I really like being able to pull/push my sites to WPEngine through Local. However, I rarely need to transfer files–just the database. I prefer my sftp workflow for files. Still, Local takes a while to generate the file list, which I then need to uncheck. And even if I do want to pull a file, it is very difficult to navigate through the file tree to find the ones I want.
But mainly, please turn off file transfers as a default and let me opt in if/when I ever need to transfer files.
It might be a nice addition to allow a toggle of some sort for “Database Only” in the Connect settings. I’m aware that you can un-check all the files and choose “Include Database” to get the database updates only, but perhaps if the user choses: “Database Only” then the extra MagicSync wait time might be avoided and allow users to get right at the database.
Hello @EmpireOfLight and @colorful-tones -
Thank you both for your ideas - there’s been talk of this feature in other threads & I’ll be sure to note this back to the Local development team again.
Sam 
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I don’t use Local to push/pull the files in my site. I prefer to use sftp for that.
However, when I push/pull my sites, Local automatically begins generating a list of all the files in my site. That’s a ton of nested directories and file lists, and it takes a long time (I just counted 15 seconds on my last test before the list was generated.)
Furthermore, if there is a specific file I want to push/pull, it is very difficult to locate it.
Can the folks who make this amazing piece of software make it even better by having “Include Files” be an opt-in checkbox, like “Include Database” currently is? So that if I want to push/pull files, I check that box, and only then does Local begin generating the list.
Thanks for taking the time to consider this request.
I would love there to be a way to use the WPEngine Connect feature but only pull the database from a WPEngine site and nothing else.
This would be useful if I were working on a develop branch and only wanted the current database to be updated without overriding any of my local development changes.
Thanks so much!
Can we have database only push/pull when using Connect To Flywheel?
+1 on this
one of our client’s site has a huge number of media files and fetching this whenever we just want to push/pull the db causes a major slowdown since it won’t let me untick “all files” until they’ve all been listed
thanks
J
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Hi @longpvo - thank you for the feature request!
I have passed this thread along to the Local development team.
That does sound like a super helpful feature. We appreciate you!
Sam
Hello @EmpireOfLight, @colorful-tones & all -
I spoke with the Local development team and this is on the list of future improvements in an upcoming sprint.
I will keep you all updated as I receive more information and consolidate a few other feature requests here to keep it all in one place.
Thank you,
Sam
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Just found this thread and desperately looking for basically all the functions discussed. Is there an update when any of this might come available?
Hi @snarkstudios - thanks for using Local!
We’re starting work on improvements to the Connect experience now, and we should have those new features released in the next few months. In the meantime, have you tried the workflow that mentioned in this post? Pull/push only database - #2 by colorful-tones
Pushing/pulling the database only is supported, you’ll just have to turn on MagicSync (you can find this in Local’s preferences menu), check the “Include database” option, and uncheck all files.
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Just want to reiterate how much of a time suck it is that we HAVE to wait for the “Determining file list…” step to fully run when we know in advance we don’t want to push/pull anything but the database.
Based on replies I’m not sure the dev team is aware of how much time this takes on large, real-world sites. On many of my sites it takes 5-15 minutes of just sitting and waiting for this file scanning step I don’t often need. Adding a simple checkbox in the lefthand sidebar of the push/pull screen for “include filesystem” would solve this problem. Unchecking it would simply stop the automatic file scanning and allow you to hit the Push/Pull button immediately.
Plus think of all the bandwidth and server load it would save to not scan files every time.
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Hi @evanltd -
Thank you for the very helpful real-world feedback. I have passed it along to the Local engineering team!
Sam
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Hi @evanltd -
I have exciting news…this is being actively worked on. I think you’re gonna like what’s coming. Stay tuned!
Sam
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Hey all! Product Designer on Local here 
. To add to @sambrockway’s message. We recently released a teaser of this on Twitter (X). Check it out and feel free to leave any thoughts there or here. Thanks! Very excited for what we have planned. https://x.com/LocalWP/status/1747632182187745717?s=20
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@tysonreeder @sambrockway I just downloaded the update and it looks fantastic so far! Above and beyond what I was hoping for. This will save me so much time. Thank you!!
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