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rsync

Included in skill bundleshared-skillsView on GitHub ↗

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills
npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills --skill 'rsync' -g -y
Install the containing skill bundle
/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills
Download rsync-skill.zip
This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation
/shared-skills:rsync

SKILL.md

name: rsync description: > Synchronise files and directories locally or over SSH with rsync for efficient, resumable, and checksum-verified transfers. Use when the agent needs to mirror a directory tree, back up files to a remote host, transfer large files with progress reporting, exclude patterns from a copy, or perform a safe dry-run before a destructive sync.

rsync

Efficiently synchronise files and directories locally or over SSH with delta transfer, checksum verification, and fine-grained exclusion control.

Quick Start

  1. Verify availability: rsync --version
  2. Dry-run a local sync: rsync -avn src/ dest/
  3. Live sync: rsync -av src/ dest/

Intent Router

  • references/cheatsheet.md — Common flags, local and remote sync, dry-run, exclusions, and progress output
  • references/advanced-usage.md — Archive mode, checksums, bandwidth limits, partial transfers, hardlinks, and daemon mode
  • references/troubleshooting.md — Trailing slash pitfalls, SSH key setup, permission errors, and interrupted transfer recovery

Core Workflow

  1. Always dry-run first: rsync -avn src/ dest/ to preview what will change
  2. Add -a (archive) to preserve permissions, timestamps, symlinks, and ownership
  3. Use --exclude or --exclude-from to skip unwanted paths
  4. Add --delete only after confirming the dry-run output — it removes files from dest not in src
  5. Review the summary line (sent X bytes … speedup Y) to confirm the expected volume transferred

Quick Command Reference

rsync -avn src/ dest/                               # Dry-run: show what would change
rsync -av src/ dest/                                # Local sync with verbose output
rsync -az src/ user@host:/remote/dest/              # Remote sync over SSH with compression
rsync -av --delete src/ dest/                       # Mirror: delete files absent from src
rsync -av --exclude='*.log' src/ dest/              # Exclude pattern
rsync -av --exclude-from=.rsyncignore src/ dest/    # Exclude from file
rsync -avP src/ dest/                               # Show per-file progress
rsync -av --checksum src/ dest/                     # Force checksum comparison (skip mtime)
rsync -av --bwlimit=5000 src/ dest/                 # Limit bandwidth to 5 MB/s
rsync -av --partial --progress src/ dest/           # Resume interrupted transfers
rsync -av -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/key" src/ user@host:/d/ # Custom SSH key
rsync --version                                     # Check installed version
man rsync                                           # Full manual

Safety Notes

AreaGuardrail
Always dry-run firstrsync -n (or --dry-run) never writes. Run it before every destructive or large sync.
Trailing slash on sourcersync src/ dest/ syncs the contents of src into dest. rsync src dest/ syncs the directory src itself into dest. This is the single most common rsync mistake.
--delete is destructiveFiles in dest that do not exist in src are permanently removed. Only use after dry-run confirms the deletion list is correct.
Remote host trustSyncing to a remote host modifies files on that system. Confirm hostname, user, and path before running a live sync.
Permissions and ownership-a preserves ownership, which may fail if running as non-root on the destination. Use --no-owner --no-group when ownership mapping is not needed.
SSH accessEnsure SSH key auth is set up before scripting. Password prompts will cause automated syncs to hang.

Source Policy

  • Treat man rsync and rsync --help as runtime truth.
  • Run rsync --version to confirm protocol version and capabilities before using advanced flags.
  • Prefer rsync over cp -r for anything larger than a few files — it is resumable and verifiable.

See Also

  • $cp for simple local copies where rsync overhead is unnecessary
  • $ssh for the underlying transport used in remote syncs
  • $mv for relocating rather than mirroring
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