SFTP by MUJEER

Professional FTP, FTPS, and SFTP workflows for Visual Studio Code. Built by MUJEER for developers who want fast mapped-folder publishing, upload-on-save, folder sync, and a polished transfer console without leaving the editor.

Publisher: MUJEER

SFTP turns a local project folder into a controlled remote publishing workspace. Map once with sftp-config.json, then save, upload, download, or sync from the Explorer and keep your attention on code instead of file-transfer chores.

Highlights

• Upload on save with clear terminal telemetry
• Map any local folder to a remote folder
• Right-click file and folder actions in the VS Code Explorer
• Upload and download individual files from the Explorer
• Compare a local file with its remote version
• Browse mapped remote folders from VS Code
• Edit remote files in a temporary VS Code editor and upload them on save
• Upload only files changed since the last Git commit
• Test connection health before deploying
• Copy mapped remote paths from files or folders
• Delete remote files or folders with explicit confirmation
• Upload folders, download folders, and sync in either direction
• FTP, FTPS, and SFTP connection support
• Password authentication and SSH private key authentication
• Overwrite protection for newer remote or local files
• Configurable confirmations for downloads and sync operations
• Ignore rules for generated files, VCS folders, system files, and private config
• JSON-with-comments support for friendly sftp-config.json files
• Colored SFTP transfer terminal with progress bars and status badges
• Automatic terminal reveal during transfers and optional hide-on-success
• Multi-root friendly config discovery using the closest parent mapping

Explorer Workflow

Right-click a mapped file and open the SFTP menu:

• Upload File publishes the selected local file to its mapped remote path.
• Download File pulls the mapped remote file back into the selected local file.
• Compare File with Remote downloads a temporary remote copy and opens a VS Code diff.
• Edit Remote File opens the mapped remote copy in VS Code and uploads it back when saved.
• Copy Remote Path copies the mapped remote path for use in terminals, tickets, or deployment notes.
• Delete Remote File removes the mapped remote file after confirmation.

Right-click a mapped folder and open the SFTP menu:

• Map to Remote creates sftp-config.json for a folder.
• Edit Remote Mapping updates the configured remote_path.
• Upload Folder publishes every non-ignored local file below the folder.
• Download Folder pulls matching remote files into the selected folder.
• Browse Remote lists remote files and folders, lets you navigate directories, and offers edit, download, copy, and delete actions for remote files.
• Upload Changed Files publishes tracked and untracked Git changes below the selected folder.
• Sync Local -> Remote uploads local files and can remove remote files that no longer exist locally.
• Sync Remote -> Local downloads remote files and can remove local files that no longer exist remotely.
• Test Connection validates credentials and remote path access.
• Copy Remote Path copies the mapped remote folder path.
• Delete Remote Folder removes the mapped remote folder after confirmation.

Folders with an existing sftp-config.json use that mapping automatically. If you open a parent workspace containing several projects, SFTP uses the closest mapping above the selected file or folder.

Save Flow

When upload_on_save is enabled, saving a mapped file starts an upload immediately. Ctrl+S / Cmd+S is bound to SFTP: Save and Upload Current File, so pressing save can upload the current file even when VS Code has no unsaved text changes.

The status bar shows the current transfer state. The SFTP terminal shows a branded, colored transfer feed with:

• timestamps
• status badges: INFO, RUN, DONE, SKIP, FAIL
• Linux-style animated progress bars
• local and remote path summaries
• skipped file and warning messages
• connection diagnostics
• compact success and failure summaries

By default, save-triggered transfers reveal the terminal while work is happening and hide the panel after success.

Remote edit sessions use the same save pipeline. When a remote file is opened through Edit Remote File or Browse Remote, saving that temporary editor uploads the file back to its original remote path.

Configuration

Create sftp-config.json at the folder you want to map. The file supports comments and trailing commas.

{
  "type": "sftp",
  "save_before_upload": true,
  "upload_on_save": true,
  "sync_down_on_open": false,
  "sync_skip_deletes": false,
  "sync_same_age": true,
  "confirm_downloads": false,
  "confirm_sync": true,
  "confirm_overwrite_newer": false,

  "host": "example.com",
  "user": "deploy",
  "password": "your-password",
  "port": "22",

  "remote_path": "/public_html",
  "ignore_regexes": [
    "sftp-config(-alt\\d?)?\\.json",
    "sftp-settings\\.json",
    "/node_modules/",
    "/vendor/",
    "/dist/",
    "/build/",
    "/coverage/",
    "\\.svn/",
    "\\.hg/",
    "\\.git/",
    "\\.bzr",
    "_darcs",
    "CVS",
    "\\.DS_Store",
    "Thumbs\\.db",
    "desktop\\.ini",
    "\\.env"
  ],

  "connect_timeout": 30
}

Config Reference

Git-Aware Publishing

SFTP: Upload Changed Files uses Git to find files changed since HEAD, plus untracked files that are not ignored by Git. The command respects ignore_regexes and uploads only existing local files below the selected mapped folder.

This gives you a quick publish flow for small fixes without uploading a whole project tree.

VS Code Settings

Security Notes

• SFTP never writes passwords to the terminal or output log.
• sftp-config.json is ignored by default and is not uploaded unless allow_config_upload is true.
• Prefer SSH keys for SFTP deployments when your server supports them.
• Keep project-specific mappings inside the project folder they deploy.
• Treat sftp-config.json as a secret if it contains passwords.

Commands

• SFTP: Save and Upload Current File
• SFTP: Upload Current File
• SFTP: Show Status
• SFTP: Upload File
• SFTP: Download File
• SFTP: Compare File with Remote
• SFTP: Edit Remote File
• SFTP: Delete Remote File
• SFTP: Copy Remote Path
• SFTP: Upload Folder
• SFTP: Download Folder
• SFTP: Browse Remote
• SFTP: Upload Changed Files
• SFTP: Sync Local -> Remote
• SFTP: Sync Remote -> Local
• SFTP: Delete Remote Folder
• SFTP: Test Connection
• SFTP: Edit Remote Mapping
• SFTP: Map to Remote

Launch Scope

This release focuses on reliable mapped-folder workflows: save upload, file and folder upload/download, remote browsing, remote edit sessions, remote diff, Git-aware changed-file publishing, one-way sync in either direction, colored transfer telemetry, overwrite protection, connection diagnostics, and config-driven project mapping.

Future commercial workflow areas include persistent transfer pools, transfer history, profile switching, SSH agent discovery UI, and richer bulk conflict resolution.

Troubleshooting

Run SFTP: Show Status from the command palette to reveal the transfer terminal and list detected mappings.

If a folder command asks you to map the folder, confirm that sftp-config.json exists at the folder root or one of its parent folders inside the workspace.

If a save does not upload, confirm that upload_on_save is true, the file is inside a mapped folder, and the file is not excluded by ignore_regexes.