mtc-project-sync-script/README.md

# MTC Project Sync Script

A simple toolkit for synchronizing projects between remote servers and local development environments.

## Setup

### 1. Clone the Repository

```bash
cd ~/Documents/GitHub
git clone <repository-url> mtc-project-sync-script
```

### 2. Create a Symlink in Your Projects Directory

Navigate to where you keep all your projects and create a symbolic link to the sync script:

```bash
cd ~/Documents/Projects  # or wherever you keep your projects
ln -s ~/Documents/GitHub/mtc-project-sync-script/sync-project.sh sync-project.sh
```

**Why symlink?** The script uses its own location to find the `scripts/` folder and `lazygit` binary. A symlink preserves the connection to the original script location, so it can access these resources. This way, you only need one copy of the toolkit that all your projects can use.

### 3. Run the Sync Script

From your projects directory, run:

```bash
./sync-project.sh
```

Or for SFTP-only setup (skips lazygit and .gitignore modifications):

```bash
./sync-project.sh --sftp-only
```

## What the Script Does

When you run `sync-project.sh`, it will:

1. **Ask for configuration:**
   - Server user@host (e.g., `user@example.com`)
   - Server project path (e.g., `/home/user/public_html`)
   - Local folder path (e.g., `my-project`)
   - SSH password

2. **Sync your project:**
   - Creates a tar archive on the remote server
   - Downloads and extracts it to your local folder
   - Cleans up temporary files

3. **Generate configuration and scripts:**
   - Creates `.vscode/sftp.json` for VS Code SFTP extension
   - Generates helper scripts with your credentials pre-configured
   - Adds scripts to `.gitignore` (unless using `--sftp-only`)
   - Uploads lazygit to server (unless using `--sftp-only`)

## Generated Scripts

After running the sync script, you'll have these helper scripts in your project:

### `remote-local.sh`
**Purpose:** Download files from server to local machine

**What it does:**
- Uses rsync to pull files from remote server
- Only downloads changed files
- Excludes common development folders (node_modules, vendor, .git, etc.)

**Use cases:**
- Get latest changes from server
- Pull production data for debugging
- Sync before starting work

### `local-remote.sh`
**Purpose:** Upload files from local machine to server

**What it does:**
- Uses rsync to push files to remote server
- Only uploads changed files
- Deletes remote files that don't exist locally
- Excludes common development folders

**Use cases:**
- Deploy local changes to server
- Push code updates
- Restore server from local backup

### `ssh.sh`
**Purpose:** SSH into the remote server

**What it does:**
- Opens an SSH connection to your server
- Changes directory to your project path
- Supports `--db` flag for MySQL port forwarding

**Usage:**
```bash
./ssh.sh           # Normal SSH connection
./ssh.sh --db      # SSH with MySQL port forwarding (local:3306 -> remote:3306)
```

**Use cases:**
- Run commands on the server
- Check logs
- Access remote database via localhost:3306

### `sftp-watch.sh`
**Purpose:** Continuous bidirectional sync

**What it does:**
- First runs `remote-local.sh` to sync down
- Watches for local file changes
- Automatically runs `local-remote.sh` when files change

**Requirements:** Needs `watchexec` installed (`brew install watchexec`)

**Use cases:**
- Development with live server testing
- Real-time sync during coding

### `watch-build.sh`
**Purpose:** Watch for changes, build, and upload

**What it does:**
- Monitors files for changes
- Runs `npm run build` when changes detected
- Uploads built assets to server using `local-remote.sh`

**Requirements:**
- `watchexec` installed
- `package.json` with build script
- Node.js/npm installed

**Use cases:**
- Frontend development with build steps (React, Vue, etc.)
- Automatic deployment of compiled assets
- Continuous integration during development

## Requirements

- **bash** - Shell scripting
- **ssh/scp** - Remote server access
- **sshpass** - Password authentication
- **tar** - Archive creation
- **rsync** - File synchronization
- **watchexec** (optional) - For watch mode scripts

### Install on macOS:
```bash
brew install sshpass rsync watchexec
```

### Install on Ubuntu/Debian:
```bash
sudo apt-get install sshpass rsync openssh-client
```