trzsz: TMUX-Compatible rz/sz Alternative with Progress Bars & Drag-and-Drop Upload

Problem: File Transfer in Nested SSH/TMUX Environments

When working through a chain like Laptop → Host 1 → Host 2 → Docker → TMUX, traditional tools like scp and sftp become cumbersome. The classic rz / sz (from lrzsz) are easier but conflict with TMUX.

Solution: trzsz (trz/tsz)

trzsz is a Python-based replacement for lrzsz that works inside TMUX. Key features:

Progress bars during transfer

Directory transfer support ( trz -d, tsz -d)

Drag-and-drop file/folder upload in compatible terminals (iTerm2, Tabby, Electerm, TTYD)

Cross-platform variants: trzsz-go (Go, no terminal dependency) and trzsz-js (Windows cmd/PowerShell)

Installation

Ubuntu (APT)

# sudo apt update && sudo apt install software-properties-common
# sudo add-apt-repository ppa:trzsz/ppa && sudo apt update
# sudo apt install trzsz

Debian (APT)

# sudo apt install curl gpg
# curl -s 'https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x7074ce75da7cc691c1ae1a7c7e51d1ad956055ca' \
  | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/trzsz.gpg
# echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/trzsz.gpg] https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/trzsz/ppa/ubuntu jammy main' \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/trzsz.list
# sudo apt update
# sudo apt install trzsz

Linux (YUM)

echo '[trzsz]
name=Trzsz Repo
baseurl=https://yum.fury.io/trzsz/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0' | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/trzsz.repo

sudo yum install trzsz

macOS (Homebrew)

brew update
brew install trzsz-go

Windows (Scoop)

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install trzsz

From Source (Go)

git clone https://github.com/trzsz/trzsz-go.git
cd trzsz-go
make
sudo make install

Usage

Upload with trz

trz [-h] [-v] [-q] [-y] [-b] [-e] [-d] [-B N] [-t N] [path]

Common flags: -h: show help and exit -v: show version and exit -q: hide progress bar -y: overwrite existing files without prompt -b: binary mode (faster for archives, images, media) -e: escape all known control characters -d: upload/download specified file or directory -B N: max buffer size (default 10M) -t N: timeout in seconds (default 20; 0 or negative = no timeout) path: destination directory (default current directory)

Examples:

# trz
# trz /opt

For drag-and-drop upload, connect via trzsz ssh IP or trzsz -d ssh IP.

Download with tsz

tsz [-h] [-v] [-q] [-y] [-b] [-e] [-d] [-B N] [-t N] file [file ...]

Supports multiple files, relative/absolute paths, and wildcards.

# tsz file1 file2 file3

References

trzsz: https://github.com/trzsz/trzsz

trzsz-go: https://github.com/trzsz/trzsz-go

trzsz-js: https://github.com/trzsz/trzsz.js

Chinese documentation: https://trzsz.github.io/cn/

Note: The article includes animated GIFs demonstrating drag-and-drop upload and download; these are omitted here as they cannot be rendered in text.