SFTP+ MCP

Full read/write access to SFTP/FTPS servers in VS Code with AI/Copilot integration

SFTP+ solves the read-only limitation of existing SFTP extensions by mounting remote servers as native Windows drives using rclone and WinFsp. NEW in v0.2.8: the Host Details panel now keeps a stable tab order, switches more reliably between Settings, Console, and Files, and recovers more cleanly when a mounted drive becomes unreadable.

Features

• 🤖 Copilot Integration - Give GitHub Copilot read/write access to remote files
• 🔌 Connect/Disconnect - Mount FTPS/SFTP servers as Windows drives
• 📁 Full Read/Write - Edit files directly, changes sync automatically
• 🖥️ Session Console - Inspect test/connect/reconnect logs per host in the Details view
• 🔐 FTPS Certificate Recovery - Detect certificate failures and enable auto-accept from the UI
• 🔐 Secure Credentials - Passwords stored in VS Code's secure storage
• 🚀 Auto-Connect - Optionally connect on VS Code startup
• 🔄 Auto-Reconnect On Drop - Restore an established connection after unattended disconnects
• 📊 Status Bar - See active connections at a glance
• 🌳 Tree View - Manage connections from the activity bar
• 📂 File Browser - Browse remote files directly in VS Code
• 🔍 Visual Compare - Open a native VS Code diff between local tracked files and the mounted host version
• 🤖 Agent Review From Compare - Ask the active MCP agent to review host differences against the opened local file
• ⚙️ Hybrid Config - Store connections globally or per-workspace

🤖 Copilot Integration

SFTP+ provides Language Model Tools that allow GitHub Copilot to interact directly with your remote files. This uses VS Code's native Language Model API - no external MCP server configuration required!

Note: This feature is specific to GitHub Copilot in VS Code. It is not a standalone MCP server.

How to Enable

1. Connect to your SFTP/FTPS server
2. In the file browser, click the AI icon (robot) next to a file or folder
3. Choose the access mode:
   • 🟢 Local Mode - Copilot edits a local copy, you review changes with diff preview before uploading
   • 🔴 Host Mode - Copilot writes directly to the remote server (use with caution)

Available AI Tools

Once MCP is enabled, Copilot can use these tools:

sftp-plus_list_connections now returns recoveryAction, recoveryHint, and autonomousReconnectAvailable so the agent can distinguish between immediate reconnect, manual reconnect, and no-op states after a drop or VS Code reload.

MCP Access Semantics

When Copilot access is enabled, SFTP+ now distinguishes between two path-level modes:

• Local mode: the agent may download a granted file locally with sftp-plus_prepare_edit and then edit the local copy with normal diff preview.
• Host mode: the agent may directly browse, read, and write the mounted remote path with SFTP+ MCP tools.

Practical consequences:

1. Direct remote browsing and reading (list_files, read_file, search_files, get_tree) require Host access on the file or one of its parent folders.
2. prepare_edit requires either Local or Host access on the target file.
3. If Copilot access is fully disabled for the connection, SFTP+ MCP tools are no longer kept registered for that session state.

Sync Status Indicators

Tracked files show their sync status with colors:

• 🔴 Red - Remote is newer (needs download)
• 🔵 Blue - Local is newer (needs upload)
• 🟢 Green - Synced

Local edits are detected even when the file size stays exactly the same. A small change like replacing 6 with 4 now correctly switches the tracked file to local-newer.

Compare And Review

For tracked files that are out of sync:

• Compare opens a native VS Code side-by-side diff between the local tracked file and the currently mounted host version.
• Review with Agent appears when MCP is active for the host. It opens the local tracked file and asks the active agent to review host differences by proposing edits on the local file only, so you can accept or reject them through the normal Copilot review flow.

To avoid accidental overwrite actions:

• Download is only shown when the host is newer or the file is not downloaded locally.
• Upload is only shown when the local tracked file is newer.
• Compare/review actions are shown only for single-file tracked selections that are out of sync.

Upload Changes

After editing a local copy, right-click the file and select "Upload" in the SFTP+ file browser, or use "Upload to Host" from the Explorer/editor commands, to sync your changes back to the server.

Original File Backup

SFTP+ automatically backs up the original server version of every file before it's first modified — by an AI agent or a manual download. Backups are stored in .sftp-plus/originals/ and are never overwritten, so you can always rollback to the pre-modification state.

.sftp-plus/
├── tracking.json              # Sync metadata
├── {connection}/              # Working copies (editable)
│   └── path/to/file.php
└── originals/                 # Immutable server snapshots
    └── {connection}/
        └── path/to/file.php

Prerequisites

SFTP+ requires two external tools (Windows only). The extension can install them automatically via winget - just click on rclone or WinFsp in the SFTP+ panel.

