Command reference

All commands are backed by Cobra. --help works on every subcommand.

Synopsis

dssh [NAME] [-- extra-ssh-args...]
dssh <command> [flags] [args]

Run dssh with no arguments to open the TUI. Run dssh NAME to connect straight to a saved host.

Global flags

These apply to every subcommand. Mode-override flags are one-shot — they do not persist to the saved configuration.

Flag	Effect
--sqlite	Use SQLite-only mode for this invocation, regardless of config
--sshconfig	Use ssh_config-only mode for this invocation
--both	Use both mode for this invocation (SQLite is the default save target)
--version	Print the version and exit
--help, -h	Print help for the current command

Connect

dssh — interactive picker

dssh

Opens the TUI on the Connect tab (or Create, if no connections exist).

dssh NAME — direct connect

dssh myserver
dssh myserver -- -v -L 8080:localhost:80

Anything after -- is forwarded verbatim to ssh.

• Key auth replaces the dssh process with ssh via syscall.Exec on Unix (zero wrapper overhead, native job control).
• Password auth runs ssh as a child with SSH_ASKPASS pointed at a short-lived script that echoes the decrypted password. The script is created with mode 0700 in $TMPDIR and removed on exit.

Manage connections

dssh add

dssh add [-p PORT] [-d DIR] [-J JUMP] [--sqlite | --sshconfig] NAME target [password]

Save a new connection without touching the TUI.

Flag	Short	Description
--port	-p	SSH port (default 22). Overrides a port in an ssh:// URI
--directory	-d	Remote directory to cd into on connect
--proxy-jump	-J	ProxyJump host — threaded through to ssh -J. Accepts user@bastion, bastion.example.com, or a chain host1,host2
--sqlite		Force save to SQLite (bypasses both-mode prompt)
--sshconfig		Force save to ssh_config (bypasses both-mode prompt)

Target accepts either form:

• user@host
• ssh://user@host:port

Password (optional third positional) triggers password auth. It can only be saved to SQLite.

# key auth, default port
dssh add myserver root@192.168.1.10

# custom port via flag
dssh add myserver -p 2222 root@192.168.1.10

# custom port via URI
dssh add myserver ssh://root@192.168.1.10:2222

# land in /var/www on connect (passes -t to ssh + a cd+exec $SHELL -l)
dssh add webhost -d /var/www deploy@web.example.com

# through a jump host (maps to ssh -J)
dssh add db01 -J jumpuser@bastion.example.com dbadmin@10.0.1.50

# through a chain of jump hosts
dssh add db01 -J jump1.example.com,jump2.example.com dbadmin@10.0.1.50

# password auth — prompts for master passphrase on first use
dssh add prodbox deploy@10.0.0.5 'hunter2'

dssh rm NAME

dssh rm myserver

Delete a connection by name. No confirmation — use dssh delete for the triple-confirm TUI.

dssh list / dssh ls

dssh ls

Lists saved connections. In both mode, a SOURCE column is added so you can see which store each host lives in.

dssh create / dssh new

dssh create

Opens the TUI wizard on the Create tab. Toggle key ↔ password auth with Ctrl+T.

dssh edit

dssh edit

Opens the TUI on the Edit tab. Pick a connection, change any field, save. Auth-type switching is supported — switching to password prompts for the master passphrase.

dssh delete

dssh delete

Opens the TUI on the Delete tab. Press Enter three times on the same item within 1 second to confirm. Safer than dssh rm when you’re not 100% sure of the name.

Configure

dssh config

dssh config

Reopens the storage-mode dialog. Choose SQLite-only, ssh_config-only, or both. When picking a mode that writes to ssh_config, select the destination file (main config, directive file, or custom path).

dssh config get / dssh config show

dssh config get

Prints the active configuration:

parse_mode:                      both
ssh_config_parse_destination:    ~/.ssh/config.d/dssh
parse_both_view_mode:            sqlite
parse_both_default_save_target:  sqlite

Reset

dssh reset

dssh reset

Deletes ~/.dssh/dssh.db entirely — connections, encrypted passwords, salt, passphrase verifier, all of it. Requires two confirmations (yes, then type reset literally). ssh_config entries are untouched.

Reserved names

These names collide with CLI commands and are rejected by dssh add and the Create/Edit TUI:

add, rm, list, ls, new, create, edit, delete, reset, help, config

Pick a connection name outside that set.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success (or the remote ssh session exited cleanly)
1	dssh-side error — bad flags, validation, DB failure, crypto error
other	Propagated from ssh when password auth is used

When key auth is used, dssh has already exec’d into ssh by the time the session runs, so the exit code you see is ssh’s.