Ferry – SFTP Sync & Deploy

PyCharm-style deployment for VS Code.
Compare your project with a server, review every diff, pick the direction per file, and upload on save.

Why Ferry?

Most SFTP extensions just push files. Ferry first shows you what is different, on both sides, and lets you decide:

• 🔍 See before you sync. Every difference is listed and grouped, and one click opens a diff.
• ↕️ Choose the direction per file. Upload, download, skip or delete, for each file or a whole group.
• 🧠 Smart suggestions. Ferry remembers the last sync, so it knows which side changed and flags real conflicts.
• 🛡️ Safe by default. Nothing is transferred until you press Apply. Deleted files are never brought back on their own. Downloads never leave half-written files.
• 💾 Upload on save, with a warning if someone changed the file on the server in the meantime.
• 🌐 Browse and edit the server directly from VS Code.

Quick start

1. Install Ferry from the Marketplace (ext install davtax.ferry).
2. Open your project and click the Ferry icon in the activity bar.
3. Click Add SFTP Server, fill in the form, press Test Connection, then Save.
4. Click Compare with Server (⟳), review the list, adjust the arrows, and press ✓✓ Apply Sync.

The form covers host, port, user, authentication (password, key pair or SSH agent) and the local ↔ deployment path mapping. Detect fills in your home directory on the server. Browse… lets you navigate the server and create folders. The deployment folder is created on the server if it does not exist yet. Ferry: Edit Server… opens the same form for an existing server.

Features

Sync Changes view

Ferry compares local files with remote files and groups them into Conflicts, Modified, Only Local and Only Remote.

• Click a file to open a diff (remote on the left, local on the right). You can edit the local side directly.
• Choose ↑ upload, ↓ download or skip for each file or group with the inline buttons. Files that exist on only one side (and their Only Local / Only Remote groups) also get a 🗑 delete button: it deletes the file on the side where it still exists when you apply (local deletions go to the trash).
• The arrows only set the direction. Nothing is transferred until you press ✓✓ Apply Sync, which runs all chosen actions, or ▶ Sync Now on a single file or group. The message at the top of the panel always says what Apply will do. A * next to an action means you changed it from the suggested one.
• Hover a file to see the size and modification time of both sides, which side is newer, and exactly what the chosen action will do.

Smart direction suggestions

Ferry remembers the size and modification time of both sides at the last sync:

Remote Host view

• Browse the server and open remote files in a normal editor. Edit them and save (Ctrl+S, on macOS ⌘+S) to write straight to the server. If the file changed on the server since you opened it, VS Code asks before overwriting.
• Right-click to Rename (F2), Delete (Del, on macOS ⌘+⌫; with confirmation, works on multi-selections), create a New File / New Folder, Upload Files Here, Download, Compare with Local, Copy Remote Path or Reveal Local Counterpart.
• It starts in the project folder (marked P), but you can leave it: click the .. row (or press Alt+↑, on macOS ⌥+↑), Go to Folder… (absolute path or ~/…), Go to Home Directory, or right-click a folder → Browse From Here. Back to Project Folder returns.
• Outside the project, Compare and Download are hidden because those files have no local counterpart. Use Download To… to save one anywhere.

Keyboard shortcuts in the Remote Host view:

Progress you can trust

Transfers show a progress bar based on bytes, plus speed and time left, e.g. 42% · 215 MB / 512 MB · 11.3 MB/s · ~26s left · file 3/7. Cancel stops the running transfer straight away. Downloads go into a temporary .ferry-part file that replaces the local file only when complete, so a cancelled or failed download never leaves a truncated file.

And more

• Several servers per project. Pick the default one from the status bar or the Select Default Server button.
• Upload on save. Off by default. Turn it on from the status bar menu or with Ferry: Toggle Upload on Save.
• Explorer and editor menus. Upload to Server, Download from Server, Compare with Deployed Version, Compare with Server (on folders) and Exclude from Sync.
• Ignore patterns (gitignore syntax), combined from the ferry.defaultIgnore setting, .ferryignore in the mapped folder, each server's ignore list, and optionally .gitignore. Manage Ignore Patterns (eye icon) lets you pick files and folders in a dialog, add or remove patterns, or toggle .gitignore.

Configuration

Settings are stored in .vscode/ferry.json, and VS Code autocompletes the file:

{
  "defaultServer": "prod",
  "uploadOnSave": true,
  "servers": [
    {
      "name": "prod",
      "host": "example.org",
      "port": 22,
      "username": "me",
      "auth": "key",                           // "password", "key" or "agent"
      "remotePath": "/home/me/project",
      "localPath": "",                         // subfolder of the workspace to map (default: the whole workspace)
      "ignore": ["data/", "*.sqlite"]
    }
  ]
}

Passwords and key passphrases are asked for on first connect and stored in VS Code's secret storage, not in the file. Ferry: Forget Stored Password clears them.

Several computers (OneDrive, Dropbox, …)

ferry.json travels with the project, but some settings belong to each computer. These are kept in VS Code's storage on that computer instead:

• Private key path. With "auth": "key", Ferry uses the key path saved on this computer, then privateKeyPath from ferry.json (if that file exists here), then ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, id_ecdsa, id_rsa. If none exists, it asks once and remembers the choice.
• Saved servers. Every server you save (or find in a project's ferry.json) is remembered on this computer. In another project, Add SFTP Server offers them under Saved servers and fills in host, user, authentication, key and deployment path. Forget removes one.

Settings

Limitations

• Only the first folder of a multi-root workspace is used.
• Remote symlinks to directories are not followed.
• Upload on save only reacts to saves made in VS Code. To pick up files changed by other tools, run Compare with Server.

Development

npm install
npm run compile
npm test          # end-to-end test against an in-process SFTP server
npm run package   # builds ferry-x.y.z.vsix

Press F5 in VS Code (on a Mac, Fn+F5 if the top row controls brightness and volume) to start an Extension Development Host. To install the packaged extension, run code --install-extension ferry-0.1.0.vsix.

License

MIT