Using id_rsa.pub to connect to remote server never loads

[heathervv]

I've got this package working using absolute/path/to/.ssh/id_rsa and my passphrase, but when I point to aboslute/path/to/.ssh/id_rsa.pub I can't seem to get it to work. It doesn't throw an error, it forever just tries to connect to the remote server.

This is my remote-sync.json:

{
  "uploadOnSave": false,
  "useAtomicWrites": false,
  "deleteLocal": false,
  "hostname": "host",
  "port": "22",
  "target": "remote/path",
  "ignore": [
    ".remote-sync.json",
    ".git/**"
  ],
  "username": "user",
  "keyfile": "Users/heather/.ssh/id_rsa.pub",
  "watch": [],
  "transport": "scp"
}

Is there an option to use the .pub file? I'd rather not have to write my passphrase for security reasons.

[n4nn31355]

Why do you try to use the public key? You must use the private key to a successful login. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SSH_keys

[heathervv]

My bad - you're totally right! My understanding of SSH keys is clearly lacking.

My real request is not needing to store my SSH key password in the file. I recently switched over to Atom from Sublime where I relied heavily on the SFTP plugin - where it's not required to share the path to my SSH keys nor store my password in the config file.

Is this possible?

[thenomadlad]

I guess we could use id_rsa by default if no key is specified?

[OverClockd]

I shouldn't need to convert the key right? Openssh - ppk private key. I put the path in the edit server "Path to Private Keyfile" (name of keyfile is id_rsa). Or does this require a ppk key?

If so, can we add support for the regular id_rsa? PPK is Putty if Im not mistaken, which is usually windows if I'm not mistaken x2 :)

When I put in path to my keyfile I get the following error: Cannot parse privateKey: Failed to generate information to decrypt key

EDIT: Added .pem extension to id_rsa (I read that they are same format - See https://gist.github.com/mingfang/4aba327add0807fa5e7f ) and I am getting same error message.

Could it be a problem that my keyfile has a password set? Can the keyfile have a password to work with ftp-remote-edit or does it need to be just a keyfile?