Remote Connections

Browse FTP, FTPS, and SFTP servers as if they were local folders — with saved credentials, drag-and-drop uploads, and full preview support.

Table of contents

  1. Supported protocols
  2. Adding a connection
  3. SSH key authentication (SFTP)
    1. Host key verification (TOFU)
  4. Browsing remote folders
  5. Managing saved connections
  6. Connection behavior
  7. Tips & gotchas
  8. See also

Supported protocols

Protocol Default Port Notes
FTP 21 Standard file transfer, no encryption
FTPS 990 (implicit) / 21 (explicit) FTP over TLS — recommended over plain FTP
SFTP 22 SSH-based transfer — most secure, supports key auth

Recommendation: Use SFTP where possible. FTPS is a good fallback for hosts that don’t support SSH.

Adding a connection

  1. Click the Remote section in the sidebar (or right-click it and choose Add connection)
  2. Fill in the connection form:
Field Description
Name Display name shown in the sidebar
Protocol FTP, FTPS, or SFTP
Host Hostname or IP address
Port Leave blank for the default port
Username Your login username
Password Your password (stored encrypted)
SSH Key (SFTP only) Path to your private key file (.pem, .ppk, .key)
Passphrase (SFTP only) If your key is passphrase-protected
  1. Click Connect to test and save.

You can also type a URL directly in the address bar:

ftp://user@ftp.example.com/public/
ftps://user@ftp.example.com:990/
sftp://user@ssh.example.com/home/user/

SPAN Finder will prompt for credentials if they are not yet saved.

SSH key authentication (SFTP)

SFTP connections support public-key authentication:

  • Supported key types: RSA, DSA, ECDSA, Ed25519
  • Supported formats: OpenSSH, PuTTY (.ppk)
  • Passphrase support: Yes — the passphrase is stored encrypted alongside the key path

To use a key:

  1. Add a new SFTP connection
  2. Leave Password blank
  3. Set SSH Key to the path of your private key file

Host key verification (TOFU)

On first connection to a new host, SPAN Finder shows the server’s host key fingerprint and asks you to confirm it. This is the “Trust On First Use” model — once accepted, the fingerprint is saved and verified on every subsequent connection.

If the fingerprint changes (e.g., the server was rebuilt), SPAN Finder will warn you before proceeding.

Browsing remote folders

Once connected, remote folders behave like local ones:

  • Navigate with Miller Columns, Details, List, or Icon view
  • Preview files inline (images, text, video thumbnails via shell cache)
  • Use the address bar to jump to any path on the server
  • Middle-click a remote folder to open it in a new tab

Supported operations on remote files:

Operation Supported
Browse folders ✅
Preview files ✅ (text, images — binary streamed)
Download (drag to local folder) ✅
Upload (drag from local to remote) ✅
Delete ✅
Rename ✅
Create folder ✅
Move within same server ✅
Copy between two remote servers ❌ (download + re-upload)

Managing saved connections

Right-click any connection in the sidebar to:

  • Connect / Disconnect
  • Edit — update host, credentials, or key
  • Rename — change the display name
  • Delete — remove saved credentials permanently

Credentials are stored encrypted in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\LumiBearStudio.SpanFinder_<hash>\LocalState\connections.json.

Connection behavior

  • Auto-reconnect: If a connection drops mid-operation (e.g., idle timeout), SPAN Finder detects the stale socket and reconnects automatically before retrying.
  • Timeout: Commands time out after 8 seconds. If the server is unreachable, a clear error is shown.
  • Session persistence: Connections you had open when you quit SPAN Finder are restored on the next launch (if the server is reachable).

Tips & gotchas

Tip: Use Split View with one pane on a local folder and one on a remote — drag files between them to upload or download.

Tip: Remote connections appear in the sidebar’s Remote section. Pin frequently used servers to Favorites for one-click access.

Tip: The Preview Panel works on remote text files — SPAN Finder streams just enough bytes to render the preview without downloading the full file.

Gotcha: Very large files (>1 GB) on slow connections may stall the progress dialog. Pause/resume is available on SFTP transfers; FTP transfers must be restarted.

Gotcha: Some SFTP servers restrict the allowed commands (e.g., no rename or mkdir). SPAN Finder will report the server’s error message in the Action Log.

Gotcha: FTP (not FTPS) sends credentials in plaintext. Only use it on private networks or when FTPS/SFTP is unavailable.

See also