SFTP · FTPS · FTP · MCP

The FTP client your coding agent can drive.

You write code with Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex. The last step is still dragging files into a 2006-era FTP window. coolFTP fixes the last step. Your agent runs coolftp deploy, and you watch every file land on your server, live.

Download for Windows free, open source Read the quickstart

Or install the CLI: npm i -g coolftp

claude code · my-site

› ship it to the server

⏺ coolftp_deploy(message: "nav fix + og tags")
  via coolFTP app (port 51422)
  · Running build: npm run build
  · Scanning ./dist
  ↑ index.html 4.1 KB
  ↑ css/site.css 12.8 KB
  ↑ js/nav.js 2.2 KB
  ✔ Deployed to coolftp.com in 1.8s: +0 ~3 -0 (a91c2e0 on main)

⏺ Live. Three changed files went up; 214 unchanged files were skipped
  because their hashes matched the manifest on the server.

›

Built for the way you actually ship now

Every FTP client assumes a human is clicking. coolFTP assumes a human is watching and an agent is doing.

Link a folder onceRun coolftp init my-server in the project. It writes a tiny .coolftp.json so nobody has to remember hosts or paths again, agents included.
Give your agent the toolsOne line: claude mcp add coolftp -- coolftp mcp. Claude Code gets coolftp_deploy, coolftp_diff, coolftp_ls, coolftp_read and friends. Any other agent just calls the CLI.
Keep the app openAgent commands route through the running desktop app. You see each call in the Agents panel, each file in the transfer queue, and each deploy in history, tagged with who did it.
Say the word"Deploy this." The agent previews the diff, uploads only what changed, records the git commit next to the deploy, and tells you what it skipped.

coolFTP · Agents

◆ claude-code   diff …/my-site → coolftp.com          ok  0.6s
◆ claude-code   deploy …/my-site: nav fix + og tags  ok  1.8s
◆ cursor        read coolftp.com:/.htaccess          ok  0.2s
◆ codex         upload …/assets/hero.webp            running

Coding agents drive this app through a local hub on port 51422.
Nothing listens outside 127.0.0.1. Each call carries the agent name.

Features that earn their place

No ribbon toolbars. No "site manager wizard". The things a working developer needs, and a couple of things no other client has.

⇅SFTP first, FTP still there

Key auth with your existing ssh-agent, or a password if you must. FTPS and plain FTP for the shared hosts that never upgraded.

#Hash-based deploys

A manifest on the server records the SHA-256 of every file it has. Deploys upload only what changed, even if timestamps lie.

⎇Deploy history with git

Each deploy stores the commit, branch, dirty flag, message, byte count and which agent ran it. "What is live right now?" has an answer.

◆Live agent feed

Every call an agent makes shows up as it happens, with the arguments in plain words. Failures flash the window.

⌘MCP server built in

Fifteen typed tools for Claude Code and any MCP client. Sites, diff, deploy, rollback, ls, read, write, upload, download, rename, delete, history.

∅Ignore rules that make sense

.git, node_modules, .env and logs never go up. Add a .coolftpignore for the rest, gitignore syntax.

↺One-command rollback

coolftp rollback puts the server back to the commit that was live before. Any deploy in history can be restored by id. Your working tree is never touched.

✓Deploys that verify themselves

Give a site its public URL and every deploy fetches the homepage and the changed pages afterwards, then reports the status codes. Agents stop guessing.

!A human click for destructive changes

When an agent asks to delete, deploy with --delete, or roll back, the app pops a yes/no on your screen. Two minutes with no answer means no.

▶Build before deploy

Set "build": "npm run build" in the project file and every deploy runs it first, agent-triggered or not.

⌫Stale file cleanup, opt-in and guarded

Files you deleted locally are listed as stale and left alone until you pass --delete. A first deploy into a folder with other files refuses to delete them at all.

⚿Pinned host keys, encrypted passwords

SFTP host keys are remembered on first use and a changed key is refused. Passwords are encrypted with the Windows user account, never plain text.

▤Two panes, no clutter

Local on the left, remote on the right, drag and drop from Explorer, preview text files in place, keyboard driven.

⇄Resumable deploys

Transfers retry on their own. If a deploy still dies halfway, what landed is recorded, and the next run finishes the rest instead of starting over.

⌂Runs without the app too

Close the desktop app and the CLI and MCP server keep working in-process. Same commands, same config, on a headless box or in CI.

