FTP Deploy (Network Drive Safe)

FTP/FTPS/SFTP upload for VS Code — built for Windows Samba shares, mapped drives and multi-environment workflows.

Why this extension?

Most FTP extensions break when localRoot is a mapped network drive (Z:\projects\myapp) or a UNC path (\\server\share\myapp). This one doesn't.

Key highlights:

• 🗂️ Multiple profiles — dev / staging / prod, switchable from the status bar
• 🔐 OS Keychain storage — passwords go to Windows Credential Manager or macOS Keychain, never to settings.json
• 🌐 Network drive safe — supports mapped drives, UNC/Samba paths, and Git Bash / WSL auto-conversion
• 💾 Upload on save — per-profile toggle, zero friction
• 🖱️ Explorer context menu — right-click any file or folder → Upload

Supported protocols

Installation

From the Marketplace (recommended):

1. Open VS Code → Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
2. Search GPA FTP Deploy
3. Click Install

From VSIX (manual):

npm install
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package
# Extensions → ··· → Install from VSIX → select the generated .vsix

Configuration

Open the workspace settings with Ctrl+Shift+P → FTP Deploy: Open Workspace Config
and add your profiles under .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "ftpDeploy.profiles": {

    "dev": {
      "protocol": "ftp",
      "host": "192.168.1.100",
      "port": 21,
      "user": "ftpuser",
      // password: use "FTP Deploy: Save Password to Keychain" — never put it here
      "remotePath": "/var/www/myapp",
      "localRoot": "Z:\\projects\\myapp",   // mapped drive ✓
      "uploadOnSave": true,
      "passive": true,
      "ignore": [".git", "node_modules", ".vs", "*.user", "Thumbs.db"]
    },

    "staging": {
      "protocol": "ftps",
      "host": "staging.example.com",
      "user": "deploy",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/staging",
      "ftpsImplicit": false,          // true = port 990; false = STARTTLS port 21
      "rejectUnauthorized": true,
      "uploadOnSave": false
    },

    "prod": {
      "protocol": "sftp",
      "host": "prod.example.com",
      "port": 22,
      "user": "deploy",
      "remotePath": "/var/www/prod",
      "privateKeyPath": "C:\\Users\\you\\.ssh\\id_rsa",
      "uploadOnSave": false
    }

  }
}

Accepted localRoot formats

Password management

Passwords should never live in settings.json. Use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Resolution order:

1. OS keychain (Windows Credential Manager / macOS Keychain)
2. password field in settings.json — used with a migration warning
3. Interactive prompt → automatically saved to keychain

Commands

All commands are available via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Status bar

The active profile is shown in the bottom-right status bar:

☁ FTP: dev       ← click to switch

Click it (or run FTP Deploy: Select Profile) to change profile. The selection is remembered per workspace.

Protocol reference

FTP

{ "protocol": "ftp", "passive": true }

FTPS (FTP over TLS)

{
  "protocol": "ftps",
  "ftpsImplicit": false,       // true = port 990; false = STARTTLS port 21
  "rejectUnauthorized": false  // false only for self-signed certificates
}

SFTP (SSH)

{
  "protocol": "sftp",
  "port": 22,
  // password auth: use "Save Password to Keychain"
  // key-based auth:
  "privateKeyPath": "C:\\Users\\you\\.ssh\\id_rsa",
  "passphrase": ""  // leave empty if key has no passphrase
}

Requirements

• VS Code ^1.80.0
• Node.js 18+ (only for building from source)

Contributing

Pull requests and issues are welcome!

1. Fork the repo
2. Create your branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Commit: git commit -m 'feat: add my feature'
4. Push: git push origin feature/my-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT © 2026 GPAutomation / gyagix