lazyssh

lazyssh is a terminal user interface for managing SSH servers locally.

The goal is to make SSH access feel like using tools such as lazygit, lazydocker, or k9s: fast, keyboard-first, and built for people who live in the terminal.

Instead of remembering IP addresses, usernames, ports, SSH key paths, notes, and tags, you keep them in a local vault and launch SSH sessions from a TUI.

Project Goals

• Store SSH server entries locally.
• Keep server metadata easy to browse and edit.
• Launch SSH using the same terminal session that opened lazyssh.
• Avoid cloud sync or remote dependencies.
• Keep the UI stable, dark, keyboard-driven, and DevOps-focused.
• Use SQLite as the persistence layer.
• Keep application state in memory while the UI is running.

Current Features

• Main dashboard with:
  • server list
  • group filter list
  • server details panel
  • overview panel
  • footer shortcut bar
• Add, edit, and delete server entries.
• Manage groups:
  • create groups
  • edit group names
  • delete groups
• Assign existing groups when adding or editing a server.
• Search servers by name, host, username, group, and tags.
• Edit notes and tags.
• Render tags as colorful terminal chips.
• Copy common server values.
• Store all data in SQLite.
• Launch SSH key based connections through the normal shell.

Data Storage

lazyssh stores data in a local SQLite database.

The database path is chosen according to the operating system:

• Linux/Unix: $XDG_DATA_HOME/lazyssh/lazyssh.db or ~/.local/share/lazyssh/lazyssh.db
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/lazyssh/lazyssh.db
• Windows: %APPDATA%\lazyssh\lazyssh.db or %LOCALAPPDATA%\lazyssh\lazyssh.db

No data is synced to the cloud.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Main Dashboard

Shortcut	Action
↑ / ↓	Move through the server list
← / →	Switch group filter
Enter	Connect to the selected server
a	Add a new server
e	Edit selected server
d / Delete	Delete selected server
g	Open group manager
/	Search
c	Copy server value
n	Edit notes
t	Edit tags
?	Open help
q	Quit
Ctrl+C	Quit

Add/Edit Server Dialog

Shortcut	Action
Tab	Next field
Shift+Tab	Previous field
← / → on Group	Cycle existing groups
← / → on Auth	Cycle auth type
Space on Favorite	Toggle favorite
Enter	Save
Esc	Cancel

Group Manager

Shortcut	Action
↑ / ↓	Select group
n	New group
e	Edit selected group
d / Delete	Delete selected group
Enter	Save new or edited group
Esc	Close

When a group is renamed, servers assigned to that group are updated automatically.

When a group is deleted, servers assigned to it are unassigned.

Search Dialog

Shortcut	Action
Type text	Update search query
Backspace	Remove character
Enter	Apply search
Esc	Clear search and close

Notes and Tags Editors

Shortcut	Action
Type text	Edit content
Backspace	Remove character
Shift+Enter	Insert newline
Enter	Save
Esc	Cancel

Copy Dialog

Shortcut	Action
↑ / ↓	Select value
Enter	Copy selected value
Esc	Cancel

SSH Behavior

For SSH key based entries, lazyssh constructs a command like:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/prod.pem ubuntu@103.21.244.10 -p 22

Before launching SSH, lazyssh restores the terminal, leaves the alternate screen, disables raw mode, and then starts ssh in the same terminal session.

When the SSH session ends, lazyssh does not reopen automatically.

Password authentication is not implemented yet. For production use, password support should avoid plain SQLite password storage and use either the normal OpenSSH password prompt or encrypted local secret storage.

Installation

Current release: v0.1.0

Prebuilt binaries are published for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Users do not need Rust, Cargo, or a system SQLite installation.

You only need OpenSSH installed and available as ssh in your PATH.

Quick Install

Linux and macOS users can install the latest release with:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/abhishek-Rj/lazyssh/main/install.sh | sh

To install a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/abhishek-Rj/lazyssh/main/install.sh | sh -s -- v0.1.0

The installer downloads the matching GitHub Release archive, extracts it, and installs lazyssh into:

~/.local/bin

If ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH, the installer prints the shell command needed to add it.

Manual Download

Download the archive for your operating system from the GitHub Releases page.

For v0.1.0, the release assets are:

Operating System	CPU Architecture	Asset
Linux	x86_64	lazyssh-v0.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
macOS	Intel x86_64	lazyssh-v0.1.0-macos-x86_64.tar.gz
macOS	Apple Silicon aarch64	lazyssh-v0.1.0-macos-aarch64.tar.gz
Windows	x86_64	lazyssh-v0.1.0-windows-x86_64.zip

Linux and macOS:

tar -xzf lazyssh-v0.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd lazyssh-v0.1.0-linux-x86_64
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
cp lazyssh ~/.local/bin/

Use the matching macOS archive name on macOS.

Windows:

1. Download lazyssh-v0.1.0-windows-x86_64.zip.
2. Extract the archive.
3. Move lazyssh.exe to a directory in your PATH.

PATH

If you installed to ~/.local/bin and your shell cannot find lazyssh, add it to your PATH.

For bash:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For zsh:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Then run:

lazyssh

Verify Downloads

Each release includes a SHA256SUMS file.

Download the checksum file and verify your archive:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS

On macOS, if sha256sum is unavailable, use:

shasum -a 256 lazyssh-v0.1.0-macos-aarch64.tar.gz

Then compare the output with the matching line in SHA256SUMS.

Build From Source

Building from source requires Rust:

cargo build --release

The binary will be available at:

target/release/lazyssh

Releases

Maintainers publish a new release by creating and pushing a version tag:

git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

GitHub Actions automatically builds release binaries, packages them, generates SHA256SUMS, and attaches all assets to the GitHub Release.

The release workflow currently publishes:

• lazyssh-v0.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
• lazyssh-v0.1.0-macos-x86_64.tar.gz
• lazyssh-v0.1.0-macos-aarch64.tar.gz
• lazyssh-v0.1.0-windows-x86_64.zip
• SHA256SUMS

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE.