sshm-rs
Website | Install | Features
A beautiful and performant TUI SSH connection manager written in Rust, with integrated SSH terminal and SFTP browser.
Highlights
- 🔍 Fuzzy search across all SSH hosts with field prefixes (
tag:, user:, host:)
- 🔐 OS-native keyring for secure credential storage
- 📂 Integrated SFTP browser with progress tracking
- 🏷️ Tags & groups for server organization
- ⚡ Built in Rust — fast, safe, cross-platform single binary
- 🎨 Customizable themes via JSON configuration
📖 Table of Contents
Features
sshm-rs (Main TUI)
- SSH Config Management — Parse and browse SSH hosts from
~/.ssh/config with Include support
- Interactive Host List — Fuzzy search, sorting, and multi-select with async connectivity status
- Host Operations — Add, edit, delete, favorite, and organize hosts
- Connection Tracking — Automatic history recording for frequently used hosts
- Port Forwarding — Setup local, remote, and dynamic SSH port forwarding
- Groups and Tags — Organize hosts into groups or tag them for quick filtering
- Command Snippets — Save and execute pre-configured commands across hosts
- Multi-Host Operations — Broadcast commands or delete multiple hosts at once
- Themes — Eight built-in themes (Tokyo Night, Catppuccin Mocha, Dracula, Nord, Gruvbox Dark, Solarized Dark, One Dark, High Contrast) with custom theme support
- Password Storage — Secure credential storage using OS keyring
- Copy to Clipboard — Quick copy host information for use elsewhere
- Cross-platform — Windows, Linux, macOS
sshm-rs term (SSH Terminal + SFTP Browser)
- SSH Terminal — Full interactive terminal with pseudo-TTY support
- SFTP Browser — Integrated file browser for remote filesystem navigation
- Bidirectional Transfers — Download and upload files with progress tracking
- Syntax Highlighting — Terminal output with proper VT100 escape sequence support
- Directory Following — SFTP panel auto-follows terminal working directory (OSC 7)
- File Editing — Edit remote files with your local editor
- Context Menu — Right-click support for file operations (edit, download, upload, delete, zip)
- Snippet Access — Quick access to saved command snippets within the terminal
- Batch Operations — Compress and download multiple files as ZIP
Installation
Homebrew (macOS / Linux)
brew tap bit5hift/tap
brew install sshm-rs
Windows (winget)
winget install bit5hift.sshm-rs
Cargo (from source)
cargo install --git https://github.com/bit5hift/sshm-rs
Pre-built binaries
Download from GitHub Releases or use the install script:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bit5hift/sshm-rs/master/install.sh | bash
Quick Install (Windows PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bit5hift/sshm-rs/master/install.ps1 | iex
Usage
sshm-rs (Main Application)
# Interactive TUI
sshm-rs
# Direct connection to a host
sshm-rs myhost
# Execute command on remote host
sshm-rs myhost "ls -la /tmp"
# Execute with pseudo-TTY
sshm-rs myhost -t "sudo -s"
# Search mode (focus on search)
sshm-rs --search
# Use alternate SSH config
sshm-rs --config /path/to/config
sshm-rs Subcommands
# Add a new host interactively
sshm-rs add
# Edit an existing host
sshm-rs edit myhost
# Search hosts and display results
sshm-rs search "database"
# Export hosts to JSON
sshm-rs export --output hosts.json
# Import hosts from JSON
sshm-rs import hosts.json [--skip-duplicates]
# Validate SSH config for warnings
sshm-rs validate
# Generate shell completions
sshm-rs completions bash > sshm-rs.bash
sshm-rs term (SSH Terminal)
The term subcommand launches an SSH terminal with integrated SFTP browser. You can access it from sshm-rs with the W key or run it directly:
# SSH terminal with SFTP browser
sshm-rs term user@host
# Connect to specific port
sshm-rs term user@host --port 2222
# Use specific key
sshm-rs term user@host --key ~/.ssh/id_rsa
# Prompt for password
sshm-rs term user@host --password
Keybindings
sshm-rs Keybindings
Navigation & Connection
| Key | Action |
|---|
j / Down | Move down |
k / Up | Move up |
PgUp | Page up |
PgDn | Page down |
Home | Jump to first host |
End | Jump to last host |
/ | Search hosts |
Tab | Switch focus (search ↔ host list) |
Enter | Connect to selected host |
Multi-Select
| Key | Action |
|---|
Space | Toggle select host, move down |
Ctrl+a | Select all visible hosts |
d | Delete all selected hosts |
b | Broadcast command to selected hosts |
Esc | Clear selection |
Host Management
| Key | Action |
|---|
a | Add new host |
e | Edit selected host |
d | Delete selected host |
p | Set/remove password for host |
f | Toggle favorite |
F | Setup port forwarding |
i | Show host info |
s | Toggle sort mode |
y | Copy host to clipboard |
t | Toggle tag sidebar |
r | Refresh connectivity status |
T | Cycle color theme |
S | Show command snippets |
G | Create new group |
g | Assign host to group |
Enter | Collapse/expand group (on group header) |
File Transfer
| Key | Action |
|---|
x | Quick SFTP session |
X | SCP file transfer |
W | Open with sshm-rs term (terminal + SFTP) |
System
| Key | Action |
|---|
? / h | Show keybindings |
q | Quit |
sshm-rs term Keybindings
Global
| Key | Action |
|---|
Ctrl+q | Quit |
Ctrl+s | Switch panel (Terminal ↔ SFTP) |
Ctrl+b | Toggle SFTP panel visibility |
Ctrl+f | Toggle SFTP directory follow mode |
Ctrl+p | Show snippets overlay |
Terminal Panel
| Key | Action |
|---|
| Any key | Send to terminal (when focused) |
Ctrl+s | Switch to SFTP panel |
SFTP Panel
| Key | Action |
|---|
j / Down | Move down |
k / Up | Move up |
Enter | Open folder or file |
Backspace | Go to parent directory |
/ | Edit current path |
e | Edit file (launches local editor) |
d | Download file |
u | Upload file |
a | Add snippet from file |
Right-click | Context menu (edit, download, open, go up, refresh, zip, etc.) |
Context Menu
| Action | Description |
|---|
| Edit | Edit file with local editor |
| Download | Download to local machine |
| Upload | Upload file to this location |
| Open Folder | Navigate into folder |
| Go Up | Navigate to parent directory |
| Refresh | Refresh directory listing |
| Zip | Compress file/directory |
| Download as ZIP | Compress and download |
| Delete | Delete remote file/directory |
Snippet Overlay
| Key | Action |
|---|
j / Down | Move down |
k / Up | Move up |
Tab / Right | Next field in editor |
Shift+Tab / Left | Previous field in editor |
Enter | Save and execute snippet |
Esc | Cancel |
Configuration
SSH Config Parsing
sshm-rs reads from ~/.ssh/config (or %USERPROFILE%\.ssh\config on Windows) with full support for:
- Standard SSH config keywords (Host, Hostname, User, Port, IdentityFile, ProxyJump, etc.)
