Connecto

AirDrop-like SSH key pairing for your terminal.

Connecto eliminates the hassle of manual SSH key setup. Instead of copying IP addresses and managing keys by hand, simply run connecto listen on one machine and connecto pair on another.

Quick Start

On the target machine (where you want to SSH into):

connecto listen          # add --verify to approve each pairing with a code

On the client machine (where you want to SSH from):

connecto scan
connecto pair 0
ssh mydesktop  # It just works!

Starting the listener over SSH? Use --detach:

connecto listen --detach   # returns immediately, prints the pid

Windows terminates a session's processes when the SSH connection closes, so an attached listener dies the moment you disconnect — pairing then fails with "connection refused" even though the listener reported that it had started. --detach starts it outside the session so it survives.

Installation

# macOS
brew install andreisuslov/connecto/connecto

# Windows (PowerShell as Admin)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreisuslov/connecto/main/install.ps1 | iex

# From source
cargo install --path connecto_cli

Windows SSL/TLS Error? (click to expand)

If you see "could not create SSL/TLS secure channel", run these two commands separately:

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreisuslov/connecto/main/install.ps1 | iex

This is needed on older Windows systems (Server 2012, older PowerShell) that don't enable TLS 1.2 by default.

Documentation

Full documentation is available at andreisuslov.github.io/connecto

• Installation Guide
• Quick Start
• VPN/Cross-Subnet Setup
• All Commands
• Security

SSH Server Setup

Before other machines can SSH into your device, the SSH server must be enabled:

connecto ssh on      # Enable SSH server
connecto ssh status  # Check SSH server status
connecto ssh off     # Disable SSH server

Platform-specific notes:

• Windows: Run PowerShell as Administrator
• macOS/Linux: Run with sudo

Features

• mDNS Discovery - Auto-discover devices on your network
• VPN Support - Cross-subnet scanning
• Zero-config Pairing - One command key exchange
• Verified Pairing - --verify gates key installation behind a verification code
• Auto SSH Config - ssh hostname just works
• Cross-platform - macOS, Linux, Windows
• SSH Server Management - Enable/disable SSH server with one command on all platforms

License

MIT