ssh-connection-manager: a TUI for hosts in ~/.ssh/config

August 30, 2026 • 447 words • 3 min

When ~/.ssh/config holds dozens of stands, bastions, and jump hosts, memorizing aliases stops being fun. ssh-connection-manager is a TUI on top of ordinary OpenSSH: a host list, a filter, a connect via the system ssh, and a way to append a new block to the config.

The CLI command is ssh-connect. Repository: gitlab.com/unsorted-projects/ssh-connection-manager.

Why not another SSH client

The client already exists: the system ssh. What is missing is navigation over the config file.

The tool:

reads ~/.ssh/config or another file (-c);
lists concrete Host entries, not wildcards such as Host *;
follows Include (up to 16 levels);
on Enter suspends the TUI and runs ssh -F <config> <alias>;
after the session ends, shows the list again.

It is Python 3.11+ and Textual. There is no custom SSH stack: keys, ProxyJump, and the agent stay with OpenSSH.

What the table shows

Column names keep the alias and the address apart:

Field	Meaning
HostName	alias from the `Host` directive
ConnectPoint	address from `HostName` in the config (IP or DNS)
User	user, if set
Port	port, or `22` by default

The details line shows IdentityFile and ProxyJump when present. If a host has no User (and none comes from Host *), the TUI asks for a username before connecting.

The filter (/) matches alias and ConnectPoint.

Keys

Key	Action
`Enter`	connect
`a`	add a host to the config
`/`	filter
`q`	quit

Adding a host appends a block; existing sections are not rewritten. If the file does not exist yet, it is created with mode 0600. Wildcard characters are rejected in the alias: only explicit names appear in the list.

Example of what gets written:

Host prod
    HostName 10.0.0.5
    User deploy
    Port 22
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Install

On Debian/Ubuntu do not install into the system Python (externally-managed-environment). Use a venv or pipx.

git clone git@gitlab.com:unsorted-projects/ssh-connection-manager.git
cd ssh-connection-manager
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Then ssh-connect is available in the activated venv. To run it from any directory:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf "$(pwd)/.venv/bin/ssh-connect" ~/.local/bin/ssh-connect

Or pipx install -e . — pipx isolates the environment and puts the binary in ~/.local/bin.

An interactive TTY is required: without a terminal, Textual cannot hand the screen over to ssh.

ssh-connect
ssh-connect -c /path/to/other/config

Note

The tool does not rewrite other config blocks and ignores Match. Only named Host entries without *?[ appear in the list.

Why this fits the job

One config file stays the source of truth. The TUI does not duplicate inventory in YAML and does not store passwords: only what already lives in OpenSSH. For a Lead DevOps that is the usual loop: bastion, prod, jump — pick a row and you are in the session.