SFTPresso
Sync files between a local folder and a remote server over SFTP (SSH) or FTP/FTPS, right from VS Code. Edit locally in a familiar environment and mirror your changes to a web server, staging box, or embedded device — on every save, on demand, or continuously. The most basic setup is a few lines of config; a wide range of options covers multi-server, profile, and bastion-hop workflows.
Actively maintained by @jmwerk. Forked from Natizyskunk's vscode-sftp, which continued liximomo's original SFTP plugin after it went unmaintained. Issues and pull requests welcome.
Maintenance status: As of 2026 this fork is where fixes and updates land. Recent work includes a migration to the basic-ftp client, secure password storage, a Transfers view with per-file progress, guided config setup, and a modernized esbuild/TypeScript 5 toolchain — see the CHANGELOG for the full list.
Features
- Browse remote files in the Remote Explorer, with multi-select download/upload
- Filter the Remote Explorer (
SFTP: Filter Remote Explorer / SFTP: Clear Filter) — live substring search across the whole remote tree, including collapsed folders you haven't opened yet. (VS Code's own workbench.list.keyboardNavigation: filter setting is a handy complement for searching within a folder you've already expanded.)
- Diff a local file against its remote copy, or Compare Folders for a recursive diff
- Sync in either or both directions, with an optional dry-run preview (
syncConfirm)
- Upload/Download files, folders, or the whole project — optionally to all profiles at once
- Upload on save — with a one-click
SFTP: Toggle Upload on Save command and a status-bar indicator — and a file watcher for changes made outside the editor
- Server-side rename and move — a single remote
rename() call regardless of size, from the Remote Explorer context menu, by dragging within the Remote Explorer (remoteExplorer.enableDragAndDrop), or automatically via watcher.autoRename, instead of a full re-upload
- Add to Ignore from the file-explorer right-click menu — appends a file or folder to
ignore without hand-editing sftp.json
- Conflict check (
conflictCheck) to catch uploads that would overwrite a remote changed by someone else
- Transfers view with byte-level per-file progress, live speed/ETA, cancellation, and retry — cancelling stops the directory scan too, not just the queued files
- Test Connection from a command or a CodeLens on
sftp.json, plus a connection-status indicator in the status bar
- Secure password storage backed by the OS keychain (
SFTP: Save Password / Clear Password), plus one-click SFTP: Migrate Plaintext Password to move a password out of sftp.json
- SSH host key verification (
strictHostKeyChecking) — reads your own ~/.ssh/known_hosts so trusted hosts never prompt, and refuses to connect if a server's key ever changes
SFTP: Run Remote Command — run a shell command on the server over the existing SSH connection, no re-authentication; save common ones (remoteCommands) as a quick pick- Multiple configurations, switchable profiles, SSH connection hopping, and temp-file/atomic uploads
- Legacy-extension conflict detection — warns on startup if an older
sftp extension from @liximomo or @Natizyskunk is also enabled, since both claim the same sftp.* commands
See the command reference for the full list.
Installation
As of v1.20.2, each tagged release is published automatically to both the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX, so you can install from within your editor and get updates automatically.
From the Marketplace / Open VSX (recommended)
- Open the Extensions view (
Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X).
- Search for SFTPresso and install it — or run
ext install jmwerk.sftpresso from the Command Palette.
- If you still have an older
sftp extension installed (from @liximomo or @Natizyskunk), SFTPresso detects it on startup and prompts you to disable it — both register commands under the same sftp.* namespace, so only one can run at a time.
Listings: VS Code Marketplace (VS Code, VSCodium, and other VS Code–based editors) · Open VSX (VSCodium, Gitpod, Eclipse Theia, …).
From a VSIX (manual)
Prefer to sideload a specific build? Grab a .vsix from Releases (or build one with npm run package), then open the ⋯ (More Actions) menu at the top of the Extensions view, choose Install from VSIX…, select the file, and reload VS Code.
Quick start
Prefer a guided tour? Run Welcome: Open Walkthrough… from the Command Palette and pick Get started with SFTPresso for a native, checklist-style walkthrough of the steps below.
Open the local folder you want to sync (File → Open Folder…).
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run SFTP: Config.
When no sftp.json exists yet, choose how to create it:
- Quick setup — a guided wizard prompts for protocol, host, port, username, authentication, and remote path, then writes
sftp.json and runs SFTP: Test Connection to confirm it works.
- Edit JSON — a starter
sftp.json opens under .vscode/; fill in your server details.
A minimal config:
{
"host": "server.example.com",
"protocol": "sftp",
"username": "user1",
"remotePath": "/var/www/project",
"uploadOnSave": false
}
password is optional — leave it out to be prompted on connect (with an offer to remember it in the OS keychain). sftp.json is read as JSONC, so comments and trailing commas are allowed.
To pull an existing remote project into an empty folder, run SFTP: Download Project.
Edit locally — with uploadOnSave on, every save syncs to the remote.
Full setup, all configuration options, usage examples, troubleshooting, and FAQ live in the project wiki:
Contributing
Development requires Node 22+ (see .nvmrc). See CONTRIBUTING.md for the build, test, and pull-request workflow.
Credits
This project builds on the work of @Natizyskunk and @liximomo. If their earlier work helped you, their original donation links are in the upstream README.
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