sshuttlebox

A compact SSH host and tunnel manager for your terminal.

Save SSH targets under short names, organize them into groups, manage local/remote/SOCKS tunnels, and connect with a single command — or browse everything from an interactive TUI.

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Table of Contents

• Why sshuttlebox?
• Features
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Usage
  • Hosts
  • Tunnels
  • Groups
• Command Reference
• Shell Completion
• Configuration
• Development
• Contributing
• License

Why sshuttlebox?

SSH workflows tend to grow into long commands, copied notes, and repeated tunnel setup. sshuttlebox keeps hosts, groups, and tunnels in a single local config file so you can reach common targets quickly — from the command line or from an interactive terminal UI.

Features

• Saved hosts — connect to any SSH target by a short name
• Interactive TUI — browse, edit, and connect without remembering flags
• Command palette — run common TUI actions with : or ctrl+p
• Tunnels — local, remote, and SOCKS forwarding with start/stop lifecycle
• Groups — organize related hosts and tunnels for quick filtering
• Shell completion — bash, zsh, and fish for all saved names
• Doctor checks — inspect config, SSH, keys, and tunnel state
• Dry-run preview — see the underlying ssh command before connecting
• Password auth (optional) — keys are preferred, but passwords are supported

Installation

Requires Go 1.22 or newer. Supported on macOS and Linux.

Using go install

go install github.com/itaprac/sshuttlebox/cmd/shbx@latest

Make sure your Go binary directory is in PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"

From source

git clone https://github.com/itaprac/sshuttlebox.git
cd sshuttlebox
go build -o shbx ./cmd/shbx

Quick Start

Initialize the local config, add a host, and connect:

shbx config init
shbx add prod --host 192.0.2.10 --user deploy --identity-file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
shbx connect prod

Open the interactive terminal UI:

shbx

Preview the underlying SSH command without connecting:

shbx connect prod --dry-run

Check local setup health:

shbx doctor

Usage

Hosts

shbx add staging --host 198.51.100.5 --user deploy --port 2222
shbx list
shbx show staging
shbx edit staging
shbx remove staging

Tunnels

Add and start a local port-forwarding tunnel through a saved host:

shbx tunnel add db --host prod --local-port 5432 --remote-host 127.0.0.1 --remote-port 5432
shbx tunnel start db
shbx tunnel stop db

Add and start a SOCKS (dynamic) tunnel:

shbx tunnel add socks --host prod --dynamic-port 1080
shbx tunnel start socks

Groups

Group related hosts and tunnels for easier navigation:

shbx group add work
shbx add prod --host 192.0.2.10 --group work
shbx group show work

Command Reference

Command	Description
shbx / shbx ui	Open the interactive terminal UI
shbx add [name]	Add or update a saved SSH host
shbx list	List saved hosts
shbx show <name>	Show saved host details
shbx connect <name>	Connect to a saved host
shbx edit <name>	Edit a saved host
shbx remove <name>	Remove a saved host
shbx tunnel ...	Add, list, show, start, stop, or remove SSH tunnels
shbx group ...	Add, list, show, rename, or remove groups
shbx completion ...	Generate or install shell completion
shbx doctor	Check config, SSH, keys, and tunnels
shbx config ...	Initialize or inspect the local config
shbx version	Print the installed version
shbx help	Show the full command reference

For full options and examples, run:

shbx help

Shell Completion

Install completion for your current shell:

shbx completion install

Install completion for bash, zsh, and fish at once:

shbx completion install --shell all

Completion files are written to user-level paths:

Shell	Path
bash	~/.local/share/shbx/completions/bash/shbx
zsh	~/.local/share/shbx/completions/zsh/_shbx
fish	~/.config/fish/completions/shbx.fish

You can also print a completion script to stdout:

shbx completion bash
shbx completion zsh
shbx completion fish

Configuration

Hosts, tunnels, and groups are stored in a single JSON file:

~/.config/sshuttlebox/config.json

Useful config commands:

shbx config path     # print the config file path
shbx config status   # show config health and counts

Note on credentials: saved passwords are stored in the local config file. Prefer SSH keys whenever possible.

Development

# Run the full test suite
go test ./...

# Run the CLI directly from source
go run ./cmd/shbx help

# Build a local binary
go build -o shbx ./cmd/shbx

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue to discuss substantial changes before submitting a pull request.

License

Released under the MIT License.