SFTP Enhanced — sftp sync extension for VS Code

SFTP/FTP sync with encrypted password management (master passphrase, scrypt + AES-256-GCM, host lock on auth failure).

Fork of Natizyskunk/vscode-sftp (v1.16.3, MIT), itself forked from the no longer maintained liximomo's SFTP plugin. All credits for the original extension go to their authors.

VSCode-SFTP enables you to add, edit or delete files within a local directory and have it sync to a remote server directory using different transfer protocols like FTP or SSH. The most basic setup requires only a few lines of configuration with a wide array of specific settings also available to meet the needs of any user. Both powerful and fast, it helps developers save time by allowing the use of a familiar editor and environment.

Features
- Encrypted password management (see below)
- Browser remote with Remote Explorer
- Diff local and remote
- Sync directory
- Upload/Download
- Upload on save
- File Watcher
- Multiple configurations
- Switchable profiles
- Temp File support

Encrypted password management

Instead of typing the SFTP password at every connection (or storing it in plain text in sftp.json), SFTP Enhanced stores host passwords encrypted on the client:

On first use you choose a master passphrase (min 8 chars). It is never saved: an AES-256-GCM key is derived from it via scrypt.
Each host password is asked once, then stored encrypted in ~/.sftp-enhanced-creds/store.json. The file alone is useless without the master.
One master unlock per VS Code session serves all hosts — no more prompts.
On an authentication failure the host is locked (no automatic retries, so no server-side account lockout) and you are asked to update the password.
Nothing is required server-side (no SSH keys, no authorized_keys changes).

Commands (palette):

Command	Effect
`SFTP Enhanced: Update Password`	Update the stored password of a host (e.g. after expiry)
`SFTP Enhanced: Reset Credentials`	Delete master + all stored passwords (does not touch `sftp.json`)

If you used the previous patched-extension setup, the legacy store ~/.sftp-cobol-creds is imported automatically on first run (same master passphrase); the legacy file is kept untouched for rollback.

Installation

Uninstall (or disable) any other SFTP extension first (liximomo.sftp, Natizyskunk.sftp): two SFTP extensions active on the same workspace would sync files twice.

Method 1 (Recommended : Auto update)

Select Extensions (Ctrl + Shift + X).
Install SFTP Enhanced directly from the VS Code Marketplace : https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=numa-forge.sftp-enhanced.
Voilà!

Method 2 (Manual, from VSIX)

Download the .vsix from the GitHub releases.
Select Extensions (Ctrl + Shift + X).
Open "More Action" menu (ellipsis on the top) and click "Install from VSIX…".
Locate the VSIX file and select.
Reload VSCode.
Voilà!

Documentation

Configuration and commands work exactly as in the original extension, so the upstream wiki applies to this fork as well (just remember the command category here is SFTP Enhanced):

Usage

If the latest files are already on a remote server, you can start with an empty local folder, then download your project, and from that point sync.

In VS Code, open a local directory you wish to sync to the remote server (or create an empty directory that you wish to first download the contents of a remote server folder in order to edit locally).
Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac open command palette, run SFTP: config command.
A basic configuration file will appear named sftp.json under the .vscode directory, open and edit the configuration parameters with your remote server information.

For instance:

{
    "name": "Profile Name",
    "host": "name_of_remote_host",
    "protocol": "ftp",
    "port": 21,
    "secure": true,
    "username": "username",
    "remotePath": "/public_html/project", // <--- This is the path which will be downloaded if you "Download Project"
    "password": "password",
    "uploadOnSave": false
}

The password parameter in sftp.json is optional, if left out you will be prompted for a password on sync. Note： backslashes and other special characters must be escaped with a backslash.

Save and close the sftp.json file.
Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac open command palette.
Type sftp and you'll now see a number of other commands. You can also access many of the commands from the project's file explorer context menus.
A good one to start with if you want to sync with a remote folder is SFTP: Download Project. This will download the directory shown in the remotePath setting in sftp.json to your local open directory.
Done - you can now edit locally and after each save it will upload to sync your remote file with the local copy.
Enjoy!

