SFTP & FTP Sync and Upload

Upload your project to a server from VS Code over SFTP, FTP or FTPS, by Zovo. Save a file and it is on the server; right-click a folder to upload or download it; open a server file in a normal tab and save it back. Your .vscode folder, .env files and private keys are never uploaded. No account, no sign-in to anything but your own server.

Free

• .vscode/sftp.json with hover help for every key: host, user, key file or password, server folder, upload on save, ignore list.
• Upload on save, and Upload, Download and Compare with Server Copy on any file or folder (Explorer right-click, editor tab menu, Command Palette).
• SFTP (SSH keys, encrypted keys, the SSH agent or a password), FTP and FTPS (explicit or implicit TLS).
• Remote Files view: browse the server, open a file in a normal editor tab, save it back, download, copy the path, delete.
• Safe defaults: .vscode, .git, .env files, private keys, .npmrc and other secret files are never uploaded. Passwords you type go to the editor's secret storage, never into sftp.json.
• The server's host key is checked: pin it with hostFingerprint, or confirm it on the first connection. A changed key stops the connection.
• Transfer log with every connection, upload and download, and errors that say what to check (wrong port, sign-in refused, folder missing, no permission).

Zovo Pro

Zovo Pro: USD 19 once. One payment unlocks the Pro tools in every Zovo extension. Each Pro tool has 3 free tries:

• Sync folder with remote (diff preview): compares a local folder with the server and lists every difference before anything moves (only here, only on the server, newer on one side). Pick upload, download, delete or skip per file, open a side-by-side diff, save the dry run as text, then apply.
• Roll back a remote file: before an upload overwrites a server file, the old server copy is kept on this computer (last 10 per file). Put any version back on the server, or compare it with the current one.
• Server profiles and jump host: several servers in one sftp.json (staging, production) with one click to switch, and SFTP through an SSH jump host.

Set up

Run "SFTP: Create sftp.json Config" (or click Create sftp.json in the SFTP Remote view). A minimal file:

{
  "name": "My site",
  "protocol": "sftp",
  "host": "example.com",
  "username": "deploy",
  "privateKeyPath": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519",
  "remotePath": "/var/www/site",
  "uploadOnSave": true,
  "ignore": ["node_modules/**", "*.log"]
}

FTP over TLS with a password (you are asked once; leave password out of the file):

{ "protocol": "ftps", "host": "ftp.example.com", "username": "me", "remotePath": "/public_html" }

Commands

All commands are under "SFTP" in the Command Palette: Upload, Download, Compare with Server Copy, Create or Open sftp.json Config, Refresh Remote Files, Show Transfer Log, Forget Saved Passwords and Trusted Host Keys. The Pro tools end in "(Pro)" and are also in the Explorer right-click menu ("Zovo Pro: ...") and the SFTP Remote view menu. A try counts only when the tool produced its result (a sync plan on screen, a file rolled back, a profile switched); Escape or Cancel never uses one. Nothing about Pro shows when you open VS Code, and zovoSftp.showProTools: false hides all of it.

Zovo Pro is USD 19 once (team of 5: USD 59). Run Zovo Pro: Get Zovo Pro to pay by card, with GitHub Sponsors or PayPal, or to enter a key.

Settings

• zovoSftp.idleSeconds: seconds a connection stays open with nothing to do (default 120).
• zovoSftp.savePasswords: keep typed passwords and passphrases in secret storage (default on).
• zovoSftp.backup.enabled, zovoSftp.backup.maxFileMB, zovoSftp.backup.versionsPerFile: old server copies kept before an overwrite.
• zovoSftp.sync.defaultDirection: up, down or newest for a new sync plan.
• zovoSftp.remoteExplorer.hideIgnored: hide ignored files in the Remote Files view.

Privacy and safety

The extension connects only to the servers in your sftp.json, and only when you act: a command, a save with uploadOnSave, or opening a folder in the Remote Files view. Nothing connects when VS Code starts. No telemetry. In a folder you have not trusted (Restricted Mode) the extension stays off, so a downloaded project cannot send your files anywhere.

Known limits

• One connection per server at a time; FTP transfers run one after another.
• Comparing in a sync uses size and modified time, then compares the bytes of same-size files (up to 300 files or 64 MB per run). FTP servers that only give minute-level times are compared with a 1 minute margin.
• Symbolic links on the server are followed for files and shown, but linked folders are not walked by folder uploads, downloads or sync.
• Keys in PuTTY .ppk format must be converted to OpenSSH first (puttygen key.ppk -O private-openssh -o key).
• Backups are kept for files up to 5 MB (setting) and stay on this computer only.

Support Zovo

Zovo Pro: USD 19 once, every Zovo viewer. Get Zovo Pro on GitHub Sponsors to turn on the Pro tools in this extension and in the other Zovo extensions you use. The free features stay free.

Zovo extensions have no ads and no tracking. They are made by theluckystrike on GitHub. You can also support the work with no Pro:

• Sponsor on GitHub
• PayPal
• Follow theluckystrike on GitHub

Need your format supported?

Open a format request with a sample file, and I reply there whether it can be done. For USD 299 once, through this GitHub Sponsors tier, I add your file format or a missing feature to this extension, with tests, within 7 days.

More tools by Zovo

• SVN Client & Subversion Source Control (Commit, Blame, Log, Diff) brings SVN commit, diff, log and blame to the Source Control view.
• Azure Storage & Azure Blob Storage Explorer (Blob, Queue, Table, Azurite) browses Azure Blob, Queue and Table Storage with a connection string.
• Folder Compare & Folder Diff (Directory Compare, Word, Excel & Binary Files) compares two folders side by side and opens a diff for any file.
• Nginx Config Formatter & Lint formats and checks nginx config files, with hover docs for every directive.
• S3 Explorer & S3 Client, Bucket Browser for AWS, MinIO and Cloudflare R2 browses S3, MinIO and R2 buckets and opens objects read-only.

See all Zovo extensions on the Marketplace.