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Beta Remote files (SFTP)

Editora can edit files on a remote host over SSH/SFTP. A remote folder mounts as the Project tree, and from there editing, syntax highlighting, search, bookmarks, notes, and preview all work over the wire. Save writes straight back, with no dialog when the server copy is unchanged. If it changed since you opened or last saved the file, Editora asks before overwriting it.

Connecting

remote.connect opens a form for host, port, user, and authentication. On success it mounts the remote folder as the Project tree and opens the Project tool window. Connections are remembered in connections.json.

Disconnect closes every connection of the window, not only the mounted one. When remote tabs have unsaved changes it names them and asks first.

Saved sites

Saved sites have three surfaces beyond the palette picker:

• A Remote Sites tool window (tool.remote, M-g r) listing every saved site, with New, Connect, and Remove.
• A Settings → Remote page (remote.settings) to add, edit, and remove sites: label, host, port, user, auth method, and key path.
• A Remote Sites quick-connect list on the Welcome page.

Picking a site opens the connection form pre-filled; your password or key passphrase is still prompted each time and is never stored.

Authentication

Each connection uses the one method you pick in the form: your default ~/.ssh keys, a specific private key file, or a password. Only that method is tried; there is no fallback from one to the next. Secrets are never stored, only the connection details (host, user, last path, and which method to use). The password or passphrase you type is never written to disk, and a password is removed from the SSH session as soon as authentication finishes.

Host-key verification

Editora verifies the server’s host key against ~/.ssh/known_hosts, the same file ssh uses, so a host you’ve already accepted at the terminal connects with no prompt. A host you’ve never connected to shows its fingerprint and asks you first. A host whose key has changed is refused outright, without any button to wave it through, since a changed key is how an impersonation attempt looks.

What works remotely, and what doesn’t

Remote files stay fully text-capable: editing, highlighting, search, bookmarks, notes, preview, and PDF or print.

Features that run a local process or read sibling files on the local disk are gated off for remote files: language servers, debugging, running, the HTTP client, Git, HTML live preview, and external-change polling. Recent files round-trip remote URIs and reconnect once the connection is open.

Saving

• Save writes back to the server, asking first when the server copy changed since you opened or last saved it.
• A file with no write bit on the server opens in View mode. It is never replaced silently: Save asks first, and auto-save does not write it.
• Save As on a remote tab writes a local copy, and the tab becomes that local file. This also works after the connection is gone, so unsaved remote work can always be kept.

Personal notes on a remote file are stored under the path you opened it by, not the target of a symlink. Notes made in an earlier version on a file opened through a symlink may no longer be found.

Behind the scenes

A remote path is a real java.nio.file.Path on an SFTP filesystem, so the same open, save, list, and search code paths work unchanged. The transport is Apache MINA SSHD. Saves use a server-side atomic rename when the host supports it. If a safe replacement cannot be completed, Editora retains the previous remote copy instead of risking a partial file.