file-syncer

Rust CLI that synchronizes a local folder with a git repository in either push or pull mode.

Features

• Push mode: sync local files to a repository branch
• Pull mode: sync repository files to a local folder
• Private repository support via your existing git/SSH configuration
• Optional custom SSH key via GIT_SSH_COMMAND construction
• Git SSH commands run non-interactively (StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new, CheckHostIP=no) to skip host key prompts
• Size-based log rotation (10MB, keep 3 files) logging to both stdout and file-syncer.log
• Skips the .git directory during sync
• Generates commit messages based on detected file changes
• Optional zstd compression that stores files as *-zstd in the repository

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.74 or later
• Git

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/rikkicom/file-syncer.git
cd file-syncer
cargo build --release

Build musl binaries with zig (x86_64 and aarch64):

cargo install cargo-zigbuild --locked
cargo zigbuild --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
cargo zigbuild --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-musl

Usage

file-syncer --mode <push|pull> --folder <path> --repo <url> [--branch <branch>] [--ssh-key <path>] [--compress] [--compression-fast|--compression-default|--compression-max]

Run directly from source:

cargo run -- --mode push --folder ./myfiles --repo https://github.com/user/repo.git

Installed binary:

cargo install --path .
file-syncer --mode pull --folder ./myfiles --repo https://github.com/user/repo.git --branch develop

Compress files during sync (they are stored as *-zstd in the repository and restored to the original names when pulling). Choose a level with the flags below; default is --compression-default:

file-syncer --mode push --folder ./data --repo https://github.com/user/repo.git --compress --compression-max
file-syncer --mode pull --folder ./data --repo https://github.com/user/repo.git --compress --compression-max

Examples

Example 1: Backing up local files to GitHub

# First time: push files to a new repository
file-syncer --mode push --folder ~/documents --repo https://github.com/yourusername/my-backup.git

# Later: push updates
file-syncer --mode push --folder ~/documents --repo https://github.com/yourusername/my-backup.git

Example 2: Syncing files between machines

On machine 1:

file-syncer --mode push --folder ~/projects/shared --repo https://github.com/yourusername/shared-files.git

On machine 2:

file-syncer --mode pull --folder ~/projects/shared --repo https://github.com/yourusername/shared-files.git

Example 3: Using a custom SSH key

# Push with a specific SSH key (useful for deployment keys or multiple accounts)
file-syncer --mode push --folder ~/backups --repo git@github.com:yourusername/backup-repo.git --ssh-key ~/.ssh/deployment_key

# Pull with a specific SSH key
file-syncer --mode pull --folder ~/restore --repo git@github.com:yourusername/backup-repo.git --ssh-key ~/.ssh/deployment_key

Private Repository Authentication

The application supports both public and private repositories. For private repositories, ensure your system is configured with appropriate git credentials:

SSH Keys (Recommended)

# Use SSH URL format with system default SSH key
file-syncer --mode push --folder ./myfiles --repo git@github.com:yourusername/private-repo.git

# Or specify a custom SSH key
file-syncer --mode push --folder ./myfiles --repo git@github.com:yourusername/private-repo.git --ssh-key ~/.ssh/custom_id_rsa

HTTPS with Credential Helper

# Configure git credential helper (one-time setup)
git config --global credential.helper store

# Or use GitHub CLI for authentication
gh auth login

# Then use HTTPS URL
./file-syncer -mode push -folder ./myfiles -repo https://github.com/yourusername/private-repo.git

Personal Access Token

For HTTPS URLs, you can embed credentials or use a credential helper. The application inherits all git configuration from your system.

Logging

Logs are emitted to stdout and file-syncer.log with size-based rotation (10MB, keep 3 rotated files). The log format is the default provided by flexi_logger.

Logs are written to the current working directory.

Sentry

Optional Sentry error reporting is available. Provide a DSN via --sentry-dsn or the SENTRY_DSN environment variable. When configured, panics and fatal errors are reported before the process exits.

Testing

Run the unit tests:

cargo test

Integration tests (use the real git binary) are behind a feature flag:

cargo test --features integration