Lazyssh: A Terminal-Based SSH Manager for the Lazy Developer
If you've ever found yourself drowning in a sea of SSH config entries, hopping between servers, and constantly looking up IPs or usernames, you know the pain of traditional SSH management. What if you could manage your SSH connections with the same elegance that tools like lazydocker and k9s bring to their respective domains?
Enter lazyssh, a terminal UI that turns your SSH management from a chore into a breeze. It's built for developers who live in the terminal and want a more visual, interactive way to handle their remote connections.
What It Does
Lazyssh is an interactive terminal application that parses your existing SSH config file (~/.ssh/config) and presents all your hosts in a clean, navigable interface. Instead of typing ssh user@hostname or digging through configs, you get a searchable list of your servers. You can quickly filter, select, and connect to any host with a few keystrokes.
Why It's Cool
The magic of lazyssh isn't just in visualizing your config—it's in the workflow it enables. The interface is familiar if you've used tools like lazydocker: a panel layout that shows your hosts, a preview of the selected host's details, and a command log.
You can quickly see the connection details for any host before connecting, and the built-in search means you can find that one server in a long list instantly. It removes the friction of memorizing host aliases or keeping separate documentation for your infrastructure. It's especially powerful for developers and sysadmins who work with dozens of servers across different environments.
It's written in Go, which means it compiles to a single binary. No runtime dependencies, no complicated setup—just download and run.
How to Try It
Getting started with lazyssh is straightforward. You'll need Go installed to build it from source.
go install github.com/Adembc/lazyssh@latest
After installation, simply run lazyssh in your terminal. It will automatically read your ~/.ssh/config file and populate the interface. Use the arrow keys to navigate, / to search, and Enter to connect to a selected host.
You can find the source code, more detailed installation options (like downloading pre-built binaries), and configuration tips on the GitHub repository:
https://github.com/Adembc/lazyssh
Final Thoughts
Lazyssh isn't trying to replace the classic SSH command—it's there to complement it for those times when you're managing multiple connections. It's one of those tools that feels obvious in hindsight. Why shouldn't we have a visual manager for something we use as frequently as SSH?
If you're a terminal native with more than a handful of servers to manage, it's worth a few minutes of setup. It might just save you from that usual context-switching headache.
—
Found this interesting? Follow us @githubprojects for more cool projects.