Manual installation (optional)

If you prefer to install manually:

rclone:

winget install Rclone.Rclone

WinFsp:

winget install WinFsp.WinFsp

Note: A system reboot may be required after installing WinFsp.

Quick Start

1. Install the extension
2. Open the SFTP+ panel in the Activity Bar
3. Click the prerequisites (rclone/WinFsp) to install if needed
4. Click + to add a new connection
5. Fill in server details and save
6. Click the connection to mount it as a Windows drive!

Configuration

Connection Options

Note: idleTimeout is set to 0 by default since v0.1.5, meaning connections stay open as long as VS Code is running. The extension monitors connection health and will notify you if a connection is lost.

Storage Options

Connections can be stored in two locations:

• Global (settings.json) - Available in all workspaces
• Workspace (.vscode/sftp_plus.json) - Specific to current workspace

Passwords are stored securely in VS Code's SecretStorage, or optionally in the workspace JSON file.

Workspace Configuration File

You can create or edit .vscode/sftp_plus.json manually to configure connections for your workspace:

{
  "connections": [
    {
      "name": "My Server",
      "host": "ftp.example.com",
      "port": 21,
      "protocol": "ftps",
      "username": "myuser",
      "password": "mypassword",
      "remotePath": "/",
      "driveLetter": "Z",
      "autoConnect": false,
      "autoReconnectOnDrop": false,
      "explicitTls": true,
      "ignoreCertErrors": false
    }
  ]
}

Password Storage Options

To store the password in the workspace file, simply add the password field to your connection object. If omitted, SFTP+ will prompt for the password and store it securely in VS Code's SecretStorage.

⚠️ Security Warning: If you add passwords to sftp_plus.json, make sure to add .vscode/sftp_plus.json to your .gitignore to avoid committing credentials to version control.

SFTP+ also adds .sftp-plus/ to the workspace-local Git exclude file when that workspace is a Git repository, so mirrored working copies and tracking metadata do not pollute normal Git status output.

Extension Settings

Commands

How It Works

1. SFTP+ uses rclone to connect to your FTPS/SFTP server
2. WinFsp creates a virtual Windows drive
3. The remote filesystem is mounted to a drive letter (e.g., Z:)
4. VS Code can read/write files as if they were local
5. rclone syncs changes back to the server automatically

Note: SFTP+ uses the --inplace option to write directly to files without temporary .partial files. This ensures maximum compatibility with FTP/FTPS servers.

Limitations

• Windows only - WinFsp is Windows-specific
• External dependencies - Requires rclone and WinFsp installation
• Network-dependent - Performance depends on server latency

Troubleshooting

"rclone not found"

Make sure rclone is installed and in your PATH:

rclone version

"WinFsp not installed"

Install WinFsp and reboot if necessary:

winget install WinFsp.WinFsp

Connection fails

1. Check server address and port
2. Verify username and password
3. For FTPS certificate failures, open the host Console tab and enable ignoreCertErrors if you want to auto-accept the certificate
4. Check the host Console tab and the Output panel (View → Output → SFTP+) for logs

If the console shows symlinks not supported without the --links flag, enable Support symlinks on that connection and reconnect. New connections enable this by default, and older saved connections without an explicit value now inherit the safe default automatically. An explicit saved false still disables symlink support.

If the console shows vfs cache: failed to download together with forcibly closed by the remote host, the FTP/FTPS server closed the connection during a file read. In that case:

1. Reduce syncRate or temporarily switch it to 0 while diagnosing the host.
2. Close the Files tab if it is auto-refreshing tracked files.
3. Avoid repeated compare/download/read operations until the connection is stable again.
4. Reconnect the host so SFTP+ can restart a clean rclone mount.

Copilot access and Host write access are different controls:

1. Disabling Copilot access for a connection should remove SFTP+ tools for that connection.
2. Revoking Host mode only removes direct server writes for the selected path. It does not imply that all remote reads are disabled while Copilot access remains enabled.

Fix in 0.2.7: the Host Details panel now keeps a stable Settings > Console > Files order, returns focus to Console during disconnect, and switches to Files as soon as the mounted drive is ready. Together with the 0.2.6 mount-recovery work, this removes the tab flashing and inconsistent post-connect focus observed during reconnect and new-session testing.

Drive not appearing

The mount may take a few seconds. Check for available drive letters.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome on GitHub.

License

MIT © 2026 Raphael Cornuz