xvertile/sshc: Full-featured SSH client for the terminal. Session management, SFTP browser, multi-host execution, remote monitoring, and more. Like MobaXterm, but for the command line.

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 a…

sshc

A modern, interactive terminal UI for managing SSH connections

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

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add new feature')
Push to branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
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

sshc

Install

Features

Host Management

sshc

Install

Features

Host Management

Connection

File Transfer

SSH Key Management

Port Forwarding

Search & Filter

Kubernetes Support

Customization

CLI

Usage

Interactive Mode

Navigation

Status Indicators

Direct Connection

Port Forwarding

Forward Types

Port Forwarding History

Kubernetes

Setup

Features

Requirements

Configuration

SSH Include Support

Supported SSH Options

Custom Key Bindings

Data Storage

Platform Notes

Building from Source

Dependencies

Contributing

License

Acknowledgments

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