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Directory Sync

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The directory diff (diff_directories) lets you copy, move or delete one item at a time. Sync does the rest in one step: it makes the other side match the active side. You see the whole plan before anything is written.

Running a sync

1. Open the directory diff with Select → Compare Directories… and wait for the comparison to finish.
2. Put the side you want to copy from on the active side. Tab switches sides, and the active side’s header is highlighted.

3. Press s and pick a mode:

   Mode	New and changed files	Items only on the other side
   Update	copied over	kept
   Mirror	copied over	deleted

4. The viewer now shows the plan. Identical items are hidden, and the centre column shows what will happen to each remaining item:

   Mark	Meaning
   → / ←	copied in that direction
   ×	deleted on the side the arrow points to
   ·	left alone

   A directory that exists on both sides has no mark of its own. Expand it to see what happens inside.

5. Change anything you disagree with (see below), then press s again. A summary lists how many items will be copied, replaced, sent back and deleted. Choose Sync to run it.

Esc leaves the plan without doing anything, and the comparison stays open.

Changing the plan

Press Space on an item to move it to its next action:

• A new item: copy it, or leave it alone.
• A changed file: copy it over, leave it alone, or copy it back the other way. This lets one sync handle a folder where each side has a few files the other needs.
• An item only on the other side: delete it, leave it alone, or copy it back. Update starts these at “leave alone” and Mirror at “delete”.
• A directory on both sides: skip it and everything inside it, or decide item by item (the default).

While the plan is open, Enter still opens the file diff and edit_file still opens your merge tool (its key depends on your keymap preset — see Keymap Presets). After a merge, the comparison updates and that item’s action is worked out again. Your other changes are kept.

Tab reverses the plan’s direction and resets your changes.

What sync will not do by default

• Overwrite a newer file. A changed file that is newer on the destination starts at “leave alone”. Press Space to copy it anyway. The summary counts how many were left alone this way.
• Replace a file with a folder, or a folder with a file. When a name is a file on one side and a folder on the other, the comparison marks it as different (!, with the slash only on the folder’s side), and sync always leaves it alone.
• Delete for good without asking twice. The summary shows deletions apart from the copies. When anything would be deleted for good, the dialog starts on Cancel.

Things to know

• Deletions go to the Trash (the Recycle Bin on Windows) wherever there is one, so a Mirror’s deletions can be put back. Where there is none (on ssh://, s3://, a removable or network drive on Windows), they are permanent, and the summary says so. DELETE_TO_TRASH = False in config.py makes them all permanent.
• Copies run before deletions. If you cancel a sync partway (Esc in the progress dialog), it stops wherever it is, but anything it has removed was removed only after every copy had finished. What was done stays done.
• Files are compared by content. “Changed” means the bytes differ, not just the date.
• Hidden files follow the viewer. When hidden files are not shown, they are not compared and the plan leaves them alone. A folder copied or deleted as a whole includes everything inside it, hidden files too.
• The sync runs through the same engine as copy_files and delete_files, with its progress dialog. It works across local folders, ssh://, s3:// and mounted shares.

Keys

Key	Action
s	Open a plan, or run the open one (dir_diff.sync)
Space	Change the focused item’s action (dir_diff.cycle_sync_action)
d	Show or hide the items that are the same on both sides (dir_diff.toggle_identical)
Esc	Leave the plan

All of them can be rebound in KEY_BINDINGS. See Key Bindings.