Protocol Overview
Last updated: 2026-03-31
AeroFTP supports 27 protocols and cloud storage providers natively. Each protocol is implemented in Rust with full streaming support, credential encryption via the OS keyring, and integration with AeroSync, AeroAgent, and the CLI.
Protocol Comparison
Server Protocols (6)
| # | Protocol | Auth Method | Encryption | Free Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FTP | Password | None | N/A (self-hosted) |
| 2 | FTPS | Password | TLS/SSL (Explicit/Implicit) | N/A (self-hosted) |
| 3 | SFTP | Password / SSH Key | SSH | N/A (self-hosted) |
| 4 | WebDAV | Password (Basic + Digest) | HTTPS | Varies by provider |
| 5 | S3-Compatible | Access Key + Secret | HTTPS + SSE | Varies by provider |
| 6 | OpenStack Swift | Username + Password (Keystone v3) | HTTPS | Varies by provider |
OAuth Cloud Providers (7)
| # | Protocol | Auth Method | Encryption | Free Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Google Drive | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 15 GB |
| 8 | Dropbox | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 2 GB |
| 9 | OneDrive | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 5 GB |
| 10 | Box | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 10 GB |
| 11 | pCloud | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 10 GB |
| 12 | Zoho WorkDrive | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | Team plan |
| 13 | Koofr | OAuth2 PKCE | HTTPS + at-rest | 10 GB |
Direct Auth Cloud Providers (11)
| # | Protocol | Auth Method | Encryption | Free Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | MEGA | Password | Client-side AES | 20 GB |
| 15 | Azure Blob | HMAC / SAS Token | HTTPS + SSE | Pay-as-you-go |
| 16 | 4shared | OAuth 1.0 (HMAC-SHA1) | HTTPS | 15 GB |
| 17 | Filen | Password (PBKDF2) + optional 2FA | Client-side AES-256-GCM | 10 GB |
| 18 | Internxt | Password (PBKDF2 + BIP39) | Client-side AES-256-CTR | 1 GB |
| 19 | kDrive | API Token | HTTPS | 15 GB |
| 20 | Jottacloud | Personal Login Token | HTTPS | 5 GB |
| 21 | Drime Cloud | API Token (Bearer) | HTTPS | 20 GB |
| 22 | FileLu | API Key | HTTPS | 1 GB |
| 23 | Yandex Disk | OAuth2 Token | HTTPS | 5 GB |
| 24 | OpenDrive | Session Auth (user/pass) | HTTPS | 5 GB |
Developer Platforms (2)
| # | Protocol | Auth Method | Encryption | Free Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | GitHub | OAuth2 / PAT / App .pem | HTTPS | Unlimited repos |
| 26 | SourceForge | SSH (SFTP) | SSH | Unlimited projects |
Protocol Categories
Server Protocols (Self-Hosted)
These connect to servers you control. You provide the hostname, port, and credentials.
- FTP -- Traditional unencrypted file transfer. Suitable for legacy servers and shared hosting on trusted networks.
- FTPS -- FTP secured with TLS/SSL. Supports both Explicit (STARTTLS on port 21) and Implicit (port 990) modes. AeroFTP detects TLS downgrade attempts and warns the user.
- SFTP -- Secure file transfer over SSH. The recommended choice for self-hosted servers. Supports password and SSH key authentication with TOFU host key verification.
- WebDAV -- HTTP-based file access over HTTPS. Used by Nextcloud, Seafile, and many NAS devices. Supports Basic and Digest authentication.
- S3-Compatible -- Object storage using the S3 API. Works with AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, and any S3-compatible endpoint.
- OpenStack Swift -- Object storage using the OpenStack Swift API. Works with Blomp, OVH, Rackspace, and any Swift-compatible endpoint. Authenticates via Keystone v3 or TempAuth.
OAuth Cloud Providers
These authenticate through the provider's OAuth2 PKCE flow. AeroFTP opens a browser window for authorization and stores tokens securely in the vault.
- Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, pCloud, Zoho WorkDrive, Koofr
Direct Auth Cloud Providers
These use API keys, email/password, session tokens, or personal access tokens directly. No browser-based OAuth flow is required.
- MEGA -- Zero-knowledge E2E encryption with client-side AES.
- Azure Blob -- Enterprise object storage with HMAC signing or SAS tokens.
- 4shared -- OAuth 1.0 with HMAC-SHA1 signing (RFC 5849).
- Filen -- E2E encrypted with PBKDF2 key derivation and AES-256-GCM. Optional 2FA.
- Internxt -- E2E encrypted with PBKDF2 + BIP39 mnemonic and AES-256-CTR.
- kDrive -- Infomaniak cloud storage with API token authentication.
- Jottacloud -- Norwegian cloud with Personal Login Token authentication.
- Drime Cloud -- 20 GB secure cloud storage (Bedrive platform) with API token authentication. Supports file versioning, server-side copy, and share links.
- FileLu -- API key authentication with file password protection and privacy controls.
- Yandex Disk -- OAuth2 token-based access to Yandex cloud storage.
- OpenDrive -- Session-based authentication with MD5 checksums and zlib compression.
Developer Platforms
- GitHub -- Repository file browser and manager. Supports OAuth2, Personal Access Tokens (PAT), and GitHub App
.pemkey authentication. Browse, download, upload, and delete files across unlimited repositories. - SourceForge -- SFTP preset with SourceForge project paths. Manage file releases and project files via SSH key or password authentication.
WebDAV Presets
AeroFTP includes pre-configured WebDAV presets for popular services:
| Service | Endpoint | Default Port | Free Storage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | your-server.com/remote.php/dav/files/USERNAME/ | 443 | Varies (self-hosted) | Most popular self-hosted cloud |
| Seafile | your-server.com/seafdav | 443 | Varies (self-hosted) | Via SeafDAV extension |
| CloudMe | webdav.cloudme.com | 443 | 3 GB | Swedish cloud storage |
| Jianguoyun | dav.jianguoyun.com/dav | 443 | 2 GB | Chinese market (Nutstore) |
| InfiniCLOUD | webdav.teracloud.jp/dav/ | 443 | 20 GB | Japanese cloud by InfiniCloud |
When using a WebDAV preset, AeroFTP automatically configures the endpoint path. You only need to provide your server hostname and credentials.
S3-Compatible Presets
AeroFTP supports any S3-compatible service. Built-in presets auto-configure the endpoint and region:
| Service | Endpoint Template | Free Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS S3 | s3.{region}.amazonaws.com | Pay-as-you-go | The original S3 |
| Wasabi | s3.{region}.wasabisys.com | Pay-as-you-go | No egress fees |
| Backblaze B2 | s3.{region}.backblazeb2.com | 10 GB | S3-compatible API |
| DigitalOcean Spaces | {region}.digitaloceanspaces.com | Pay-as-you-go | CDN included |
| Cloudflare R2 | {accountId}.r2.cloudflarestorage.com | 10 GB | No egress fees, requires Account ID |
| Storj | gateway.storjshare.io | 25 GB | Decentralized storage |
| Alibaba OSS | oss-{region}.aliyuncs.com | Pay-as-you-go | Asia-optimized |
| Tencent COS | cos.{region}.myqcloud.com | Pay-as-you-go | China regions |
| MinIO | Custom endpoint | N/A | Self-hosted S3 |
| Yandex Object Storage | storage.yandexcloud.net | Pay-as-you-go | Russia region |
For Cloudflare R2, a dedicated Account ID field is shown in the connection form. The endpoint is computed automatically from the account ID.
