Files, Transfers, and a more connected Mail app.

October 19 brought the first working Files and Transfers apps, contacts and invitations in Mail, and more help with everyday Terminal work.

October 19 added some substantial pieces to the Ecliptic desktop: a local file manager, a companion for moving files over SSH, and a Mail app that can remember contacts and answer invitations. The work also addressed smaller interruptions, from stale mail connections to waiting for a command to finish in another terminal pane.

These are development builds with specific tests and limits. Files and Transfers are opt-in additions; their arrival does not change everyone’s desktop defaults.

Everyday file actions, where you can see them

The first working Ecliptic Files app brings local folders into a window with tabs, optional split panes, and visible controls for common jobs. You can create a folder or text file, copy, move, rename, duplicate, send something to Trash, or inspect its properties. Breadcrumbs and an editable path offer two ways to get around. Favorites keep useful folders nearby, and removing a favorite removes the shortcut, leaving the folder alone.

Split panes give a move or copy an obvious destination. Conflicts ask whether to skip, keep both or replace. Undo remembers supported operations across app restarts, with checks that refuse to overwrite a file someone has since changed or an original location that is now occupied.

That recovery has practical limits. Cross-disk moves retain the source in Trash until it is emptied, and replacement recovery copies are retained rather than automatically pruned. An interrupted operation can require review before further changes are allowed. These safeguards need broader everyday use alongside the isolated tests.

Thunar remains Ecliptic’s default file manager and continues to serve the desktop’s existing file actions. This first Files build searches names in the current folder; recursive search, image thumbnails and archive editing are still outside its scope at this date.

Transfers with a clear pause and a clear stop

Ecliptic Transfers is a separate two-pane app for local files and remote folders reached over SFTP, the file-transfer service commonly used with SSH. It uses saved Terminal connections while opening its own connection, so transferring a file does not take over a running shell.

The queue is saved between app sessions. Interrupted work can be resumed after checking the partial copy against its source; conflicts require a decision. Editing a remote file uses a local working copy and an explicit upload action when you are ready to send it back.

Later work that day made an important distinction: Pause keeps a transfer available to resume, while Cancel transfer stops that queue item permanently. A cancelled item does not quietly return through Resume All or crash recovery. Removing its partial copy is a separate, confirmed action. Cancellation cannot take back a file that has already finished publishing to its destination.

This is also an opt-in app. Its transfer checks use a local test SFTP server; real remote systems still need acceptance checks. Preserving ownership, extended attributes and all directory metadata is outside the first version. Replacement behavior depends on the server’s capabilities, and another program changing the destination at the last instant can still race a replacement.

Contacts you choose to keep

Mail gained an editable address book with contacts and groups, address completion, search, duplicate merging, and vCard import and export. Contacts are included in Mail’s backup. Saving a sender is an explicit choice: an address appearing in mail history does not automatically become a saved contact or a trusted sender.

Contacts can stay local. An optional CardDAV connection can keep them in step with a compatible account, including queued changes while offline and handling edits made on both sides. CardDAV is a standard for sharing address books between apps and services.

The synchronization checks used a synthetic address book on a test server. Real provider endpoints still need validation. Dedicated Google People and Microsoft Graph connections remain future work, dependent on the required API setup and consent; they are not delivered by this change.

Answer an invitation from the message

Calendar invitations now have a readable card in Mail, showing the meeting details and time, with Accept, Maybe and Decline actions. A response goes through the existing outbox and its Undo period. The implementation also distinguishes newer invitations, changed occurrences and cancellations so an older message does not silently replace a newer decision.

This is invitation handling inside Mail. It does not create a calendar app or store the meeting in a calendar. Responses require your action, and the original invitation attachment remains available. Automated checks exercised time zones, updates, cancellations and sending a response through a test mail server; real invitations from different providers still need hands-on checks.

Fewer interruptions while working

Mail now loads a smaller first batch of message rows and avoids parsing the same message repeatedly for different reader elements. Local measurements showed faster list and message loading. Those measurements describe the tested mail set, rather than a speed promise for every account.

Connection handling also reacts to wake and network-return events and checks quiet connections. Simulated disconnections and wake callbacks were tested; an actual sleep-and-wake cycle remains a separate acceptance check.

Terminal gained optional SSH password storage in the system keyring, retaining OpenSSH’s host checks and existing key-based authentication. Jump-host passwords, key passphrases and multi-step authentication can still require manual input.

An optional Bash notification can tell you when a sufficiently long command finishes in a background pane. It reports the result and elapsed time without collecting the command text. The default threshold is ten seconds; this is a Bash-specific feature with setup requirements, rather than automatic support for every shell or background job.

Checks, and the next round of use

The final Files work recorded 32 passing tests, including native window workflows; Transfers recorded 25, including cancellation, partial-copy recovery and conflicts. Mail’s invitation release recorded a passing 270-test suite. These checks used isolated homes, synthetic messages and test services to exercise behavior without operating on personal files or accounts.

Physical devices, real remote environments, provider-specific contact and invitation behavior, accessibility and extended daily use still need their own acceptance work. This entry records progress through October 19, with the new apps in opt-in development builds and their broader integration still ahead.