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This repository is an enhanced fork of the original lazyssh, with a strong focus on real-world SSH setups used with dotfiles, Include, and multi-file config workflows. Key improvements include:

• Recursive support for Include and conf.d style SSH layouts instead of assuming a single ~/.ssh/config
• Managed mode: read the full config tree from the root config in real time while writing changes only to a dedicated managed file
• Read-only protection for hosts coming from included or unmanaged files, with source markers in the UI to prevent accidental edits
• New flags: --sshconfig, --managed-mode, and --managed-sshconfig
• Display of effective SSH values after applying Host *, pattern rules such as Host lab-*, and defaults inherited from the root config
• Proper handling of quoted entries such as Host "example-name"
• Better fuzzy search relevance across alias, hostname, user, and tags
• Daily workflow improvements such as a collapsible search bar, 0/1/2 panel switching, copy-host support, and persisted sort mode
• A set of high-value fixes: backspace works correctly in inputs, j/k navigation survives mouse clicks, usernames support @ and :, and alias alignment is more stable
• Safer config writes for dotfiles and multi-machine sync: symlinks are preserved and IdentityFile is normalized to portable ~/.ssh/... paths whenever possible

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lazyssh is a terminal-based SSH manager inspired by lazydocker and k9s, but built specifically for SSH host management. It lets you browse, search, connect to, edit, and organize the hosts defined in your SSH config directly from the terminal, so you do not have to remember raw IP addresses or keep typing long ssh and scp commands by hand. The whole workflow is designed around fast keyboard-first operations.

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✨ Features

Host Management

• Read and display hosts from ~/.ssh/config
• Add new hosts directly from the UI
• Edit existing hosts through a tabbed form
• Delete host entries safely
• Pin and unpin frequently used hosts
• Ping hosts to check whether they are reachable

Fast Navigation

• Fuzzy search by alias, IP, user, or tag
• Press Enter to connect to the selected host immediately
• Organize hosts with tags such as prod, dev, and test
• Sort by alias or last connection time, with reversible order

Advanced SSH Options

• Port forwarding support: LocalForward, RemoteForward, and DynamicForward
• Connection multiplexing for faster follow-up sessions
• Advanced authentication settings, including keys, passwords, and agent forwarding
• Security-related settings such as ciphers, MACs, and key exchange algorithms
• Proxy settings such as ProxyJump and ProxyCommand
• A tabbed editor that keeps large SSH configurations manageable

Key Management

• Auto-discover local SSH keys with completion support
• Switch between multiple keys quickly

Planned Capabilities

• File copy flows between the local machine and remote hosts with a friendlier picker
• SSH public key deployment:
  • Use a default local key such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
  • Paste a custom public key manually
  • Generate a new key pair and deploy it to the target host
  • Append it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys with the correct permissions

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🔐 Security

lazyssh does not introduce extra security risk on its own. It is fundamentally a TUI layer on top of your existing SSH setup.

• All SSH connections are executed through the system ssh binary, i.e. OpenSSH
• lazyssh does not store, transmit, or modify your private keys, passwords, or other credentials
• Existing IdentityFile paths and ssh-agent workflows continue to work as usual
• lazyssh only reads and updates your SSH config files, and automatically creates backups before the first modification
• It tries to preserve existing file permissions to avoid introducing new risk during config writes

🧭 Managed Mode

If your SSH setup looks like this:

Include ~/.orbstack/ssh/config
Include ~/.ssh/config.d/*.conf
Include ~/.ssh/config.local

you can run lazyssh in managed mode:

lazyssh \
  --sshconfig ~/.ssh/config \
  --managed-mode \
  --managed-sshconfig ~/.ssh/config.local

In this mode:

• --sshconfig points to the root config, and lazyssh recursively reads the full Include tree from it
• --managed-sshconfig points to the actual writable file, such as ~/.ssh/config.local
• Entries coming from the root config, config.d, OrbStack, or any other included file are shown as read-only
• Only hosts defined in the managed file can be added, edited, or deleted
• Effective values inherited through Host *, Host xxx-*, and similar patterns are rendered correctly in the UI
• SSH connections and forwarding still use the root config, so behavior stays aligned with the system ssh command

🛡️ Safe Writes and Automatic Backups

• Non-destructive edits: lazyssh writes only the smallest required change set and tries to preserve comments, blank lines, ordering, and untouched fields
• Atomic writes: updates are written to a temporary file first and then atomically replaced to reduce the risk of partial writes
• Symlink-safe behavior: if the managed config file itself is a symlink, lazyssh updates the target file instead of overwriting the symlink
• First-write backup: before the first modification of a managed SSH config file, lazyssh creates a sibling backup such as config.original.backup or config.local.original.backup
• Rolling backups: every later save also creates a timestamped backup such as ~/.ssh/config.local-<timestamp>-lazyssh.backup
• Backup rotation: up to 10 rolling backups are kept automatically, and older ones are cleaned up
• Portable paths: IdentityFile entries inside the current user's home directory are normalized to ~/.ssh/... when written back, which is friendlier for cross-machine dotfile sync

📷 Screenshots

🚀 Startup Screen

The loading screen shown when the application starts.

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📋 Host Management Panel

The main view shows configured hosts, status information, pinned entries, and quick navigation actions.

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🔎 Search

Search quickly by hostname, IP address, user, or tag.

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➕ Add / Edit Hosts

The tabbed editor is organized around common SSH workflows:

• Basics: host, user, port, key, and tags
• Connection: proxies, timeout, multiplexing, and canonicalization
• Forwarding: port forwarding, X11, and agent forwarding
• Authentication: keys, passwords, auth methods, and algorithm options
• Advanced: security, encryption, environment variables, and debug options

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🔐 Connect to Hosts

Start an SSH session directly from the interface.

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📦 Installation

Option 1: Install with mise (Recommended)

If you already use mise, you can install lazyssh directly from this repository's GitHub Releases:

mise use -g github:urzeye/lazyssh@latest
lazyssh

If you want to pin a specific release, specify the version explicitly:

mise use -g github:urzeye/lazyssh@0.x.y

Notes:

• This uses the github: backend in mise, which downloads the matching release asset from urzeye/lazyssh
• mise writes the selected version into your global config, so lazyssh becomes available in all terminals afterward

Option 2: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/urzeye/lazyssh.git
cd lazyssh

# Build
make build
./bin/lazyssh

# Or run directly
make run

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⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
/	Expand or collapse the search bar
↑↓ / j k	Move through the host list
Enter	SSH into the selected host
c	Copy the SSH command to the clipboard
h	Copy the host alias to the clipboard
g	Ping the current host
r	Refresh background data
a	Add a host
e	Edit a host
t	Edit tags
d	Delete a host
p	Pin or unpin a host
s	Switch the sort field
S	Reverse the sort order
0 / 1 / 2	Focus the search bar / host list / details panel
q	Quit

Inside host forms:

Key	Action
Ctrl+H	Switch to the previous tab
Ctrl+L	Switch to the next tab
Ctrl+S	Save
Esc	Cancel

Tip: the hint area at the top of the list shows the most common shortcuts so they are easy to rediscover.

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🙏 Credits

• Special thanks to the original lazyssh project and its author/maintainers for creating the foundation this fork builds on
• Built with tview and tcell
• Design inspiration from k9s and lazydocker