Provided by: kitty_0.32.2-1build3_amd64 
Name
kitten-transfer - Transfer files easily over the TTY device
Overview
New in version 0.30.0.
Transfer files to and from remote computers over the TTY device itself. This means that
file transfer works over nested SSH sessions, serial links, etc. Anywhere you have a
terminal device, you can transfer files.
This kitten supports transferring entire directory trees, preserving soft and hard links,
file permissions, times, etc. It even supports the rsync protocol to transfer only changes
to large files.
SEE ALSO:
See the Remote files kitten
Basic usage
Simply ssh into a remote computer using the ssh kitten and run the this kitten (which the
ssh kitten makes available for you on the remote computer automatically). Some
illustrative examples are below. To copy a file from a remote computer:
<local computer> $ kitten ssh my-remote-computer
<remote computer> $ kitten transfer some-file /path/on/local/computer
This, will copy some-file from the computer into which you have SSHed to your local
computer at /path/on/local/computer. kitty will ask you for confirmation before allowing
the transfer, so that the file transfer protocol cannot be abused to read/write files on
your computer.
To copy a file from your local computer to the remote computer:
<local computer> $ kitten ssh my-remote-computer
<remote computer> $ kitten transfer --direction=upload /path/on/local/computer remote-file
For more detailed usage examples, see the command line interface section below.
NOTE:
If you dont want to use the ssh kitten, you can install the kitten binary on the remote
machine yourself, it is a standalone, statically compiled binary available from the
kitty releases page. Or you can write your own script/program to use the underlying
file transfer protocol.
Avoiding the confirmation prompt
Normally, when you start a file transfer kitty will prompt you for confirmation. This is
to ensure that hostile programs running on a remote machine cannot read/write files on
your computer without your permission. If the remote machine is trusted, then you can
disable the confirmation prompt by:
1. Setting the file_transfer_confirmation_bypass option to some password.
2. When invoking the kitten use the --permissions-bypass to supply the password you set in
step one.
WARNING:
Using a password to bypass confirmation means any software running on the remote
machine could potentially learn that password and use it to gain full access to your
computer.
Delta transfers
This kitten has the ability to use the rsync protocol to only transfer the differences
between files. To turn it on use the --transmit-deltas option. Note that this will
actually be slower when transferring small files or on a very fast network, because of
round trip overhead, so use with care.
Source code for transfer
The source code for this kitten is available on GitHub.
Command line interface
kitty +kitten transfer [options] source_files_or_directories destination_path
Transfer files over the TTY device. Can be used to send files between any two computers
provided there is a TTY connection between them, such as over SSH. Supports copying
files, directories (recursively), symlinks and hardlinks. Can even use an rsync like
protocol to copy only changes between files. When copying multiple files, use the
--confirm-paths option to see what exactly will be copied. The easiest way to use this
kitten is to first ssh into the remote computer with the ssh kitten:
$ kitten ssh my-remote-computer
Then, on the remote computer run the transfer kitten to do your copying. To copy a file
from the remote computer to the local computer, run:
$ kitten transfer remote-file /path/to/local-file
This will copy remote-file from the remote computer to /path/to/local-file on the local
computer.
Similarly, to copy a file from the local computer to the remote one, run:
$ kitten transfer --direction=upload /path/to/local-file remote-file
This will copy /path/to/local-file from the local computer to remote-file on the remote
computer.
Multiple files can be copied:
$ kitten transfer file1 file2 /path/to/dir/
This will put file1 and file2 into the directory /path/to/dir/ on the local computer.
Directories can also be copied, recursively:
$ kitten transfer dir1 /path/to/dir/
This will put dir1 and all its contents into /path/to/dir/ on the local computer.
Note that when copying multiple files or directories, the destination must be an existing
directory on the receiving computer. Relative file paths are resolved with respect to the
current directory on the computer running the kitten and the home directory on the other
computer. It is a good idea to use the --confirm-paths command line flag to verify the
kitten will copy the files you expect it to.
Options
--direction <DIRECTION>, -d <DIRECTION>
Whether to send or receive files. send or download copy files from the computer on
which the kitten is running (usually the remote computer) to the local computer.
receive or upload copy files from the local computer to the remote computer.
Default: download Choices: download, receive, send, upload
--mode <MODE>, -m <MODE>
How to interpret command line arguments. In mirror mode all arguments are assumed
to be files/dirs on the sending computer and they are mirrored onto the receiving
computer. Files under the HOME directory are copied to the HOME directory on the
receiving computer even if the HOME directory is different. In normal mode the last
argument is assumed to be a destination path on the receiving computer. The last
argument must be an existing directory unless copying a single file. When it is a
directory it should end with a trailing slash. Default: normal Choices: mirror,
normal
--compress <COMPRESS>
Whether to compress data being sent. By default compression is enabled based on the
type of file being sent. For files recognized as being already compressed,
compression is turned off as it just wastes CPU cycles. Default: auto Choices:
always, auto, never
--permissions-bypass <PERMISSIONS_BYPASS>, -p <PERMISSIONS_BYPASS>
The password to use to skip the transfer confirmation popup in kitty. Must match
the password set for the file_transfer_confirmation_bypass option in kitty.conf.
Note that leading and trailing whitespace is removed from the password. A password
starting with ., / or ~ characters is assumed to be a file name to read the
password from. A value of - means read the password from STDIN. A password that is
purely a number less than 256 is assumed to be the number of a file descriptor from
which to read the actual password.
--confirm-paths, -c
Before actually transferring files, show a mapping of local file names to remote
file names and ask for confirmation.
--transmit-deltas, -x
If a file on the receiving side already exists, use the rsync algorithm to update
it to match the file on the sending side, potentially saving lots of bandwidth and
also automatically resuming partial transfers. Note that this will actually degrade
performance on fast links or with small files, so use with care.
Author
Kovid Goyal
Copyright
2024, Kovid Goyal