bssh - Better SSH

A modern, user-friendly SSH file browser with a Terminal User Interface (TUI) built in Rust.

Features

• Visual file browsing on remote servers
• Fast and lightweight
• Keyboard-driven navigation (vim-style)
• Download files from remote server
• Delete files and directories
• SSH key-based authentication
• Session persistence - remembers your last directory and cursor position
• Built-in modal text editor (vim-like)
• Interactive shell mode - toggle between file browser and full shell with Ctrl+s
• Saved connection management - save and quickly reconnect to frequently used servers
• ~/.ssh/config integration

Installation

cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/bssh /usr/local/bin/

Usage

# Connect to a server
bssh user@hostname

# Use custom SSH key (PEM file)
bssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_key.pem user@hostname

# Specify port
bssh -p 2222 user@hostname
# or
bssh user@hostname:2222

# Start in a specific directory
bssh user@hostname /home/user/projects

# Combine options
bssh -i ~/.ssh/mykey.pem -p 2222 user@hostname /var/www

# Use current user
bssh hostname

Saved Connections

Save frequently used SSH connections for quick access:

# Save a connection while connecting
bssh --save myserver user@hostname

# Save with custom options
bssh --save production -i ~/.ssh/prod_key.pem -p 2222 user@hostname

# Run bssh with no arguments to see saved connections
bssh
# This shows an interactive list of all saved connections
# Use arrow keys or j/k to navigate, Enter to connect, e to edit, c to copy SSH command, q to quit

# Connect to a saved connection by name
bssh myserver

# Override saved connection settings
bssh -p 2223 myserver  # Use different port than saved

Saved connections are stored in ~/.config/bssh/connections.json and include:

• Connection name
• Host, port, username
• Identity file path (if specified)

Command-line Options

Usage: bssh [OPTIONS] [DESTINATION] [PATH]

Arguments:
  [DESTINATION]  SSH connection string [user@]host[:port] or saved connection name
  [PATH]         Initial remote directory path

Options:
  -i, --identity <FILE>  Identity file (private key) for authentication
  -p, --port <PORT>      Port to connect to on the remote host
      --save <NAME>      Save this connection for future use
  -h, --help             Print help
  -V, --version          Print version

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shell Mode

Press Ctrl+s to toggle into an interactive shell session. The shell starts in your currently browsed directory.

• The shell persists in the background when you toggle back to the file browser
• A [shell] indicator appears in the header when a shell session is active
• Press Ctrl+s again to return to your shell session
• Type exit in the shell to close it and return to browsing

Built-in Editor

Press Enter on a file to open it in the built-in modal editor. The editor works like vim with the following keyboard shortcuts:

Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

Normal Mode:

Insert Mode:

The file is edited directly on the remote server via SFTP - no temporary files needed!

Session Persistence

bssh automatically remembers your session state for each server connection:

• Last directory: Returns to the directory you were browsing when you last quit
• Cursor position: Restores your selected file/directory
• Per-connection: Each server connection (user@host:port) has its own saved state
• Editor restore: When you close a file in the editor, you return to the exact same location in the file browser

State is saved:

• When you quit the application
• Before opening a file in the editor (so closing the editor returns you to the same spot)

State files are stored in ~/.config/bssh/session_user@host_port.json

Note: If you explicitly provide a path when launching bssh, it will use that path instead of the saved state.

Authentication

bssh uses SSH key-based authentication. By default, it looks for your SSH key at ~/.ssh/id_rsa.

Using a Custom Key

You can specify a custom identity file (PEM key) using the -i flag:

bssh -i ~/.ssh/custom_key.pem user@hostname

Alternatively, configure it in your ~/.ssh/config:

Host myserver
    HostName example.com
    User myuser
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/custom_key

Technical Stack

• SSH Client: russh - Pure Rust SSH implementation
• SFTP: russh-sftp - SFTP subsystem for russh
• TUI Framework: ratatui - Terminal UI library
• Terminal Backend: crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
• Async Runtime: tokio - Asynchronous runtime

Roadmap

Planned features:

• File upload
• File rename
• Create directories
• Execute remote commands
• Search functionality
• Multiple file selection
• File permissions editing

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.