SSH & Terminal

SSM Dojo runs an interactive shell and a file browser over SSH. The SSH screen lists every connection that can speak SSH: standalone SSH machines and SSM tunnels that have SSH turned on.

Connecting

Connecting happens when you open a connection's Terminal or Files. SSM Dojo brings the connection up for you and the status light turns green once it is ready, so there is no separate Connect step to click first. While a connection is running, a Disconnect button is there if you want to drop it.

Each row shows the connection's status and identity along with four actions:

• Files opens the file browser for that machine.
• Terminal opens a shell (see below).
• Edit changes the connection. A standalone SSH machine is edited in place; for a tunnel that has SSH enabled, Edit takes you to the Tunnels screen, where the tunnel itself is managed.
• Delete removes a standalone SSH connection after a confirmation dialog.

If a connection drops or fails to come up, SSM Dojo shows a notification with the error instead of leaving you to read it off the status light.

You can also create a standalone SSH connection straight from a discovered instance; its address is filled in for you.

Authentication

When SSM Dojo opens an SSH connection it resolves your key in this order:

1. An explicit key path set on the connection.
2. Your SSH agent, if one is running (SSH_AUTH_SOCK).
3. Default keys: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, then ~/.ssh/id_rsa.

Encrypted keys (passphrases)

If your private key is passphrase-protected, SSM Dojo prompts you for the passphrase and retries the connection (up to a few attempts). Passphrases are kept in memory only, never written to disk, and are cleared when the connection stops or the app restarts.

Host-key trust on first use

The first time you connect, the remote host key is recorded and pinned to the connection. On later connects the presented key is compared; if it changed, the connection is rejected as a possible man-in-the-middle. To accept a legitimately changed key, edit the connection to reset the stored key.

Terminal

The Terminal gives you a full shell over an SSH connection.

The terminal stays connected when you switch tabs or screens, so it is still there when you come back. It also resizes with the window, and shows the passphrase prompt inline if the key is encrypted. If the session ends, it shows a clear stopped state with a retry option.

Session lifetime

A terminal session stays alive while you navigate, but stopping the underlying tunnel or connection ends the shell, and closing the app stops all connections and terminals.