cpr

A fast file and directory copy tool with glob pattern filtering and parallel copying. Built because PowerShell's Copy-Item doesn't have those.

• Glob pattern filtering — -e node_modules,.git,*.log or -i *.rs instead of robocopy's /XD node_modules /XF *.log
• Parallel by default — copies files concurrently using all available cores
• Progress bar — real-time progress with bytes, throughput, and elapsed time (auto-hides when piped)
• Human-readable output — Copied 2.44 GiB in 32 seconds (75.65 MiB/s) [70 files]
• Copy only what changed — re-run the same command and only changed files are copied (-u); or continue an interrupted copy (--skip-existing)
• Minimal overhead — no ACLs, no retries, no attribute preservation, just copies bytes

Installation

Scoop (Windows)

scoop bucket add cpr https://github.com/canmanalp/scoop-cpr
scoop install cpr

Cargo

cargo install --git https://github.com/canmanalp/cpr

Download binary

Grab the latest cpr.exe from GitHub Releases and place it somewhere in your PATH.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/canmanalp/cpr
cd cpr
cargo build --release
# binary is at target/release/cpr.exe

Usage

cpr <SOURCE> <DESTINATION> [OPTIONS]

# Copy a file
cpr report.pdf D:\backup\

# Copy a directory (prompts for confirmation)
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\

# Exclude patterns — skip files and folders that match
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -e node_modules,.git,target -y

# Include patterns — copy only files that match
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -i *.rs,*.toml

# Copy only a specific folder
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -i src/**

# Combine include and exclude
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -i *.rs,*.toml -e tests/**

# Preview what would be copied (no files are written)
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -e node_modules -n

# Copy the same folder again — only files that changed since the last copy are copied
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -y -u

# Continue an interrupted copy — files already there are not copied again
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -y --skip-existing

# Preview which files a real run with -u would copy
cpr C:\project\ D:\backup\project\ -u -n

Options

Patterns can be comma-separated (-e *.log,*.tmp) or passed as multiple flags (-e *.log -e *.tmp).

Glob patterns

Patterns follow the gitignore rule: a pattern without / matches entry names at any depth; a pattern with / matches against the path relative to the source root.

--update vs --skip-existing

Both flags skip files that are already at the destination, but they answer different questions:

• -u, --update asks: "is my copy out of date?" A file is skipped only when the destination has the same size and is at least as new as the source. If the source file changed since the last copy, it is copied again. Use it when you copy the same folder to the same destination again and again: each run copies only the files you changed since the last run.

• -s, --skip-existing asks: "is the file already there?" A file is skipped when the destination has a file with the same name and size. Modified times are ignored completely. A half-copied file (wrong size) is copied again. Use it to continue a copy that was interrupted — the finished files are left alone, the broken and missing ones are copied.

Rule of thumb: copy stopped halfway → --skip-existing. Copying the same folder again to pick up changes → -u.

The difference in one example: you edit notes.txt and it stays the same size. -u copies it again (the source is newer). --skip-existing does not (same name, same size — good enough). That makes --skip-existing faster to trust after a crash, but only -u notices your edits.

In both modes, files missing from the destination are always copied, and the summary shows how many files were skipped. Combine with -n to preview: cpr src dst -u -n lists exactly which files a real run would copy.

How include and exclude interact

• Exclude applies to both files and directories — excluded directories are skipped entirely
• Include only filters files — directories are always walked so matching files inside them can be found
• When both are used, exclude is checked first

License

MIT