sshc

A modern, interactive terminal UI for managing SSH connections

SSHC transforms your ~/.ssh/config into a searchable, navigable interface — letting you connect to servers, transfer files, and manage hosts without memorizing hostnames or typing lengthy commands.

Built with Go and the Charm ecosystem. Continuation of sshm.

---

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xvertile/sshc/main/install/install.sh | bash

Homebrew

brew tap xvertile/sshc && brew install sshc

From source

go install github.com/xvertile/sshc@latest

_{Clean, distraction-free interface with real-time host status}

---

Features

Host Management

Add, edit, delete, and move SSH hosts through an interactive TUI or CLI.

• Parse ~/.ssh/config automatically — or specify a custom config with -c
• Include directive support with glob patterns and recursive parsing
• Multi-host declarations (Host server1 server2 server3)
• Tags for organizing hosts (#production, #database)
• ProxyJump configuration for bastion/jump host setups
• Custom SSH options per host (RemoteCommand, RequestTTY, etc.)

Connection

One-key connect — select a host, press Enter.

• Live status indicators — see which hosts are online before connecting
• Connection history — tracks last login time and connection count
• Sort by recent — quickly access frequently-used hosts
• Retry on failure — connection error view with instant retry option

File Transfer

Upload or download files without leaving the TUI.

• Remote file browser — navigate the remote filesystem to select paths
• Local file picker — native picker integration with TUI fallback
• SCP commands — sshc cp ./file.txt host:/path/ and sshc get host:/file ./
• Recursive transfers — full directory upload/download support
• Transfer history — logs all transfers per host

SSH Key Management

Upload public keys to remote hosts.

• Select from local keys — browses ~/.ssh/*.pub automatically
• Paste key directly — paste any public key without a local file
• Auto-config update — optionally add IdentityFile to host config after upload

Port Forwarding

Local, remote, and dynamic forwarding with saved configurations.

• Local forwarding (-L) — expose remote services locally
• Remote forwarding (-R) — expose local services remotely
• Dynamic forwarding (-D) — SOCKS proxy
• History — remembers previous port forward configurations per host

Search & Filter

Real-time search across hosts by name, hostname, or tags.

• Multiple output formats — table, JSON, or simple (one per line)
• CLI search — sshc search prod --tags for scripting

Kubernetes Support

Manage K8s pods alongside SSH hosts in a unified interface.

• kubectl exec integration with namespace, context, and container selection
• Separate config — K8s hosts stored in ~/.config/sshc/k8s.yaml
• Tags and organization — same tag system as SSH hosts

Customization

Themes, keybindings, and persistent preferences.

• Themes — Default, Nord, Dracula, and more
• Keybindings — customize quit keys, disable ESC for vim users
• Persistent preferences — sort mode, theme, search focus saved to config

---

CLI

sshc                      Interactive TUI
sshc <host>               Connect directly
sshc add [name]           Add a new host
sshc edit <host>          Edit existing host
sshc search [query]       Search hosts (--format json|table|simple)
sshc cp <src> <dst>       SCP file transfer
sshc send <host>          Upload with file picker
sshc get <host>           Download with remote browser
sshc move <host>          Move host between config files
sshc update               Check for and install updates

---

Usage

Interactive Mode

Launch without arguments to enter the TUI:

sshc

Navigation

up/down, j/k      Navigate hosts
enter             Connect to selected host
a                 Add new host
e                 Edit selected host
d                 Delete selected host
m                 Move host to another config file
f                 Port forwarding setup
t                 File transfer
/                 Search/filter hosts
s                 Switch sort mode (name/recent)
n                 Sort by name
r                 Sort by recent
tab               Cycle filter modes
q                 Quit

Status Indicators

• Green — host is reachable via SSH
• Yellow — currently checking connectivity
• Red — host is unreachable or connection failed
• Gray — status not yet determined

Direct Connection

Connect to any configured host without entering the TUI:

sshc production-server
sshc db-staging
sshc web-01

All direct connections are tracked in history. Use -c for custom config files:

sshc my-server -c /path/to/custom/ssh_config

---

Port Forwarding

Press f while a host is selected to open the port forwarding interface.