How it compares

FileZilla and CuteFTP are fine tools from a different era. Here is the honest comparison.

	coolFTP	FileZilla	CuteFTP	rsync / scp
SFTP with ssh-agent keys	yes	yes	yes	yes
Uploads only files whose content changed	yes, by hash	by size or time	by size or time	yes
Deploy history with git commit	yes	no	no	no
Driveable by Claude Code / MCP	built in	no	no	shell only
Shows agent actions live in a GUI	yes	no	no	no
Asks you before an agent deletes anything	yes	n/a	n/a	no
Roll back to the previous live version	one command	no	no	by hand
Checks the site answers after deploying	yes	no	no	no
Refuses a changed SSH host key	yes	yes	yes	yes
Per-project config committed with the code	.coolftp.json	global XML	global	scripts
Runs a build step before deploy	yes	no	macros	scripts
Works on shared hosts with FTP only	yes	yes	yes	no
Price	free, MIT	free, GPL	paid	free

Quickstart

Three commands from install to deploy. Everything the desktop app does, the CLI does too, so this works on a server with no screen.

Install and add a server

# install the CLI (works with or without the desktop app)
npm i -g coolftp
# add a server over SFTP, using your existing key or ssh-agent
coolftp site add coolftp.com --host coolftp.com --user deploy --root /var/www/html --url https://coolftp.com
# or a shared host over FTPS with a password
coolftp site add oldhost --host ftp.oldhost.net --user me --protocol ftps --password ... --root /public_html
# connect once to check it and record the host key
coolftp site test coolftp.com

Link a project and deploy

# in your project folder: link it to the site, deploy the dist folder, build first
coolftp init coolftp.com --local-dir dist --build "npm run build"
# what would go up
coolftp diff
# upload only the changed files
coolftp deploy -m "v1"
# also remove files you deleted locally
coolftp deploy --delete
# git commit, then deploy
coolftp deploy --commit -m "fix nav"
# put the previous live version back
coolftp rollback
# what went live, when, from which commit, by whom
coolftp history

Wire up Claude Code

claude mcp add coolftp -- coolftp mcp
# then, in Claude Code, just say: "deploy this"

Project file (.coolftp.json): { "site": "coolftp.com", "localDir": "dist", "build": "npm run build", "ignore": ["*.map"] }. Commit it. Anyone on the team, human or agent, deploys the same way.

Download

Windows installer and portable build. macOS and Linux builds come from the same Electron source; run npm run dist to build them yourself until signed builds are published.

coolFTP Setup for Windows x64, 0.1.0 Portable .exe Source on GitHub

Not signed yet, so SmartScreen will ask twice. Verify the SHA-256 on the releases page if that matters to you. It should.

Questions a developer would ask

Where does the manifest live and is it public?

At <remote root>/.coolftp/manifest.json, alongside a .htaccess with Require all denied. Apache and LiteSpeed honour it. On nginx add a location ~ /\.coolftp deny rule, or point remoteRoot one level above the web root. The manifest contains file paths and hashes, never contents or credentials.

What if the server already has files coolFTP did not upload?

The first deploy has no manifest, so coolFTP walks the remote tree and compares sizes. Files it has never seen are treated as stale and never deleted unless you pass --delete. After that first deploy, hashes take over.

How are passwords stored?

Encrypted with the Windows Data Protection API under your user account, in sites.json in your profile. Another user on the same PC, or a copy of the file taken elsewhere, cannot decrypt them. SSH keys with the ssh-agent are still the better option, because then nothing secret is stored at all. The app never sends passwords to the interface or to agents. Agents only ever see hasPassword: true.

Can an agent delete my whole site?

Not without you. When an agent asks to delete a path, deploy with --delete, or roll back, the desktop app shows a dialog and waits for your click; no answer in two minutes counts as no. Deleting the site root is refused outright. A first deploy into a folder that already has files refuses to remove them. Every call is logged with the agent name. And if the worst happens anyway, coolftp rollback restores the previous commit.

Does it need the desktop app running?

No. The CLI and the MCP server run everything in-process when the app is closed. When the app is open they route through it, so you get the live view and share its open connection.

Why Electron?

Because the same TypeScript core runs the CLI, the MCP server and the app, and because ssh2 and basic-ftp are the most battle-tested SFTP and FTP libraries in any language that also ships a GUI toolkit. The bundle is bigger than a native app. The code is smaller.