Better SSH

Fast multi-target SFTP sync for VS Code / Cursor, powered by rclone. Inspired by vscode-sftp, with multi-server fan-out, ProxyJump hopping, local↔remote diff, and one-click SSH terminals.

Requirements

• OpenSSH ssh client (or set betterSsh.sshPath)
• rclone — optional. Resolution order:
  1. betterSsh.rclonePath if set
  2. rclone on PATH
  3. Auto-download a pinned release into extension storage on first use (SHA-256 verified)

Install

Download the latest .vsix from Releases, then:

code --install-extension better-ssh-*.vsix
# or
cursor --install-extension better-ssh-*.vsix

Or Extensions: Install from VSIX… in the command palette.

Quick start

1. Open a workspace folder.
2. Either:
   • Command Palette → Better SSH: Config (creates .vscode/better-ssh.json), or
   • Keep an existing vscode-sftp .vscode/sftp.json (loaded automatically; better-ssh.json wins if both exist).
3. Open the Better SSH activity-bar icon, or run Better SSH: Show Remotes.
4. Upload / diff / Open Terminal.

Remote Explorer

The Remotes view lives in the Better SSH activity bar (not the native file explorer).

• View: Show Better SSH or Better SSH: Show Remotes
• Expand a target to browse remote files (via rclone)
• Click a text/image file to preview (read-only; cached locally)
• Right-click → Download from Remote / Delete on Remote
• Right-click a target root → Open Terminal (Target)

Empty view: create config, or ensure .vscode/sftp.json is valid SFTP (FTP entries are skipped).

Config

.vscode/better-ssh.json example:

{
  "uploadOnSave": true,
  "cdOnConnect": true,
  "transfers": 16,
  "checkers": 32,
  "defaultTargets": ["*"],
  "ignore": [".venv", "node_modules/", "secrets/"],
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "prod",
      "host": "example.com",
      "username": "deploy",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/app",
      "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519",
      "hop": ["bastion.example.com"]
    },
    {
      "name": "staging",
      "sshConfigHost": "staging-jump",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/app"
    }
  ]
}

• ignore: globs skipped on upload-on-save, sync, and folder-upload children. Explicit Upload of an ignored path still goes through (like vscode-sftp). New configs get a starter list (.git, .vscode, .cursor, *.code-workspace, …).
• defaultTargets: names for upload-on-save / default uploads. Use ["*"] for all.
• sshConfigHost: preferred — uses ~/.ssh/config (ProxyJump, IdentityFile, etc.).
• hop: ProxyJump list when not using sshConfigHost.

Multi-context (separate local folders)

Each target can own a local subdirectory via context. Saves under that folder only upload to that target.

{
  "uploadOnSave": true,
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "frontend",
      "context": "apps/web",
      "host": "web.example.com",
      "username": "deploy",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/web"
    },
    {
      "name": "api",
      "context": "apps/api",
      "host": "api.example.com",
      "username": "deploy",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/api"
    }
  ]
}

sftp.json array entries with context map automatically.

Commands

Remotes also appear under the terminal + dropdown as Better SSH: <name>, plus a Better SSH profile (written into workspace settings so windows stay independent). Disable with betterSsh.registerTerminalProfiles.

Context menus on Explorer files/folders and on Remotes tree roots (Open Terminal).

How it works

The extension starts a local rclone rcd daemon and drives transfers over the rclone RC API. Remotes are created dynamically with an external ssh command so hopping matches your terminal sessions. If rclone is missing from PATH, a pinned release is downloaded once into extension storage (checksum-verified).

Interactive shells use the same SSH argv builder (createTerminal + system ssh) — not VS Code Remote-SSH.

Migrating from vscode-sftp

No migration needed for day-to-day use — if .vscode/sftp.json exists and there is no better-ssh.json, Better SSH loads it (including profiles, multi-context arrays, and hop). While sftp.json is present, vscode-sftp’s usual ignores are merged (.vscode, .git, .DS_Store, and sftp.json itself).

Optional: create better-ssh.json for multi-target fan-out and rclone tuning. When both files exist, better-ssh.json takes precedence.

Passwords / passphrases in JSON are migrated into VS Code SecretStorage on load and stripped from the file. Prefer keys or ssh-agent; avoid committing secrets.

Settings

• betterSsh.rclonePath — default rclone (PATH, else managed download)
• betterSsh.sshPath — default ssh
• betterSsh.debug — verbose Output channel logs
• betterSsh.registerTerminalProfiles — inject per-target profiles into the Terminal + menu (default true)

Config transfers / checkers (default 16 / 32) control rclone file parallelism. Multiple selected folders sync in parallel; multi-select uploads run up to 8 at once.

Develop

npm install
npm run watch

Then Run Extension from a VS Code / Cursor Extension Development Host, or:

npm run build
npm run package

License

MIT