Copy trees incrementally and exclude what you do not want.

rsync

Dry run before anything moves

rsync -avn --delete source/ dest/

-n is a rehearsal. Read the list it prints before repeating without it.

Keep the trailing slash meaningful

rsync -a source/ dest      # contents of source into dest
rsync -a source dest       # source itself as a directory inside dest

Exclude what should not travel

rsync -a --exclude='.git/' --exclude='node_modules/' src/ dest/

Resume a large transfer

rsync -avP --partial src/ dest/

-P combines partial progress and partial-file resume, which matters when the link drops mid-archive.

Scope: rsync