Rclone

---
name: rclone
description: "This skill should be used when uploading, syncing, or managing files across cloud storage providers using rclone. It handles transfers to S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, or any S3-compatible storage."
---

# rclone File Transfer Skill

## Setup Check (Always Run First)

Before any rclone operation, verify installation and configuration:

```bash
# Check if rclone is installed
command -v rclone >/dev/null 2>&1 && rclone version || echo "NOT INSTALLED"

# List configured remotes
rclone listremotes 2>/dev/null || echo "NO REMOTES CONFIGURED"
```

### If rclone is NOT installed

Guide the user to install:

```bash
# macOS
brew install rclone

# Linux (static binary to ~/.local/bin)
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && curl -sfL https://downloads.rclone.org/rclone-current-linux-amd64.zip -o /tmp/rclone.zip && unzip -q /tmp/rclone.zip -d /tmp && cp /tmp/rclone-*/rclone ~/.local/bin/ && chmod +x ~/.local/bin/rclone
# For arm64: replace amd64 with arm64 in the URL above
```

### If NO remotes are configured

Walk the user through interactive configuration:

```bash
rclone config
```

**Common provider setup quick reference:**

| Provider | Type | Key Settings |
|----------|------|--------------|
| AWS S3 | `s3` | access_key_id, secret_access_key, region |
| Cloudflare R2 | `s3` | access_key_id, secret_access_key, endpoint (account_id.r2.cloudflarestorage.com) |
| Backblaze B2 | `b2` | account (keyID), key (applicationKey) |
| DigitalOcean Spaces | `s3` | access_key_id, secret_access_key, endpoint (region.digitaloceanspaces.com) |
| Google Drive | `drive` | OAuth flow (opens browser) |
| Dropbox | `dropbox` | OAuth flow (opens browser) |

**Example: Configure Cloudflare R2**
```bash
rclone config create r2 s3 \
  provider=Cloudflare \
  access_key_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY \
  secret_access_key=YOUR_SECRET_KEY \
  endpoint=ACCOUNT_ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com \
  acl=private
```

**Example: Configure AWS S3**
```bash
rclone config create aws s3 \
  provider=AWS \
  access_key_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY \
  secret_access_key=YOUR_SECRET_KEY \
  region=us-east-1
```

## Common Operations

### Upload single file
```bash
rclone copy /path/to/file.mp4 remote:bucket/path/ --progress
```

### Upload directory
```bash
rclone copy /path/to/folder remote:bucket/folder/ --progress
```

### Sync directory (mirror, deletes removed files)
```bash
rclone sync /local/path remote:bucket/path/ --progress
```

### List remote contents
```bash
rclone ls remote:bucket/
rclone lsd remote:bucket/  # directories only
```

### Check what would be transferred (dry run)
```bash
rclone copy /path remote:bucket/ --dry-run
```

## Useful Flags

| Flag | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `--progress` | Show transfer progress |
| `--dry-run` | Preview without transferring |
| `-v` | Verbose output |
| `--transfers=N` | Parallel transfers (default 4) |
| `--bwlimit=RATE` | Bandwidth limit (e.g., `10M`) |
| `--checksum` | Compare by checksum, not size/time |
| `--exclude="*.tmp"` | Exclude patterns |
| `--include="*.mp4"` | Include only matching |
| `--min-size=SIZE` | Skip files smaller than SIZE |
| `--max-size=SIZE` | Skip files larger than SIZE |

## Large File Uploads

For videos and large files, use chunked uploads:

```bash
# S3 multipart upload (automatic for >200MB)
rclone copy large_video.mp4 remote:bucket/ --s3-chunk-size=64M --progress

# Resume interrupted transfers
rclone copy /path remote:bucket/ --progress --retries=5
```

## Verify Upload

```bash
# Check file exists and matches
rclone check /local/file remote:bucket/file

# Get file info
rclone lsl remote:bucket/path/to/file
```

## Troubleshooting

```bash
# Test connection
rclone lsd remote:

# Debug connection issues
rclone lsd remote: -vv

# Check config
rclone config show remote
```