: Artifactory npm virtual repo via jf npm-config

Describe the bug

When running jf curation-audit (jf ca) with --working-dirs in an npm workspace monorepo, dependency resolution fails with npm workspace errors, even when targeting a specific workspace directory.

Commands used

JFrog setup

jf config add <server-id> --url=<artifactory-url> --user=<user> --password=<token> --interactive=false --overwrite
jf npm-config --server-id-resolve=<server-id> --repo-resolve=<npm-virtual-repo>

JFrog curation audit

# relative
jf ca --working-dirs=containers/backend

# absolute
jf ca --working-dirs=/absolute/path/to/repo/containers/backend

# multiple directories
jf ca --working-dirs="/abs/.../containers/backend,/abs/.../containers/frontend,/abs/.../containers/cms,/abs/.../containers/jobs"

Current behavior

Failure: ENOWORKSPACES
jf ca --working-dirs="/abs/.../containers/backend,/abs/.../containers/frontend,/abs/.../containers/cms,/abs/.../containers/jobs"
fails during npm dependency resolution with:

npm error code ENOWORKSPACES
npm error This command does not support workspaces.

Reproduction steps

1. Use an npm project with root workspaces.
2. Configure JFrog CLI and npm resolver (jf config add, jf npm-config).
   Run:
   jf ca --working-dirs=containers/backend
   or
   jf ca --working-dirs=/absolute/path/to/containers/backend
   Observe npm failure: ENOWORKSPACES: This command does not support workspaces.

Expected behavior

jf ca --working-dirs=<workspace-path> should audit the specified workspace directory without triggering npm ENOWORKSPACES errors.

JFrog CLI version

2.103.0

Operating system type and version

Linux 6.17.0-22-generic (Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS)

Additional observation that may help triage:

In my environment, the ENOWORKSPACES failure goes away when I run jf ca with --run-native and force npm to a version < 9.2 (for example, npm 9.1.2).

With npm 9.1.2 + --run-native, the curation audit works.
With my project’s current npm version (10.9.2), I hit the workspace-related failure path.

So this appears to be related to npm version compatibility/invocation behaviour in workspace mode.

JFrog Artifactory version

No response

JFrog Xray version

No response

Start at the curation-audit jf ca entry point and trace how --working-dirs invokes npm for workspace projects. Reproduce with the root package.json, a workspace such as containers/backend, and npm 10.9.2; compare with npm 9.1.2 and --run-native. Done means the targeted workspace audits without an ENOWORKSPACES failure.