DiskPush

Push files fast. Sync only what changed.

DiskPush is a desktop app and CLI for rsync. Browse servers like FileZilla, and transfer with rsync so unchanged files are skipped, interrupted transfers resume, and metadata survives.

diskpush ./dist/ prod:/srv/app/            # local  -> server
diskpush prod:/var/log/app/ ./logs/        # server -> local
diskpush server-a:/data/ server-b:/backup/ # server -> server, directly
diskpush ./data/ prod:/data/ -- --checksum # your own rsync flags

• Local → server, server → local, and server → server directly.
• Archive metadata by default. Permissions, timestamps, symlinks.
• Resumable by default. An interrupted transfer keeps its partial data.
• Skips unchanged files. Re-running a job moves almost nothing.
• Never deletes destination-only files unless you explicitly enable Mirror, and Mirror always shows you the delete list first.
• One command, many servers. Package upgrades, a health sweep, or a script you already have — run across a whole tagged fleet from the Fleet tab or the CLI, each server reported separately.
• No cloud account, no relay. For a server-to-server job the payload moves directly between the two servers; DiskPush only orchestrates.

Why

An SFTP client re-uploads a folder every time you change one file in it. rsync does not, but it means remembering which of its two hundred flags you wanted. DiskPush is the browser you expect on top of the transfer engine you want, with the flags you would have chosen already on.

Running

diskpush ./data/ server:/data/

is equivalent to

rsync --archive --partial-dir=.rsync-partial --human-readable \
      --itemize-changes --info=progress2 ./data/ server:/data/

and diskpush --print-args will always show you exactly what it is about to run.

Install

curl -fsSL https://diskpush.com/install.sh | sh

Installs the CLI, and the desktop app when the machine has a desktop to run it on. Everything lands under your home directory: no root, no package manager. Add -s -- --cli-only for a server. See docs/install.md.

DiskPush needs rsync and an SSH client on the machine it runs on, and rsync on any server it talks to.

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install rsync openssh-client

From source:

git clone https://github.com/profullstack/diskpush
cd diskpush
pnpm install
pnpm build
node apps/cli/dist/bin.js --help

Quick start

# Save a server
diskpush connections add production deploy@example.com --port 22 --path /srv/app

# Check SSH, SFTP and the remote rsync in one step
diskpush connections test production

# Look around
diskpush ls production:/srv/app

# See what a sync would do, without doing it
diskpush ./dist/ production:/srv/app/ --dry-run

# Do it
diskpush ./dist/ production:/srv/app/

# Ask every production server what it needs
diskpush fleet check --on tag:production

# Install it
diskpush fleet upgrade --on tag:production --sudo

# Or run anything, anywhere
diskpush fleet run "systemctl reload nginx" --on 'web-*' --sudo

Safety

DiskPush is built to be trusted with a --delete flag, which means it is built to make that flag hard to trigger by accident.

• No shell. rsync is spawned with shell: false and an argument array. Paths containing $(...), backticks, semicolons or quotes are paths.
• Remote args are shielded. rsync 3.2.4 made --secluded-args the default; against anything older DiskPush passes --protect-args explicitly, because without it the remote login shell expands the remote path.
• Mirror previews first. A delete-enabled job cannot even be constructed until its dry run has been reviewed and confirmed.
• Pass-through is checked, not blind. -- --delete is refused: it would turn a sync into a mirror behind the preview. Everything harmless passes through verbatim.
• Host keys are verified. A changed host key blocks the connection. There is no global setting to turn that off.
• No credentials on disk. The local database holds no passwords or passphrases.

Documentation

Document	Contents
docs/install.md	Installing, updating and removing
docs/getting-started.md	First connection to first transfer
docs/defaults.md	What DiskPush does when you tell it nothing
docs/cli.md	Full command grammar and exit codes
docs/rsync-options.md	Every option, the flag it maps to, and its caveats
docs/direct-server-to-server.md	How the no-relay guarantee is implemented
docs/file-browser.md	Why browsing is SFTP and transfers are rsync
docs/profiles.md	Saved, repeatable directory pairs
docs/fleet.md	Running one command, or an upgrade, across many servers
docs/security.md	Threat model and the decisions that follow from it
docs/architecture.md	Packages, processes and boundaries
docs/troubleshooting.md	What the errors mean
docs/website.md	diskpush.com architecture and deployment

Repository layout

apps/cli            the `diskpush` command
apps/desktop        the Electron app
apps/web            diskpush.com
packages/schemas    typed option model shared by every surface
packages/rsync-core the transfer engine, with no Electron in it
packages/ssh-core   SSH sessions, SFTP browsing, host keys, preflight
packages/fleet-core one command across many servers, with no Electron in it
packages/database   the local store shared by desktop and CLI

rsync-core deliberately has no dependency on Electron or on the CLI, so the same engine can back a daemon, an API or an MCP tool later.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm build          # build every package
pnpm test           # unit tests plus live tests against the real rsync
pnpm typecheck

The live tests in tests/live run the actual rsync binary against temporary directories. They cover the behaviour the product claims: unchanged files are skipped, one changed file transfers alone, archive metadata survives, a mirror previews before it deletes, a path full of shell metacharacters stays a path, and an interrupted transfer resumes from its partial file.

Licence

MIT.