Remote Host Explorer

Browse, edit, upload, and download files on your servers without leaving VS Code — a deployment workflow in the spirit of PhpStorm's Remote Host tool. Works over SFTP, FTPS, and FTP.

Features

• Remote Hosts view in the Activity Bar: browse server folders, open a file, edit it, and save to upload it back.
• Safe saving: if a file changed or was deleted on the server since you opened it, you're asked before anything is overwritten.
• File operations: create files and folders, rename, delete, copy, paste, back up, and move — for one item or many at once.
• Upload and download files and whole folders between your project and the server, including upload on save and dragging files in from your file manager. Folder transfers over SFTP send several files at once.
• Compare a local file with the server's copy side by side.
• SSH terminal: open a shell on an SFTP server, already in the folder you picked.
• Project or global servers: each project shows only its own servers, unless you make a server available everywhere.
• Secure by default: credentials in your system's secure storage, SSH host key checks, and certificate checks for FTPS. See Security.

Getting started

1. Open your project folder in VS Code. If asked, choose Trust — the extension only runs in trusted folders.
2. Click the Remote Host Explorer icon in the Activity Bar, then Add Server....
3. Fill in the form:
   • Available in — This project only (default) or All projects.
   • Protocol — SFTP, FTPS, or FTP; then the host, port, and username.
   • Authentication — a password, or for SFTP a private key file or your SSH agent. The key path starts as ~/.ssh/id_rsa; change it if your key has another name, such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.
   • Remote root path — the server folder to show. Browse... lets you pick it.
   • Local mapped folder — optional, but needed for uploading and downloading. Usually your project folder.
   • Remote mapped folder — optional; the server folder your local folder matches. Leave it empty when that's the remote root path.
4. Click Test Connection, then Add Server.
5. Click the plug icon next to the server to connect, then expand it to browse.

The first time you connect to an SFTP server, VS Code shows the server's key fingerprint. Accept it if it matches what your hosting provider or administrator gives you.

Using the Remote Hosts view

• Open a file by clicking it. Saving uploads your changes.

• Right-click a file, folder, or server for all actions.

• Select several items with Cmd-click / Ctrl-click or Shift-click to delete, copy, back up, or download them together.

• Create files and folders with New File... and New Folder... on a folder or the server.

• Move items by dragging them onto a folder, or with Cut then Paste.

• Upload by dragging files or folders from Finder, File Explorer, or VS Code's Explorer onto a folder in the view. If an item with the same name already exists, you choose Replace or Skip.

• Open SSH Terminal on an SFTP server or folder opens a shell in VS Code's terminal, in that folder. It uses the extension's connection, so you don't log in again and nothing needs to be installed.

• Lost connections are picked up again: if a connected server drops (for example after sleep or a network change), its dot turns yellow and the next action — expanding a folder, opening a file, uploading — reconnects.

• Keyboard shortcuts (while the view is focused):

  Action	Windows / Linux	macOS
  Copy	Ctrl+C	Cmd+C
  Cut	Ctrl+X	Cmd+X
  Paste	Ctrl+V	Cmd+V
  Delete	Delete	Cmd+Backspace

• Create Backup makes a timestamped copy next to the file, such as index_2026-09-13_142501.php.

• Duplicate Server... on a server opens the form pre-filled with a copy, so you can add the same server with different folders. Leave the password blank to reuse the original's; it is only reused while the protocol, host, port, and username stay the same.

Uploading and downloading

Uploading and downloading need a Local mapped folder on the server. It links a folder on your computer to the server's remote root, so my-project/app/index.php maps to /var/www/app/index.php.

To browse more of the server than you map, set a Remote mapped folder as well. For example, to see a whole WordPress install but work only on your theme:

The Remote Hosts view then shows all of /var/www/site, while uploads, downloads, Compare, and upload on save use only the theme folder. Download and Compare are greyed out for items outside it.

• Upload: right-click files or folders in the Explorer and choose Upload to Remote Host, or use the cloud icon in the editor title bar (shown for files inside a mapped folder).
• Upload on save: turn on Auto-upload on save for the server.
• Download: right-click items in the Remote Hosts view, or files in the Explorer, and choose Download to Local. For servers without a local folder, or items outside the remote mapped folder, this action is greyed out.
• Existing local files are never replaced silently. If a download would overwrite a file on your computer, you choose Overwrite, Skip, or apply either to all remaining files. For a folder, all of these questions come first, before any file is transferred.
• Compare: right-click a file in the Explorer and choose Compare with Remote, or a file in the Remote Hosts view and choose Compare with Local. The server's copy opens read-only on the left.
• Large transfers show progress and can be cancelled. Over SFTP, up to four files in a folder are transferred at the same time; FTP sends one file at a time.

Ignore patterns

Ignore patterns keep files from being uploaded on save or included in folder uploads and downloads. New servers start with:

**/.git/**        **/node_modules/**   **/.vscode/**
**/.env           **/.env.*            **/.ssh/**
**/*.pem          **/*.key

These keep version control data, dependencies, editor settings, environment files, and keys off your server. Edit them in the server form, one pattern per line. * matches within a folder name, ** matches any number of folders, and ? matches one character.

A file you upload explicitly — by right-clicking it — is uploaded even if it matches a pattern.

Faster uploads with rsync (SFTP only)

Turn on Use rsync for uploads to upload with rsync over SSH, which is faster for many files. Browsing and downloading still use SFTP. This is the only feature that needs extra software on your computer:

rsync can't answer password prompts, so the server must accept your SSH key without one.

Project and global servers

To change a server's scope, edit it and change Available in. Hover over a server to see its scope and local folder.

