Go SSH it (gosshit)

A vim-inspired terminal user interface (TUI) for managing SSH config files. Easily browse, search, edit, and connect to your SSH hosts with a beautiful, keyboard-driven interface.

Features

• Two-panel interface: Browse hosts on the left, view details on the right
• Vim-like keybindings: Navigate with j/k, search with /, and more
• Visit tracking: Most frequently used hosts appear at the top
• Full CRUD operations: Add, edit, and delete SSH config entries
• Search functionality: Quickly find hosts by name, hostname, user, or description
• Preserves formatting: Maintains comments and formatting in your SSH config file
• Descriptions: Add descriptions to hosts for better organization
• Clear visit history: Reset visit counts with x hotkey

Installation

Option 1: Homebrew (macOS/Linux) 🍺

brew install nicklasos/tap/gosshit

Option 2: Download Binary 📦

Download the latest binary for your platform from the releases page.

macOS:

# Intel Mac
curl -L https://github.com/nicklasos/gosshit/releases/latest/download/gosshit_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gosshit /usr/local/bin/

# Apple Silicon (M1/M2)
curl -L https://github.com/nicklasos/gosshit/releases/latest/download/gosshit_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gosshit /usr/local/bin/

Linux:

# AMD64
curl -L https://github.com/nicklasos/gosshit/releases/latest/download/gosshit_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gosshit /usr/local/bin/

# ARM64
curl -L https://github.com/nicklasos/gosshit/releases/latest/download/gosshit_Linux_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gosshit /usr/local/bin/

Windows: Download the .zip file from releases and extract it to a directory in your PATH.

Option 3: Install with Go

go install github.com/nicklasos/gosshit@latest

Make sure $GOPATH/bin or $GOBIN is in your PATH.

Usage

Simply run:

gosshit

The application will:

1. Read your ~/.ssh/config file (creating it if it doesn't exist)
2. Load visit tracking data from ~/.gosshit (creating it if it doesn't exist)
3. Display all your SSH hosts sorted by visit frequency

Keybindings

Normal Mode (List View)

• j / ↓ - Move down in the list
• k / ↑ - Move up in the list
• / - Enter search mode
• a - Add a new host entry
• e - Edit the selected host entry
• d - Delete the selected host entry
• x - Clear all visit counts (with confirmation)
• Enter - Connect to the selected host via SSH
• q / Ctrl+C - Quit the application

Search Mode

• Type to filter the host list in real-time
• Enter - Exit search mode and select first match
• Esc - Cancel search and return to normal mode

Edit Mode

• Tab - Move to the next field
• Shift+Tab - Move to the previous field
• Enter - Save changes
• Esc - Cancel editing and return to normal mode

Delete Confirmation

• y - Confirm deletion
• n / Esc - Cancel deletion

SSH Config Format

The tool expects standard SSH config format. Descriptions are stored as comments above the Host entry:

# Description: My production server
Host prod
    HostName example.com
    User deploy
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Supported Fields

• Host - The host alias (required)
• HostName - The actual hostname or IP address (required)
• User - Username for SSH connection (optional, defaults to "root" in editor)
• Port - SSH port (optional, defaults to "22" in editor)
• IdentityFile - Path to SSH private key (optional, enter path manually)
• Description - Added as a comment above the Host entry

Visit Tracking

The tool tracks how often you connect to each host and automatically sorts them by visit frequency. This data is stored in ~/.gosshit as a simple text file:

prod:42
dev:15
staging:8

Development

To build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nicklasos/gosshit.git
cd gosshit
go build -o gosshit

Using the Makefile

The project includes a Makefile with convenient commands:

make build         # Build the binary
make install       # Install to GOPATH/bin
make test          # Run tests
make test-verbose  # Run tests with verbose output
make coverage      # Run tests with coverage report (generates coverage.html)
make clean         # Remove build artifacts
make run           # Build and run the application
make fmt           # Format code with gofmt
make vet           # Run go vet
make check         # Run fmt, vet, and test
make help          # Show all available commands

Running Tests

# Quick test run
make test

# Verbose test output
make test-verbose

# Generate coverage report
make coverage
# Opens coverage.html in your browser

Requirements

• Go 1.21 or later
• A terminal with support for ANSI colors

License

MIT