File Sync¶

Shed supports syncing files from your local machine to shed containers. This is useful for development certificates, dotfiles, SSH keys, and custom scripts.

Quick Start¶

Sync files using the default profile:

shed sync myproj

Preview without syncing:

shed sync myproj --dry-run

Configuration¶

Create ~/.shed/sync.yaml on your local machine:

features:
  devproxy:
    description: "Sync mkcert certificates for HTTPS development"
    paths:
      - source: ~/.local/share/mkcert/rootCA.pem
        target: /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/mkcert-ca.crt
      - source: ~/.devproxy/certs
        target: /etc/ssl/devproxy
        include: "*.pem"
    postSync:
      - run: update-ca-certificates

  dotfiles:
    description: "Sync shell config and git settings"
    paths:
      - source: ~/.gitconfig
        target: /home/shed/.gitconfig
      - source: ~/.bashrc
        target: /home/shed/.bashrc

  scripts:
    description: "Sync custom scripts"
    paths:
      - source: ~/bin
        target: /usr/local/bin
        include: "*.sh"

profiles:
  default:
    features: [devproxy]

  full:
    features: [devproxy, dotfiles, scripts]

Features¶

A feature is a self-contained sync unit with paths and optional post-sync commands.

Feature Fields¶

Field	Type	Description
`description`	string	Human-readable description
`paths`	list	Files or directories to sync
`postSync`	list	Commands to run after syncing

Path Fields¶

Field	Type	Description
`source`	string	Local path (supports `~` expansion)
`target`	string	Remote path in container
`include`	string	Optional glob pattern to filter files

Profiles¶

Profiles group features together for common sync scenarios.

profiles:
  default:
    features: [devproxy]

  full:
    features: [devproxy, dotfiles, scripts]

The default profile syncs automatically on shed create
Use --profile to specify a different profile
Use --feature to sync a single feature

Commands¶

Sync Files¶

shed sync <name> [flags]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--profile`	`-p`	`default`	Sync profile to use
`--feature`	`-f`		Sync single feature
`--dry-run`		`false`	Preview without syncing

Examples:

# Sync default profile
shed sync myproj

# Sync specific profile
shed sync myproj -p full

# Sync single feature
shed sync myproj -f devproxy

# Preview without syncing
shed sync myproj --dry-run

Auto-Sync on Create¶

# Auto-sync with default profile
shed create myproj --repo user/repo

# Create with specific profile
shed create myproj --sync-profile full

# Skip sync on create
shed create myproj --no-sync

Example: Development Certificates¶

Sync mkcert certificates so containers trust your local CA:

features:
  devproxy:
    description: "Sync mkcert certificates for devproxy"
    paths:
      - source: ~/.local/share/mkcert/rootCA.pem
        target: /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/mkcert-ca.crt
      - source: ~/.devproxy/certs
        target: /etc/ssl/devproxy
        include: "*.pem"
    postSync:
      - run: update-ca-certificates

profiles:
  default:
    features: [devproxy]

Verify the CA was added:

shed exec myproj "cat /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt | grep -c mkcert"

Direct File Transfer¶

In addition to the profile-based sync system, shed supports standard file transfer tools through its SSH proxy. These work with any shed on any backend.

SFTP¶

# Using the generated SSH config
sftp shed-myproject

# Or directly via shed-server SSH port
sftp -P 2222 myproject@server.tailnet.ts.net

SCP¶

# Copy a file into a shed
scp localfile.txt shed-myproject:/workspace/

# Copy a file out of a shed
scp shed-myproject:/workspace/output.json ./

rsync¶

# Sync a directory into a shed
rsync -avz ./src/ shed-myproject:/workspace/src/

# Sync with delete (mirror local to remote)
rsync -avz --delete ./src/ shed-myproject:/workspace/src/

All three tools work through the SSH config entries generated by shed ssh-config --all --install. Without the SSH config, use the server address and port directly (e.g., -P 2222 myproject@server).

When to use which:

shed sync — repeatable, config-driven syncing of dotfiles, certificates, and scripts (runs automatically on create)
sftp/scp — ad-hoc file transfers
rsync — efficient incremental syncing of large directories

Logs¶

Sync output is saved to /var/log/shed/sync.log in the container:

shed console myproj
cat /var/log/shed/sync.log