What is mavftp-cli?

mavftp-cli is a command-line tool that lets you browse and transfer files on a drone or other MAVLink-compatible device. Instead of pulling an SD card out of your drone to check flight logs or tweak configuration files, you can do it directly from your computer over a wired or wireless connection. The tool works by speaking MAVFTP, a file transfer protocol designed for MAVLink devices. MAVLink is the communication standard that ground stations and drones use to talk to each other. You run the tool in a terminal, point it at your device using a connection string (like a USB serial port or a network address), and then issue simple commands. You can list files in a directory, read or download a file, create new files, make directories, and delete items. It also calculates a checksum (CRC32) when downloading files so you can verify the transfer was clean. The primary audience is drone operators and developers who work with autopilot systems like ArduPilot or PX4. For example, if your drone just finished a flight and you want to pull the telemetry log, you can run a single command to download it and verify its integrity. If you need to clean up old logs on the device's storage to free up space, you can list and remove them without physically touching the aircraft. The project is built in Rust and compiles into a standalone executable, so you don't need to install a runtime environment to use it. Pre-built binaries are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Raspberry Pi, making it straightforward to run on whatever laptop or companion computer you have on hand.