Feature Matrix
Trash Management
Not all providers expose a trash/recycle bin API. The following table shows which protocols support trash operations in AeroFTP:
| Protocol | List Trash | Restore | Permanent Delete | Empty Trash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Box | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| pCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Koofr | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MEGA | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| kDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jottacloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Internxt | Yes | No | No | No |
| FileLu | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Yandex Disk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OpenDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| All others | No | No | No | No |
File Versioning
| Protocol | List Versions | Download Version | Restore Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Box | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| pCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Koofr | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| kDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drime Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| S3-Compatible | Yes (if bucket versioning enabled) | Yes | Yes |
| All others | No | No | No |
Share Links
| Protocol | Create Share Link | Expiring Links | Password-Protected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Yes | No | No |
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes (Pro) | Yes (Pro) |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Box | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| pCloud | Yes | No | No |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes | No | No |
| Koofr | Yes | No | No |
| Filen | Yes | No | No |
| kDrive | Yes | No | No |
| Jottacloud | Yes | No | No |
| Drime Cloud | Yes | No | No |
| FileLu | Yes | No | Yes |
| Yandex Disk | Yes | No | No |
| OpenDrive | Yes | Yes (expiring) | No |
| S3-Compatible | Pre-signed URLs | Yes (time-limited) | No |
| Azure Blob | SAS tokens | Yes (time-limited) | No |
| MEGA | Yes | No | No |
| WebDAV (Nextcloud) | Yes | No | No |
| GitHub | Permalink URLs | No | No |
| All others | No | No | No |
Tags and Labels
| Protocol | Add Tags | Remove Tags | List Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes (team labels) | Yes | Yes |
| Google Drive | Yes (properties) | Yes | Yes |
| All others | No | No | No |
Integration Compatibility
AeroSync
AeroSync supports bidirectional synchronization across all protocols. AeroCloud background sync classifies protocols by reliability: 11 stable, 8 beta, 2 alpha -- with maturity badges visible in the setup wizard.
AeroSync features available across all protocols:
- Bidirectional and unidirectional sync
- Conflict resolution (keep local, keep remote, keep newer, skip)
- Sync profiles (Mirror, Two-way, Backup, Pull, Remote Backup)
- Transfer journal with checkpoint/resume
- Post-transfer verification (size, mtime, SHA-256)
- Configurable retry with exponential backoff
- Bandwidth throttling
- Dry-run mode with export
CLI Support
All 27 protocols are accessible from the aeroftp-cli command-line tool using URL-based connections:
aeroftp-cli ls sftp://user@myserver.com/path/
aeroftp-cli get s3://mybucket/file.txt
aeroftp-cli put ftp://user@host/upload/ ./local-file.txt
aeroftp-cli sync ftp://user@host/ ./local-dir/
aeroftp-cli tree webdav://user@nextcloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/user/The CLI supports 31 commands (connect, ls, get, put, mkdir, rm, mv, cp, link, edit, cat, head, tail, touch, hashsum, check, stat, find, df, about, dedupe, sync, tree, batch, rcat, alias, agent, completions, profiles, ai-models, agent-info), batch scripting via .aeroftp files, glob pattern transfers, and --json output for automation.
AeroAgent server_exec
AeroAgent can execute file operations on saved servers through the server_exec tool. This tool resolves credentials from the vault in Rust and never exposes passwords to the AI model.
| Category | Protocols | server_exec Support |
|---|---|---|
| Server Protocols | FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Swift | Yes |
| Direct Auth Cloud | MEGA, Azure, 4shared, Filen, Internxt, kDrive, Jottacloud, Drime Cloud, FileLu, Yandex Disk, OpenDrive | Yes |
| OAuth Cloud | Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, pCloud, Zoho WorkDrive, Koofr | Blocked (requires browser OAuth) |
| Developer | GitHub, SourceForge | GitHub: Blocked (requires browser OAuth or manual PAT). SourceForge: Yes (via SFTP) |
The server_exec tool supports 10 operations: ls, cat, get, put, mkdir, rm, mv, stat, find, and df. Server names are matched with fuzzy matching against saved server profiles.
Last updated: 2026-03-31