Chrome OS: how to enable direct SFTP access in the Files app / Pixelbook Review

Question

An article on Chrome OS that I read here: https://medium.com/@JamesCridland/review-five-months-with-a-chromebook-for-web-development-writing-and-more-8adf36b4a061

says: "Update: Above, I mention that I use SSH and vi to do my programming work. And I did. Except I don’t any more. It turns out that one of the newer updates added direct SFTP access into the Files app (the equivalent of Explorer or Finder), so that my development box appears simply as another drive on my Chromebook. And Caret is an excellent programmer’s editor. So now I have a proper programmer’s editor (as well as the SSH terminal I need to put those changes live)."

Ok. But, when I go into Chrome OS's files app, the apparent way 'mount' my equiv of his 'development box' is via 'add new services', which is launching a webstore-app named 'SFTP' (whose icon is a blue folder outline with "SFTP" on it). i,e.:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sftp-file-system/gbheifiifcfekkamhepkeogobihicgmn?hl=en

(My equiv of his 'development box' I'm assuming to be my web-server at bluehost.com, where I currently use Firefox's FireFTP extension, on Win-10.)

I can't get this 3-stars webstore 'SFTP' app (authored by someone from Japan) to authenticate me into my bluehost acc't. So, now I'm wondering whether this 'SFTP' app is even the right thing to have installed, due to all the one- and two-star showstopper reviews. One typical review by a guy named Tim says:

"It's a nice try, but I really wish someone who knows what they're doing would make this service. It looks like it works but if you drill down more than a few folders deep on the remote filesystem, operations slow to a crawl."

Similarly, the two clients ('sFTP client' and 'sFTP client Lite) also have such low ratings, that my gut says that Google has failed to deliver a robust web-developer infrastructure.

Come on Google...you need to implement this stuff under your own logo.

Am I missing something???

Answer 1

Probably should advertise this functionality better :), but the Secure Shell App supports mounting via SFTP so it will appear in the Files app.

Steps to use:

1. Install Secure Shell Chrome extension.
2. Launch the extension (look for it in the bar to the right of the omnibox/browser URL bar -- it'll have a black terminal icon).
3. Enter the connection details to create a new profile.
4. Give it a description like "[email protected]".
5. Instead of clicking "Connect" in the bottom right, click "Mount".
6. Authenticate with the server (keys/pass/whatever).
7. Once it finishes, it'll now be visible in the Files app.

If you suspend/resume the system or otherwise logout/reboot, you'll need to relaunch Secure Shell, select the saved profile, and then click "Mount" again. We probably should make this a bit smoother, but that's how it works currently.