lcp

lcp makes file transfer between two users in a LAN as simple as cp. It aims to fill the niche of file transfer where tools such as scp and rsync are a little bit cumbersome. I'd like to call it "the AirDrop for cli", because the receiver can choose what to do with the files for each tranfer.

Usage

A light-weight tool for light-weight scenarios, lcp is a bash script (~170L) that establishes UNAUTHED and UNENCRYPTED connections for transfer. Even though you can use lcp as long as the receiver's port is accessible, it is strongly advised to be used only in trusted local network. (Disscussions of how to enhance security without significant UX tradeoff are welcomed!)

# Sender
> lcp data/001/ recv.local

# Receiver (i.e. recv.local)
> ls
> lcp -d 001-s
> ls
001-s


# Clipboard sharing (optional)
# Sender
> lcp -c recv.local

# Receiver
> lcp # Now Receiver can paste what Sender has copied!

It doesn't matter who takes action first. lcp can negotiates and establishes a connection in either situation. The hostnames are long? lcp also take custom aliases. For more options see lcp -h.

Install

I try to make it compatible with major *nix platforms. Compatibility issues/PRs are welcomed!

# If you want the clipboard integration, set env `LCP_CLIPBOARD` to 1 in your shell profile first.
bash <(curl -Ls https://lcp.now.sh/get)

The install script downloads lcp, checks for dependencies: nc (and xclip/xsel/pbcopy if clipboard integration is enabled), and compiles the missing ones.

lcp stores hostname aliases in ~/.config/lcphosts. If you want to view your hostname every time pending on receiving (useful if it is transient), set env LCP_DISPLAYHOST to 1.

Difference with cp

cp doesn't allow operations like cp more than one file dir_not_exist, while lcp will try to create the directory dir_not_exist in this situation. If dir_not_exist is a name taken by a file, lcp will create a directory with random name in the same parent directory.