Secure Shell Manager

May 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

Streamline SSH connections with a simple terminal UI

ssm is an SSH connection manager that works on top of your existing SSH config and installed ssh/mosh binaries. No setup required on remote systems.

tl;dr — Install

Features

Tag-based filtering — #tag: admin,vpn comments in your SSH config become searchable metadata
Fuzzy search — find hosts by name, hostname, user, or tag
SSH/MOSH dual protocol — switch with TAB
Live config editing — ctrl+e opens $EDITOR, auto-reloads on save
Run remote commands — ctrl+r opens a command prompt, runs via ssh -T
Config inspection — ctrl+v shows all params in a side panel
--exit flag — connect and hand off the terminal, no lingering process
Theming — --theme sky|matrix, extensible via themes.go

Shoutout

@hackerschoice on X

Usage

ssm                    # launch the TUI
ssm admin              # filter by #tag: admin
ssm -se vpn            # --show --exit, filter by vpn tags
ssm -c ~/.ssh/other    # use a custom config file
ssm -o                 # show tagged hosts first
ssm --theme sky        # blue color scheme
ssm -d                 # debug mode with verbose logs

Flag	Short	Description
`--show`	`-s`	show config in side panel on launch
`--exit`	`-e`	exit after connecting (hand off terminal)
`--order`	`-o`	show tagged hosts first
`--config`	`-c`	custom SSH config path
`--theme`	`-t`	color theme: `sky` or `matrix`
`--debug`	`-d`	debug mode with verbose log

All flags support env vars: SSM_SHOW, SSM_EXIT, SSM_ORDER, SSM_SSH_CONFIG_PATH, SSM_THEME, SSM_DEBUG.

Keys

Key	Action
`enter`	connect to selected host
`ctrl+e`	edit SSH config in `$EDITOR`
`ctrl+v`	toggle config side panel
`ctrl+r`	run commands on host (no TTY)
`ctrl+c`	clear filter / quit
`tab`	switch between SSH and MOSH
`/`	filter hosts
`q` / `esc`	quit / exit filter

Quickstart

New to SSH config? Start here. Otherwise skip to Install.

SSH config manual

# backup any existing config
[ -f ~/.ssh/config ] && cp ~/.ssh/config ~/.ssh/config.bak

# create a config
cat <<'EOF' >> ~/.ssh/config
#tagorder            # prioritize tagged hosts in list-view

Host myserver
#tag: production,web
    User admin
    HostName 10.0.0.5
    Port 2222
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Host terminalcoffee
#tag: shops
    User adam
    HostName terminal.shop
EOF

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config

Install

Download a binary from releases, or install via script/brew:

# shell script (linux, macos, freebsd, openbsd)
curl -sSL https://github.com/lfaoro/ssm/raw/main/scripts/get.sh | bash

# homebrew (macos, linux)
brew install lfaoro/tap/ssm

# arch linux (AUR)
yay -S ssm-bin

# macos quarantine workaround (no paid signing key)
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/ssm

Available for 4 OSes × 2 architectures: x86_64, arm64.

Build

Requires Go 1.26+

go install github.com/lfaoro/ssm@latest

# or clone and build
git clone https://github.com/lfaoro/ssm.git && cd ssm && make && bin/ssm

# sourcehut mirror
git clone https://git.sr.ht/~faoro/ssm && cd ssm && make && bin/ssm

Development

go build ./...          # check compilation
go vet ./...            # static analysis
go test -race ./...     # tests with race detection
make build-static       # static binary (CGO_ENABLED=0)
make release-dev        # goreleaser snapshot (dry run)

Resources

Contributors

See all

Pull requests are welcome. Report a bug or request a feature by opening a new issue.

Show support

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