An artifact is a key concept within sfp. An artifact is a point in time snapshot of a version of a package, as mentioned in sfdx-project.json . The snapshot contains source code of a package directory , additional metadata information regarding the particular version, changelog and other details. An artifact for 2GP package would also contain details such as Subscriber Package Version ID
In the context of sfp, packages are represented in your version control, and artifact is an output of a the build command when operated on a package
Artifacts provide an abstraction over version control, as it detaches the version control from from the point of releasing into a salesforce org. Almost all commands in sfp operates on an artifact or generates an artifact.
In the context of sfp, an artifact represents a more enhanced concept compared to a Salesforce package. While it is based on a Salesforce package or specific package types introduce by sfp, an artifact in sfp includes additional attributes and metadata that describe the package version, dependencies, installation behavior, and other context-specific information relevant to the CI/CD process. Artifacts in sfp are designed to be more than just a bundle of code and metadata; they encapsulate the package along with its CI/CD lifecycle information, making them more aligned with DevOps practices. sfp's artifacts are built to be compatible for npm package supported registries , most CI/CD providers provide a npm compatible registry to host these packages/artifacts. Here is the link to operate on Github Package Manager for instance (https://docs.github.com/en/packages/working-with-a-github-packages-registry/working-with-the-npm-registry)
Artifacts built by sfp follow a naming convention that starts with the <name_of_the_package>sfpowerscripts_artifact_<Major>.<Minor>.<Patch>-<BuildNumber>. One can use any of the npm commands to interact with sfp artifacts.