For detailed explanations please go to wiki.

Example configurations

You can see the full list of configuration options here.

sftp sync extension for VS Code

Simple

{
  "host": "host",
  "username": "username",
  "remotePath": "/remote/workspace"
}

Profiles

{
  "username": "username",
  "password": "password",
  "remotePath": "/remote/workspace/a",
  "watcher": {
    "files": "dist/*.{js,css}",
    "autoUpload": false,
    "autoDelete": false
  },
  "profiles": {
    "dev": {
      "host": "dev-host",
      "remotePath": "/dev",
      "uploadOnSave": true
    },
    "prod": {
      "host": "prod-host",
      "remotePath": "/prod"
    }
  },
  "defaultProfile": "dev"
}

Note： context and watcher are only available at root level.

Use SFTP: Set Profile to switch profile.

Multiple Context

The context must not be same.

[
  {
    "name": "server1",
    "context": "project/build",
    "host": "host",
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password",
    "remotePath": "/remote/project/build"
  },
  {
    "name": "server2",
    "context": "project/src",
    "host": "host",
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password",
    "remotePath": "/remote/project/src"
  }
]

Note： name is required in this mode.

Connection Hopping

You can connect to a target server through a proxy with ssh protocol.

Note： Variable substitution is not working in a hop configuration.

Single Hop

local -> hop -> target

{
  "name": "target",
  "remotePath": "/path/in/target",

  // hop
  "host": "hopHost",
  "username": "hopUsername",
  "privateKeyPath": "/Users/localUser/.ssh/id_rsa", // <-- The key file is assumed on the local.

  "hop": {
    // target
    "host": "targetHost",
    "username": "targetUsername",
    "privateKeyPath": "/Users/hopUser/.ssh/id_rsa", // <-- The key file is assumed on the hop.
  }
}

Multiple Hop

local -> hopa -> hopb -> target

{
  "name": "target",
  "remotePath": "/path/in/target",

  // hopa
  "host": "hopAHost",
  "username": "hopAUsername",
  "privateKeyPath": "/Users/hopAUsername/.ssh/id_rsa" // <-- The key file is assumed on the local.

  "hop": [
    // hopb
    {
      "host": "hopBHost",
      "username": "hopBUsername",
      "privateKeyPath": "/Users/hopaUser/.ssh/id_rsa" // <-- The key file is assumed on the hopa.
    },

    // target
    {
      "host": "targetHost",
      "username": "targetUsername",
      "privateKeyPath": "/Users/hopbUser/.ssh/id_rsa", // <-- The key file is assumed on the hopb.
    }
  ]
}

Configuration in User Setting

You can use remote to tell sftp to get the configuration from remote-fs.

In User Setting:

"remotefs.remote": {
  "dev": {
    "scheme": "sftp",
    "host": "host",
    "username": "username",
    "rootPath": "/path/to/somewhere"
  },
  "projectX": {
    "scheme": "sftp",
    "host": "host",
    "username": "username",
    "privateKeyPath": "/Users/xx/.ssh/id_rsa",
    "rootPath": "/home/foo/some/projectx"
  }
}

In sftp.json:

{
  "remote": "dev",
  "remotePath": "/home/xx/",
  "uploadOnSave": false,
  "ignore": [".vscode", ".git", ".DS_Store"]
}

Remote Explorer

remote-explorer-preview

Remote Explorer lets you explore files in remote. You can open Remote Explorer by:

Run Command View: Show SFTP.
Click SFTP view in Activity Bar.

You can only view a files content with Remote Explorer. Run command SFTP: Edit in Local to edit it in local.

Multiple Select

You are able to select multiple files/folders at once on the remote server to download and upload. You can do it simply by holding down Ctrl or Shift while selecting all desired files, just like on the regular explorer view.

Note： You need to manually refresh the parent folder after you delete a file if the explorer isn't correctly updated.

Order

You can order the remote Explorer by adding the remoteExplorer.order parameter inside your sftp.json config file.