Include directive with glob pattern expansion- Tags via
# Tags: tag1, tag2 comments above Host entries
- Multi-alias hosts (multiple space-separated names per Host block)
Example SSH config:
# Tags: production, web
Host webserver web
Hostname 192.168.1.100
User ubuntu
Port 22
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/web.pem
# Tags: development
Host devenv
Hostname dev.example.com
User dev
ProxyJump bastion
Host bastion
Hostname jump.example.com
User ops
sshm Configuration
Configuration files are stored in:
- Linux/macOS:
~/.config/sshm-rs/
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\sshm-rs\
Snippets
Save command snippets in snippets.json:
[
{
"name": "Check Disk Space",
"command": "df -h",
"description": "Show disk usage"
},
{
"name": "List Processes",
"command": "ps aux | grep",
"description": "Find process by name"
}
]
Accessed via S in sshm-rs or Ctrl+P in sshm-rs term.
Themes
Custom themes can be saved to theme.json:
{
"name": "Custom Dark",
"bg": [20, 20, 30],
"fg": [200, 200, 220],
"primary": [100, 150, 255],
"green": [100, 200, 100],
"red": [255, 100, 100],
"yellow": [255, 200, 50],
"muted": [150, 150, 170],
"cyan": [100, 200, 200],
"purple": [200, 150, 255],
"orange": [255, 160, 100],
"selection_bg": [50, 80, 150]
}
Cycle through themes in sshm-rs with T.
History
Connection history is stored in history.json and automatically updated each time you connect to a host.
Credential Storage
Passwords and credentials are stored securely using the OS keyring:
- Linux — Uses
secret-service (GNOME Keyring, KDE Wallet, etc.)
- macOS — Uses Keychain
- Windows — Uses Credential Manager
Set a password for a host with p in the host list, then sshm-rs will use it automatically on future connections.
Security
Trust on First Use (TOFU)
sshm-rs term implements TOFU for SSH host key verification:
- First connection to a new host automatically trusts the server key (TOFU)
- Key mismatches are rejected with a warning
Password Handling
- Passwords are stored in the OS keyring, never in plaintext
- Keyring access requires user authentication (password, biometric, etc.)
- Environment variable
SSHM_PASSWORD can be set for automation (cleared after use)
SSH Key Management
- Public key authentication is preferred over password authentication
- Supports OpenSSH and PuTTY-format private keys
- SSH agent integration (via
SSH_AUTH_SOCK)
- Per-host identity file configuration
CLI Flags
USAGE:
sshm-rs [FLAGS] [OPTIONS] [HOST] [COMMAND]...
FLAGS:
-h, --help Print help
-t, --tty Force pseudo-TTY allocation
-s, --search Focus on search at startup
OPTIONS:
-c, --config SSH config file (default: ~/.ssh/config)
SUBCOMMANDS:
add Add new SSH host
edit Edit SSH host
search Search hosts
export [--output FILE] Export hosts to JSON
import Import hosts from JSON
validate Validate SSH config
completions Generate shell completions
Development
Build Requirements
- Rust 1.70+
- OpenSSL development headers (Linux)
- macOS: Xcode command-line tools
Build
cargo build --release
Run Tests
cargo test
Troubleshooting
sshm.exe locked on Windows
If sshm-rs.exe is locked after execution:
- Press
Ctrl+C to terminate the running process
- Close any open SSH connections
- Retry the command
SFTP unavailable
If sshm-rs term shows "SFTP unavailable":
- Ensure the remote server has
/usr/lib/sftp-server or equivalent
- Some restricted shells or environments may not support SFTP
- Check server logs for SFTP subsystem errors
Host key changed warning
If sshm-rs term warns "host key changed":
- Verify the server hasn't been compromised
- If you know the host key changed (server maintenance), remove the entry from
~/.ssh/known_hosts
- Reconnect to accept the new key
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
- Commit your changes
- Push to the branch
- Open a Pull Request
License
MIT