rsyncvsc

Automatically sync your VS Code workspace to a remote server using rsync over SSH — on save or on demand.

Features

• Sync on save — workspace is synced to the remote every time you save a file
• Manual sync — run rsync: Sync Workspace from the command palette anytime
• Config file per project — settings live in .rsyncvscconfig at the workspace root, not in VS Code settings
• Exclude support — ignore files via an exclude file or inline patterns in the config
• SSH agent support — works with ssh-agent so no key path is required if your key is already loaded
• Status bar indicator — shows sync state (idle, syncing, success, error) at a glance

Requirements

• rsync must be installed and available in PATH
• SSH access to the remote server (either via key or ssh-agent)

Setup

1. Create .rsyncvscconfig in your workspace root

The extension only activates when this file is present. Create it with at minimum:

{
    "enabled": true,
    "remoteHost": "user@192.168.1.100",
    "remotePath": "/var/www/myproject",
    "extraArgs": ["-avz", "--delete"]
}

2. Set up SSH authentication

You have two options:

Option A — SSH key (explicit)

Generate a key pair and copy the public key to the remote server:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
ssh-copy-id user@192.168.1.100

Then add the key path to your config:

{
    "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_rsa"
}

Option B — ssh-agent (no key path needed)

If your key is already loaded in ssh-agent, just omit privateKeyPath entirely. The extension will authenticate through the agent automatically.

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa   # run once; macOS/Windows load keys automatically on login

Configuration

All configuration lives in .rsyncvscconfig at the workspace root. The file supports // comments.

Path formats

All path fields (privateKeyPath, rsyncIgnoreFile) accept:

• Relative — resolved against the workspace root: ".rsyncignore"
• Tilde — expanded to home directory: "~/.ssh/id_rsa"
• Absolute — used as-is: "/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa"

Full example

{
    "enabled": true,
    "remoteHost": "user@192.168.1.100",
    "remotePath": "/var/www/myproject",
    "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_rsa",
    "extraArgs": ["-avz", "--delete"],

    // Option A: point to an ignore file
    "rsyncIgnoreFile": ".rsyncignore",

    // Option B: inline patterns (used only if rsyncIgnoreFile is not set)
    "rsyncIgnorePatterns": [
        "node_modules",
        ".git",
        "dist",
        "*.log",
        ".env",
        ".DS_Store"
    ]
}

Commands

Known Issues

• Sync runs on every file save. There is no debounce for rapid successive saves.
• Password-based SSH authentication is not supported. Use an SSH key or ssh-agent.

Release Notes

0.0.1

Initial release.