Alfs FTP Plugin for Visual Studio Code

A powerful and user-friendly FTP plugin for Visual Studio Code with advanced features for file synchronization.

Main Features

🔒 Advanced SSL/TLS Support
- Configurable security settings
- Certificate validation options
🌈 Customizable User Interface
- Configurable colors for different file states
- Selectable date formats (EU/US)
- Optional icon display
🌍 Multilingual Support
- English and German available
- Easy language selection in settings
🔄 Intelligent Synchronization
- Timestamp comparison for precise updates
- Visual highlighting of file differences
🛠️ Automatic Configuration Updates
- Seamless update of existing settings
- Preservation of custom values

Installation

Open Visual Studio Code
Go to Extension Marketplace (Ctrl+Shift+X)
Search for "Alfs FTP Plugin"
Click Install

Configuration

Create an ftp-settings.json file in your workspace with the following options:

{
  "host": "ftp.example.com",
  "user": "username",
  "password": "password",
  "port": 21,
  "secure": false,
  "root": "/",
  "name": "FTP Server",
  "ignoreCertificateErrors": true,
  "rejectUnauthorized": false,
  "showFileActions": true,
  "compareTimestamps": true,
  "language": "en",
  "ui": {
    "newerLocalColor": "#0066cc",
    "remoteOnlyColor": "#ff6b6b",
    "showIcons": true,
    "dateFormat": "EU"
  }
}

Settings Explanation

Basic Settings
- host: FTP server address
- user: Username
- password: Password
- port: FTP port (default: 21)
- secure: Enable FTPS (true/false)
- root: Remote root directory
Advanced Settings
- name: Display name for the server
- ignoreCertificateErrors: Ignore SSL certificate errors
- rejectUnauthorized: SSL certificate validation
- showFileActions: Show file actions in UI
- compareTimestamps: Enable timestamp comparison
UI Settings
- newerLocalColor: Color for newer local files
- remoteOnlyColor: Color for remote-only files
- showIcons: Show icons in tree view
- dateFormat: Date format (EU/US)
Language Settings
- language: Language (en/de)

Usage

Open the FTP Explorer in the sidebar
Connect to the FTP server
Navigate through the directory structure
Use context menus for upload/download
Observe changes through color highlighting

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+Alt+U: Upload file
Ctrl+Alt+D: Download file
Ctrl+Alt+C: Open settings

Support

For questions or issues, please visit our GitHub page.

License

MIT - see LICENSE for details.

Key Features

🚀 One-click connection with auto-connect option
📂 Easy file and folder upload/download with progress indication
🎨 Visual status indicators:
- 🔵 Blue (#0066cc): Files that are newer locally and need to be uploaded
- 🟠 Orange (#ff8c00): Files that exist only on the server
- ⚪ Normal: Files that are in sync
🎯 Icon indicators in FTP Explorer:
- 🔌 Connect: Establish FTP connection
- ❌ Disconnect: Close FTP connection
- ⬆️ Upload: Upload selected file/folder
- ⬇️ Download: Download selected file/folder
- 📝 Debug: Show debug log
- ➡️ Toggle: Expand/collapse all folders
⏱️ Automatic timestamp synchronization
🔄 Bi-directional synchronization
🔍 Integrated debug view
📱 Clean and intuitive UI
🖱️ Double-click to open files directly
📊 Progress bars for all operations

Security Notes

⚠️ Don't store sensitive data in version control
🚫 Add ftp-settings.json to your .gitignore
🔒 Use FTPS when possible
👤 Use an FTP user with minimal required permissions

Getting Started

Open the FTP Explorer view in the sidebar
The extension will automatically detect that no configuration exists
Click "Yes" when prompted to create a sample configuration
The ftp-settings.json will be created and opened automatically
Adjust the settings according to your FTP server:

The generated configuration file will contain these default settings:

{
    "host": "ftp.example.com",
    "user": "username",
    "password": "password",
    "port": 21,
    "secure": false,
    "root": "/",
    "name": "FTP Server",
    "ignoreCertificateErrors": true,
    "rejectUnauthorized": false,
    "showFileActions": true,
    "compareTimestamps": true,
    "language": "en",
    "ui": {
        "newerLocalColor": "#0066cc",
        "remoteOnlyColor": "#ff6b6b",
        "showIcons": true,
        "dateFormat": "EU"
    }
}

Configuration Options

host: FTP server hostname
user: Username for authentication
password: Password for authentication
port: FTP port (default: 21)
secure: Use FTPS (default: false)
root: Root directory on server (default: "/")
name: Display name for the connection
ignoreCertificateErrors: Ignore SSL certificate errors (default: true)
rejectUnauthorized: Reject unauthorized SSL certificates (default: false)
showFileActions: Show upload/download icons in UI (default: true)
compareTimestamps: Enable timestamp comparison (default: true)
language: Interface language, "en" or "de" (default: "en")
ui.newerLocalColor: Color for newer local files (default: "#0066cc")
ui.remoteOnlyColor: Color for remote-only files (default: "#ff6b6b")
ui.showIcons: Show file type icons (default: true)
ui.dateFormat: Date format, "EU" or "US" (default: "EU")

UI Customization

The extension provides several ways to customize the visual appearance:

Color Settings
- newerLocalColor: Highlights files that are newer locally
- remoteOnlyColor: Highlights files that only exist on the server
Date Format
- EU: DD.MM.YYYY HH:mm:ss
- US: MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:ss AM/PM
Language
- en: English interface
- de: German interface
Visual Indicators
- File status colors
- File type icons
- Progress bars for operations
- Connection status indicators
Open the FTP Explorer view in the sidebar
Click the connect button or wait for auto-connect
Start working with your files!

Features in Detail

Visual File Status

Blue files: Indicate local changes that need to be uploaded
Orange files: Show server-only files that aren't downloaded yet
Normal files: In sync between local and server

File Operations

Upload: Click the upload icon next to any local file
Download: Click the download icon next to any server file
Open: Double-click any file to open it in the editor
Bulk Operations: Upload/download entire folders with progress tracking

Expand/Collapse All: Toggle all folders with one click
Auto-refresh: View updates automatically after operations
Debug Log: Quick access to operation details

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

alfsftpplugin.autoConnect: Enable/disable automatic connection on startup
alfsftpplugin.defaultPort: Set the default FTP port (default: 21)

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.87.0 or newer
Active FTP server connection
Basic FTP server credentials

Known Issues

Please report issues on our GitHub repository

Release Notes

See our CHANGELOG.md for detailed release notes.

Contributing

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on our GitHub repository.

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License.

Enjoy seamless FTP integration with Alfs FTP Plugin!

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+Alt+U - Upload file
Ctrl+Alt+D - Download file
Ctrl+Alt+C - Configure FTP settings

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

Check the debug output (Debug icon in FTP Explorer)
Verify your ftp-settings.json configuration
Check your connection settings
Create an issue on GitHub if the problem persists

Alfs FTP Plugin

purecrea

Alfs FTP Plugin for Visual Studio Code

Main Features

Installation

Configuration

Settings Explanation

Usage

Keyboard Shortcuts

Support

License

Key Features

Security Notes

Getting Started

Configuration Options

UI Customization

Features in Detail

Visual File Status

File Operations

Navigation

Extension Settings

Requirements

Known Issues

Release Notes

Contributing

License

Keyboard Shortcuts

Troubleshooting