mpremote romfs deploy: Directory handling is arguably inconsistent with cp -r

Port, board and/or hardware

Board independent. Tested on RP2040

MicroPython version

MicroPython v1.25.0-dirty on 2025-04-19; Raspberry Pi Pico with RP2040

Built with romfs

Reproduction

Issue

$ mpremote deploy foo

where foo is a directory on the PC containing subdirectories

Expected behaviour

The command

$ mpremote cp -r foo :

copies the directory foo with contents and subdirectories to the host. This is consistent with

$ cp -r foo bar

Observed behaviour

By contrast

$ mpremote deploy foo

copies the contents of foo as per

$ cp -r foo/* bar

A typical project might consist of a Python package foo where the executable foo is contained in a directory holding documentation and other resources. The requirement is to copy foo and its contents. Currently this requires a workround involving a temporary directory and a symlink.

Additional Information

Options are either to change this behaviour or provide means of deploying either the directory + contents or contents alone.

Code of Conduct

Yes, I agree

Start by tracing the mpremote deploy command and comparing its directory handling with mpremote cp -r foo :. Reproduce the difference using a directory with subdirectories, then add a regression test and make deploy support either directory-plus-contents or an explicit contents-only mode.