Forward Types

Local (-L) — forward a local port to a remote host through the SSH connection

ssh -L 15432:localhost:5432 server
# Database on remote localhost:5432 becomes accessible at localhost:15432

Remote (-R) — forward a remote port back to a local service

ssh -R 8080:localhost:3000 server
# Local app on port 3000 becomes accessible from remote host's port 8080

Requirements for external access:

• SSH server config: GatewayPorts yes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
• Firewall: open the remote port
• Bind address: use 0.0.0.0 for external, 127.0.0.1 for local-only

Dynamic (-D) — create a SOCKS proxy

ssh -D 1080 server
# Configure browser to use localhost:1080 as SOCKS5 proxy

Port Forwarding History

SSHC remembers forwarding configurations per host. Previously used setups appear as suggestions for quick reuse.

---

Kubernetes

Manage Kubernetes pods alongside SSH hosts in a unified interface.

Setup

Kubernetes hosts are stored separately in ~/.config/sshc/k8s.yaml:

hosts:
  - name: api-pod
    namespace: production
    context: prod-cluster
    container: api
    tags:
      - production
      - api
  - name: worker-pod
    namespace: staging
    context: staging-cluster
    tags:
      - staging

Features

• kubectl exec integration with interactive shell
• Namespace, context, and container selection
• Same tag system as SSH hosts
• Appears in the main host list alongside SSH entries
• Connection history tracking

Requirements

• kubectl installed and configured
• Valid kubeconfig with cluster access
• Appropriate RBAC permissions for exec

---

Configuration

SSHC works directly with your ~/.ssh/config file. Custom configs can be specified with -c:

sshc -c /path/to/config

SSH Include Support

Organize configurations across multiple files:

# ~/.ssh/config
Include ~/.ssh/conf.d/*
Include work-servers.conf

Host personal
    HostName personal.example.com
    User me

The move command relocates hosts between included config files.

Supported SSH Options

Built-in fields:

• HostName — server address
• User — SSH username
• Port — SSH port
• IdentityFile — path to private key
• ProxyJump — jump host for tunneling
• Tags — custom tags (SSHC extension)

Any valid SSH option can be added through the forms. Enter in command-line format:

-o Compression=yes -o ServerAliveInterval=60

This converts to:

    Compression yes
    ServerAliveInterval 60

Common options: Compression, ServerAliveInterval, ServerAliveCountMax, StrictHostKeyChecking, UserKnownHostsFile, BatchMode, ConnectTimeout, ControlMaster, ControlPath, ControlPersist, ForwardAgent, LocalForward, RemoteForward, DynamicForward.

Custom Key Bindings

Configure in ~/.config/sshc/config.json:

{
  "key_bindings": {
    "quit_keys": ["q", "ctrl+c"],
    "disable_esc_quit": true
  }
}

Set disable_esc_quit to true if you use vim and accidentally quit with ESC.

Data Storage

~/.config/sshc/
├── config.json          # preferences, keybindings
├── history.json         # connection history
├── k8s.yaml             # kubernetes hosts
└── backups/             # automatic config backups

Backups are created automatically before any configuration change.

---

Platform Notes

macOS / Linux

• Standard config: ~/.ssh/config
• XDG Base Directory compliance on Linux
• File permissions enforced (0600 config, 0700 directories)

Windows

• Works with built-in OpenSSH client (Windows 10/11)
• Config location: %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\config
• Compatible with WSL configurations

---

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/xvertile/sshc.git
cd sshc
go build -o sshc .
sudo mv sshc /usr/local/bin/

Dependencies

• Cobra — CLI framework
• Bubble Tea — TUI framework
• Bubbles — TUI components
• Lip Gloss — styling
• x/crypto/ssh — SSH connectivity

---

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add new feature')
4. Push to branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

---

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

---

Acknowledgments

• Charm for the TUI libraries
• Guillaume for the original sshm
• yimeng for SSH Include directive support
• ldreux for multi-word search
• qingfengzxr for custom key bindings