.vscode/remote-hosts.json contains server names, hosts, usernames, and paths — never passwords. If you commit it, teammates get the same server list and enter their own credentials. If you don't want that, add .vscode/remote-hosts.json to .gitignore. Your other VS Code settings stay unaffected.

If several folders are open, a new server is saved in the folder that contains its local mapped folder, or in the first folder otherwise.

Servers saved by earlier versions in .vscode/settings.json, a .code-workspace file, or the old remoteHostViewer.servers setting are moved to their new place automatically, together with their saved passwords.

Security

• Passwords and key passphrases are stored in your operating system's secure credential storage (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or the Linux keyring). They are never written to settings files and never synced by Settings Sync. Removing a server deletes them.
• Private keys stay where they are. Only the file's path is saved; the key is read when you connect and is never copied or uploaded.
• SSH host keys are remembered the first time you connect. If a server's key later changes, you get a prominent warning, because that can mean the connection is being intercepted.
• FTPS checks the server's TLS certificate and refuses invalid or self-signed ones. Port 990 uses implicit TLS; any other port uses explicit TLS (AUTH TLS).
• SSH agent authentication uses the keys your agent holds; the extension never sees or stores them.
• FTP sends your password and files unencrypted. The form warns you when you select it. Use SFTP or FTPS whenever the server supports them.
• Saved credentials stay with their server. If you change the protocol, host, port, or username in the form, the saved password is not used — you'll need to enter it again.
• Trusted folders only. The extension is disabled in Restricted Mode, because a project's .vscode/remote-hosts.json can define servers and upload destinations.
• What can leave your computer:
  • With Settings Sync on, All projects servers sync to your account — names, hosts, usernames, and paths, but never credentials.
  • If you commit .vscode/remote-hosts.json, This project only servers are shared with your repository.
• Local copies: files you open from a server are downloaded to VS Code's storage for this extension so you can edit them. They stay on your computer until you remove them.

Settings reference

All projects servers are saved in the remoteHostExplorer.servers user setting, and This project only servers in the project's .vscode/remote-hosts.json:

{
  "servers": [
    { "id": "staging", "name": "Staging", "protocol": "sftp", "host": "staging.example.com", "remoteRoot": "/var/www" }
  ]
}

Using the form is recommended; you can also edit the JSON directly, and VS Code suggests the fields as you type. Each server needs a unique id, which its saved password is linked to.

Passwords and passphrases are not settings; enter them in the form.

Troubleshooting

Details of every upload and error are written to View → Output → Remote Host Explorer.

The Remote Hosts view is empty or does nothing. Make sure the folder is trusted: run Workspaces: Manage Workspace Trust from the Command Palette.

"Couldn't read .vscode/remote-hosts.json in "…": …" The file isn't valid JSON, so its servers aren't shown. The message names the problem and its line. Until it is fixed, saving a server to that project fails with ".vscode/remote-hosts.json in "…" can't be read" — the extension won't overwrite a file it can't read.

"Couldn't move saved servers to their new location: …" Servers from an earlier version couldn't be moved into .vscode/remote-hosts.json, often because that file can't be read. They stay where they were, so nothing is lost; fix the problem and reload the window.

A server I added in another project doesn't show up. It was saved as This project only. Open that project, edit the server, and set Available in to All projects.

"The authenticity of host … can't be established." Normal the first time you connect to an SFTP server. Compare the fingerprint with the one from your hosting provider, then choose Connect and Remember.

"REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED" The server presented a different key than last time. If your provider rebuilt or migrated the server, choose Trust the New Key. If you don't know why it changed, don't connect — ask your provider.

FTPS fails with "self-signed certificate". The server's certificate isn't trusted, so the connection is refused on purpose. Use SFTP if the server supports it, or ask your hosting provider for a valid certificate.

"No SSH agent was found: SSH_AUTH_SOCK is not set …" The server uses SSH agent authentication, but VS Code wasn't started with access to an agent. Start ssh-agent, add your key with ssh-add, and restart VS Code. On Windows, start the OpenSSH Authentication Agent service. Or switch the server to private key authentication.

"Could not read the private key at …" Check that the path in Private key path exists and that your user can read the file.

"Download to Local" is greyed out. The server has no local folder, or the item is outside its Remote mapped folder. Edit the server and set Local mapped folder (and Remote mapped folder, if needed).

The upload icon isn't in the editor title bar. It appears only for files inside a server's local mapped folder.

A file wasn't uploaded on save. Check that Auto-upload on save is on for the server, the file is inside its local folder, and it doesn't match an ignore pattern. The Output panel records skipped files.

"rsync was not found on PATH" or "rsync exited with code …" Install rsync (see the table above), or turn off Use rsync for uploads. For exit errors, check that ssh can log in to the server with your key without asking for a password.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90 or later.
• Windows, macOS, or Linux.
• Access to an SFTP, FTPS, or FTP server.
• Everything else is built into the extension; only the optional rsync feature needs extra software.

Known limitations

• A few operations aren't available yet:
  • Syncing a whole folder.
  • Changing file permissions.
  • Copying or moving between two different servers.
• ~/.ssh/config host aliases aren't used; enter the host and key file directly. Pageant isn't supported; on Windows use the OpenSSH Authentication Agent.
• Implicit FTPS is only used on port 990.
• Some FTP servers don't report when a file was modified. With those, the extension can't warn you that a file changed on the server before you save over it.
• On FTP, browsing waits while a transfer is running.
• Very large files are held in memory while being copied or backed up on the server.
• Rename uses an input box rather than editing the name in place.
• In Remote-SSH, WSL, and Dev Container windows, the extension runs on your own computer, so Local mapped folder refers to a folder on your computer.

License

MIT