SSH Hosts and Quick Connect

Settings → Hosts saves SSH hosts that can open directly as SSH tabs or become remote machines.

• Defaults at the top apply to all hosts. Empty host fields inherit defaults; empty defaults use port 22, automatic authentication, and 10-second connection timeout.
• Fields: name/group/host/port/user; auto/password/public-key/agent/keyboard-interactive authentication; private-key files, one per line with ~, %h, %r. Jump host selects a saved host. Port forwarding takes local -L, remote -R, and SOCKS -D rules. Advanced includes ProxyCommand, SOCKS/HTTP proxy, keepalive, timeout, host-key checks, agent forwarding, specified keys only (IdentitiesOnly), Agent Socket (IdentityAgent, see the next item), and known_hosts files (one per line; blank uses ~/.ssh/known_hosts; tools such as OrbStack have their own files).
• Agent Socket: the ssh-agent used for authentication, for example the 1Password or Secretive agent. Enter a socket path (~, %h, %r, and ${VAR} are allowed). $VAR takes the path from that environment variable. none disables the agent for this host. Blank or SSH_AUTH_SOCK uses the SSH_AUTH_SOCK from Aster's launch environment. A host setting overrides the default entry, and a jump host uses its own setting. With agent forwarding on, this same agent is forwarded. IdentityAgent in ~/.ssh/config is imported too.
• Groups/search: imported ~/.ssh/config hosts first, your groups next, then ungrouped. Search filters name/host/user/port.
• Import supports Include and first-match semantics, updating only the imported group and preserving manual hosts. Unsupported options/Match blocks are not imported and are listed afterward. The edit action opens ~/.ssh/config in the default editor.
• Passwords and key passphrases stay only in macOS Keychain, never files. They save only after successful login. A rejected stored password is deleted. Forget Password removes it, first listing other hosts sharing the same user@host:port credential.
• Host keys: the first connection shows a fingerprint; confirmation writes ~/.ssh/known_hosts. Changed keys warn of possible impersonation and require typing yes. Background reconnection does not confirm for you.
• Quick Connect: ⌘⇧O, then ⌘S for SSH. Enter user@host, user@host:2222, or [::1]:22 to connect, save, or add a machine. Saved hosts/machines/config aliases appear, frequent first.
• Native SSH tab: a host opens as an ordinary tab directly in the remote Shell, without a local Shell. It reconnects after app restart.
• Save as Host… in a local tab's context menu prefills an address after manually connecting with ssh user@host. Configure options such as -i/-J in host settings.
• OpenSSH fallback: select OpenSSH in Settings → Advanced → SSH Engine, then restart. Manually typed ssh always uses system OpenSSH regardless of this choice.