syncpick

An interactive fzf picker for copying selected folders from SSH servers with rsync. It is a small Zsh script: configure a server once, select it, pick the remote folders you want, and sync them into a local directory.

Requirements

• Zsh
• ssh with an already-working authentication setup
• rsync (3.x recommended)
• fzf

syncpick works on macOS and Linux when these tools are available. It discovers executables through PATH; a profile can override the ssh or rsync path.

Install

Homebrew

On macOS or Linux with Homebrew:

brew install Cyberlane/tap/syncpick

From source

Clone this repository, then run:

./install

This creates ~/.local/bin/syncpick (or $XDG_BIN_HOME/syncpick). Ensure that directory is in your PATH.

For an optional sp shorthand command:

./install --with-alias

Quick start

Create your first server profile:

syncpick --init

Setup asks for only a server name, its SSH host, and the remote folder roots to browse. syncpick auto-detects ssh and rsync and starts with safe transfer defaults. Use syncpick --configure later for executable overrides, deletion, or in-place-write preferences. The source-folder manager adds and removes one path at a time and verifies new paths over SSH when possible.

Then run syncpick in the directory where copies should go:

cd ~/Downloads
syncpick

The server picker remembers the last successfully synced profile. Use syncpick --configure to add, edit, or remove profiles, or select one directly:

syncpick --server home-nas ~/Downloads
syncpick --dry-run

The folder picker lists directories only. > is the navigation cursor and ✓ marks folders queued to sync: after marking one or more folders with Tab, only those checked folders transfer. If nothing is checked, pressing Enter transfers the cursor folder; the confirmation screen always lists exactly what will sync. The parent portion of each path is muted and its final folder name highlighted by default; disable that per profile under Highlight folder names in syncpick --configure if you prefer plain paths. Under Queued folder path display, choose whether the queue shows full paths, shortened paths such as …/media/show, or folder names only. The same highlighting is used in the queue whenever it is enabled.

For long lists, the right-hand Queued folders pane shows every checked folder as you select it. Press Ctrl-P to hide or restore that pane.

Safety defaults

syncpick asks before a real transfer. It does not delete unmatched local files, and uses rsync's safer temporary-file behavior by default.

For a non-interactive run, pass --yes (or -y) to accept the final transfer summary automatically:

syncpick --server home-nas --yes ~/Downloads

Deletion and --inplace writes can be set per profile in the settings TUI or enabled for one run:

syncpick --delete
syncpick --inplace

Use --dry-run before a large or destructive transfer.

Configuration and privacy

Profiles are stored locally at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/syncpick (default: ~/.config/syncpick); recent-profile state is stored at $XDG_STATE_HOME/syncpick (default: ~/.local/state/syncpick). These directories and profile files are created with private permissions.

Profiles contain a display name, SSH host, source folders, optional executable overrides, and sync defaults. They do not store passwords, private keys, or passphrases—use your SSH configuration, agent, or keychain for authentication. Do not paste sensitive hostnames, usernames, IP addresses, folder names, or transfer output into public issues.

Releases

syncpick is a portable source script, so compiled binaries are unnecessary. Releases use semantic versioning and are available through the Cyberlane Homebrew tap as well as the source repository.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Please report vulnerabilities privately as described in SECURITY.md.

License

MIT.