A lightweight, cross-platform desktop SSH client for managing SSH host profiles, storing private keys securely, and running multiple interactive terminal and SFTP sessions — all from a clean, dark-themed interface.
- SSH Connection Manager — Add, edit, and organize host profiles into color-coded groups.
- Host Grouping — Organize servers into logical folders/groups with custom colors and icons.
- Dashboard View Modes — Switch between Grid and List views with persistent preferences.
- Password & Key Auth — Connect using a password or an imported SSH private key (RSA, Ed25519, ECDSA).
- Interactive Terminal — Fully interactive xterm.js terminal with real-time I/O, cursor blinking, scrollback, and 256-color support.
- Terminal Theming — Multiple built-in terminal themes (Dracula, SwiftSSH Dark, etc.) with custom font settings.
- Tabbed Sessions — Open multiple simultaneous SSH connections with tab management (Duplicate, Rename, Close).
- SFTP File Browser — Browse remote file systems, transfer files, and manage a transfer queue alongside terminal sessions.
- SSH Key Manager (Keychain) — Dedicated interface for managing SSH keys with fingerprinting support.
- Secure Vault — Master-password-protected encrypted storage for credentials using AES-GCM + Argon2 KDF.
- Command Snippets — Save and manage reusable command snippets for quick execution.
- Port Forwarding — Configure local and remote port forwarding rules with persistence.
- Jump Host / Multi-hop — Connect through bastion hosts with jump host support.
- Agent Forwarding — Forward your local SSH agent to remote hosts.
- Activity Logging — Categorized event tracking with a dedicated log viewer screen.
- Distro Detection — Automatic mascot assignment (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc.) based on host metadata.
- Settings — Configurable SSH/SFTP behavior and terminal preferences.
- Persistent Storage — All hosts, groups, keys, and settings are saved locally and persist across restarts.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Desktop framework | Tauri v2 (Rust) |
| Frontend | React 19 + TypeScript + Vite 6 |
| Styling | Tailwind CSS v4 |
| State management | Zustand |
| Terminal emulator | xterm.js v6 |
| SSH/SFTP backend | Python 3 sidecar using Paramiko |
| Encryption | AES-GCM 256-bit + Argon2 KDF (Rust) |
| Storage | JSON files + encrypted vault |
Make sure these are installed before getting started:
| Tool | Minimum version | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Bun | 1.0+ | bun.sh |
| Rust | 1.70+ | rustup.rs |
| Python | 3.10+ | python.org |
Xcode Command Line Tools are required for Tauri to compile native code:
xcode-select --installInstall the system libraries Tauri depends on (Debian/Ubuntu):
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
libssl-dev libgtk-3-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-devgit clone https://github.com/your-username/SwiftSSH.git
cd SwiftSSH# Node dependencies
bun install
# Python dependencies
pip3 install -r sidecar/requirements.txtbun run tauri devThis will:
- Start the Vite dev server on
http://localhost:1420 - Compile the Rust backend
- Launch the native SwiftSSH window with hot-reload enabled
bun run tauri buildThe compiled binary and installer will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.
SwiftSSH/
├── src-tauri/ # Tauri v2 Rust shell
│ ├── src/
│ │ ├── main.rs # Application entry point
│ │ ├── lib.rs # IPC command handlers (host/key CRUD, SSH/SFTP mgmt)
│ │ ├── ssh_bridge.rs # Spawns Python sidecar processes, manages SSH sessions
│ │ ├── sftp_bridge.rs # SFTP operations bridge
│ │ ├── secure_storage.rs # Encrypted vault for credentials
│ │ └── crypto.rs # AES-GCM + Argon2 encryption utilities
│ ├── icons/ # App icons for bundling
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Rust dependencies
│ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration (main + settings windows)
│
├── sidecar/ # Python SSH/SFTP backend
│ ├── main.py # Paramiko-based interactive SSH session manager
│ ├── sftp.py # SFTP file operations
│ └── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
│
├── src/ # React + TypeScript frontend
│ ├── components/
│ │ ├── Sidebar.tsx # Left sidebar with navigation
│ │ ├── HostList.tsx # Saved hosts list with connect/edit/delete actions
│ │ ├── AddHostModal.tsx # Modal dialog for adding or editing a host profile
│ │ ├── KeyManager.tsx # SSH key management (add/import/delete keys)
│ │ ├── TerminalTab.tsx # xterm.js terminal instance per SSH session
│ │ ├── SftpPane.tsx # SFTP file browser panel
│ │ ├── SnippetsScreen.tsx # Command snippets manager
│ │ ├── SettingsScreen.tsx # SSH/SFTP and terminal settings
│ │ ├── ActivityLogScreen.tsx # Activity log viewer
│ │ └── ... # Additional UI components
│ ├── store/
│ │ └── useStore.ts # Zustand global state (hosts, keys, tabs, settings)
│ ├── lib/
│ │ ├── terminalManager.ts # Terminal instance lifecycle management
│ │ └── activityLogger.ts # Activity event logging service
│ ├── utils/
│ │ ├── sftpClient.ts # SFTP operations wrapper
│ │ ├── distroIcons.ts # Distro mascot icon mapping
│ │ └── fileIcons.ts # File type icon mapping
│ ├── assets/ # Distro mascot images
│ ├── App.tsx # Root layout — sidebar, tab bar, terminal area
│ ├── index.css # Tailwind imports, dark theme, custom scrollbars
│ └── main.tsx # React DOM entry point
│
├── index.html # HTML shell
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── vite.config.ts
└── .gitignore
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Frontend (React + xterm.js) │
│ │
│ HostList ──invoke──► save_host / delete_host / list_hosts │
│ KeyManager ──invoke──► save_key / delete_key / list_keys │
│ HostList ──invoke──► connect_host ──► returns session_id │
│ TerminalTab ──invoke──► send_input(session_id, data) │
│ TerminalTab ◄──listen── "ssh-output" event │
│ SftpPane ──invoke──► sftp_list / sftp_upload / sftp_download│
│ App ◄──listen── "ssh-disconnected" event │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
│ Tauri IPC (invoke / events)
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rust Backend (src-tauri) │
│ │
│ lib.rs ── CRUD commands, vault operations │
│ ssh_bridge.rs ── spawns python3 sidecar/main.py per conn │
│ sftp_bridge.rs ── spawns python3 sidecar/sftp.py │
│ secure_storage.rs ── encrypted credential vault │
│ crypto.rs ── AES-GCM encryption with Argon2 key derivation │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
│ subprocess (stdin/stdout)
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Python Sidecar │
│ │
│ main.py ── SSH sessions via Paramiko (password or key auth)│
│ sftp.py ── SFTP file operations via Paramiko │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
All data is stored in your OS local data directory:
| OS | Path |
|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/SwiftSSH/ |
| Linux | ~/.local/share/SwiftSSH/ |
| Windows | C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\SwiftSSH\ |
Files:
hosts.json— Array of host profile objectskeys.json— Array of SSH key objectsvault.json— Encrypted credential store (AES-GCM protected)
Sensitive data (passwords, private keys) is encrypted at rest in the vault using a master password with Argon2 key derivation.
bun run devOpens the Vite dev server at http://localhost:1420. Useful for iterating on UI without recompiling Rust. Note: Tauri invoke calls will fail in the browser.
Changes to src-tauri/src/ are automatically detected and recompiled when running bun run tauri dev.
The Python sidecar is spawned fresh for each connection, so changes to sidecar/main.py or sidecar/sftp.py take effect on the next connection without restarting the app.
MIT