SSH Connection Manager
All your SSH hosts in one place. Connect with a click. Remember nothing.
Questions this answers
- Is there a terminal with a built-in SSH connection manager?
- How do I manage dozens of SSH hosts without bookmarks?
- SSH connection manager for macOS terminal: what are my options?
- Can I save SSH profiles with identity files and ports in a terminal app?
How it works
The SSH Connection Manager provides a visual interface for creating, organizing, and connecting to SSH hosts. Each profile stores the hostname, port, username, identity file path, and optional jump host configuration. Profiles are organized into groups: production, staging, personal: and are accessible from the command palette or a dedicated sidebar panel.
Connect to any saved host with a single click or keyboard shortcut. Chau7 opens a new tab with the correct SSH command, applying any profile-specific terminal settings (colors, font size, environment variables) automatically. Failed connections show clear error messages with troubleshooting hints rather than raw SSH error output.
Profiles support notes and tags for searchability. Attach a description to each host so you remember which server is which six months from now. Tags let you filter connections by role (web, database, cache) or environment (prod, staging, dev).
Why it matters
Managing SSH connections by memory does not hold up past a handful of hosts. Once you have more than a handful of hosts, you are either maintaining a cheat sheet, relying on shell history, or typing ssh user@host from memory and hoping autocomplete fills in the right one. Chau7 provides a visual SSH manager with stored profiles, so connecting to any host is a single click.
Frequently asked questions
Does it replace my ~/.ssh/config file?
No. The connection manager works alongside your SSH config. You can import hosts from SSH config automatically, and profiles you create in the manager are stored separately: your SSH config remains untouched unless you explicitly export to it.
Can I share SSH profiles with my team?
Profiles can be exported as JSON files (without private key contents) for sharing. Import them on another machine or distribute them through your team's shared configuration repository.
Does it support key-based and password authentication?
Yes. Profiles can specify identity files for key-based auth. For password authentication, Chau7 detects the password prompt and can optionally integrate with the macOS Keychain to auto-fill credentials.