A modern, fast file copy tool for Linux with progress bars, resume capability, and more.
cpx is a modern replacement for the traditional cp command, built with Rust for maximum performance and safety on Linux systems.
- 🚀 Fast parallel copying (upto 5x faster than cp benchmarks)
- 📊 Beautiful progress bars (customizable)
- ⏸️ Resume interrupted transfers
- 🛑 Graceful Ctrl+C handling with resume hints
- 🎯 Exclude patterns (gitignore-style)
- 🕳️ Sparse files stay sparse (SEEK_DATA/SEEK_HOLE), reflink/CoW copies where supported
- 🧪 Tested against the GNU coreutils
cptest suite (details) - ⚙️ Flexible configuration
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/11happy/cpx/main/install.sh | bashOr with wget:
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/11happy/cpx/main/install.sh | bashcargo install cpxAdded by community
yay -S cpx-copyAdded by community
nix-shell -p cpxcargo install --git https://github.com/11happy/cpx
cpx --versionDownload from Releases
# Copy a file
cpx source.txt dest.txt
# Copy directory recursively
cpx -r source_dir/ dest_dir/
# exclude build artifacts
cpx -r -e "node_modules" -e ".git" -e "target" my-project/ /backup/
# Resume interrupted transfer
cpx -r --resume large_dataset/ /backup/
# Copy with full attribute preservation
cpx -r -p=all photos/ /backup/photos/See examples.md for detailed workflows and real-world scenarios.
cpx [OPTIONS] <SOURCE>... <DESTINATION>
cpx [OPTIONS] -t <DIRECTORY> <SOURCE>...
Arguments:
<SOURCE>... Source file(s) or directory(ies)
<DESTINATION> Destination file or directory (omitted with -t)
Input/Output Options:
-t, --target-directory <DIRECTORY>
Copy all SOURCE arguments into DIRECTORY
-e, --exclude <PATTERN> Exclude files matching pattern (supports globs, comma-separated)
Copy Behavior:
-r, -R, --recursive Copy directories recursively
-a, --archive Same as -r --no-dereference --preserve=all
-j <N> Number of parallel operations [default: 4]
-v, --verbose Print each 'src' -> 'dst' as it is copied
-u, --update Copy only when SOURCE is newer than DEST or DEST is missing
-n, --no-clobber Never overwrite an existing file
--resume Resume interrupted transfers (checksum verified)
-f, --force Remove and retry if destination cannot be opened
-i, --interactive Prompt before overwrite
--parents Use full source file name under DIRECTORY
--attributes-only Copy only attributes, not file data
--remove-destination Remove destination file before copying
Link and Symlink Options:
-s, --symbolic-link[=MODE]
Create symlinks instead of copying [auto|absolute|relative]
-l, --link Create hard links instead of copying
-P, --no-dereference Never follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-L, --dereference Always follow symbolic links in SOURCE
-H, --dereference-command-line
Follow symbolic links only on command line
Preservation:
-p, --preserve[=ATTRS] Preserve attributes [default|all|mode,timestamps,ownership,...]
Available: mode, ownership, timestamps, links, context, xattr
Backup and Reflink:
-b, --backup[=MODE] Backup existing files [none|simple|numbered|existing]
--reflink[=WHEN] CoW copy if supported [auto|always|never]
Configuration:
--config <PATH> Use custom config file
--no-config Ignore all config files
Other:
-h, --help Print help information
-V, --version Print version information
For complete usage examples, see examples.md
For complete option reference, run cpx --help
Set defaults with configuration files:
# Create config with defaults
cpx config init
# View active configuration
cpx config show
# See config file location
cpx config pathConfig locations (in priority order):
./cpxconfig.toml(project-level)~/.config/cpx/cpxconfig.toml(user-level)/etc/cpx/cpxconfig.toml(system-level, Unix only)
Example config (~/.config/cpx/cpxconfig.toml):
[exclude]
patterns = ["*.tmp", "*.log", "node_modules", ".git"]
[copy]
parallel = 8
recursive = false
[preserve]
mode = "default"
[progress]
style = "detailed"
[reflink]
mode = "auto"See configuration.md for all options and use cases.
cpx is built for speed. Measured on v0.2.0 (24-core Linux box, tmpfs, warm
cache, 5 hyperfine runs; cp and cpx -j4 are the defaults, -j16 is what
the benchmarks use):
| Tree | files | cp | cpx -j4 | cpx -j16 | xcp -w16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rust-lang/rust | 63k | 415 ms | 227 ms | 141 ms | 193 ms |
| torvalds/linux (2.1 GB) | 96k | 962 ms | 430 ms | 240 ms | 348 ms |
| 200k small files | 200k | 942 ms | 520 ms | 262 ms | 380 ms |
v0.1.4 had a quadratic planning step: the rust tree took 78 s, the linux tree 154 s, and the 200k-file tree did not finish in ten minutes. Upgrade if you copy large trees.
See benchmarks.md for methodology and more comparisons.
- Configuration Guide - Complete config reference
- Benchmarks - Performance analysis and comparisons
- GNU cp compatibility - The ported coreutils test suite and the known differences
- Contributing - How to contribute
| Platform | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | ✅ Supported | copy_file_range fast path (kernel 4.5+), hole-preserving sparse copies |
| macOS | 🧪 Experimental | compiles and passes the unit/integration tests in CI; not functionally tested on real hardware. Binaries are on the releases page, feedback welcome |
| Windows | 🔄 Planned | To be released |
git clone https://github.com/11happy/cpx.git
cd cpx
# Run tests
cargo test
# Run clippy
cargo clippy
# Try it out
cargo run -- -r test_data/ test_dest/All 68 tests of the GNU coreutils cp test suite are ported as independent reimplementations under tests/gnu and run in CI: 49 pass, 10 are documented differences from GNU cp, 9 need root/SELinux or options cpx does not have. See docs/gnu-compat.md.
cargo build --release
PATH=target/release:$PATH tests/gnu/run.shFound wrong behavior? File an issue, PRs for more tests are always welcome!
- MIT LICENSE
Inspired by ripgrep, fd, and the modern Rust CLI ecosystem.
Built with: clap, indicatif, rayon, jwalk, and more.