sshls

Interactive SSH host picker built on fzf. Lists hosts from ~/.ssh/config with tag support, fuzzy search, and a live config preview.

Usage

sshls [tag]

Without arguments, shows all hosts. With a tag, shows only hosts matching that tag.

sshls              # show all hosts
sshls production   # show only hosts tagged "production"
sshls eu           # show only hosts tagged "eu"

Inside fzf you can type to fuzzy-search, use arrow keys to navigate, and press Enter to connect. Press Escape or Ctrl-C to exit.

Adding a host

Add a new host to ~/.ssh/config without leaving sshls:

• Run sshls add, or
• Press Ctrl-A inside the picker.

You'll be prompted for the alias, HostName, User, Port, IdentityFile, and Tags (Port/IdentityFile/Tags are optional). Before saving, sshls runs a non-interactive connection test; if it fails you'll be asked whether to save anyway. The new host appears in the picker immediately.

Adding a whole cluster

If a field contains an inline range, the add flow expands it into one host per node. Use bash-style {start..end} (or {start..end..step}); padding is taken from the numbers you write, so the alias and hostname can pad differently:

• Host (alias): server-{01..03}
• HostName: {1..3}.server.example.com

creates server-01 → 1.server…, server-02 → 2.server…, server-03 → 3.server…. Fields without a range (User, Port, IdentityFile, Tags) are copied to every node. Multiple ranged fields must expand to the same count and are matched up by position.

All nodes are connection-tested in parallel; you then choose to save all, only the passing ones, or abort. Nodes whose alias already exists are skipped, so you can widen the range and re-run to grow a cluster.

Tagging hosts

Add a # Tags: comment immediately before the Host entry in ~/.ssh/config:

# Tags: production, eu
Host web-eu-01
    HostName 1.eu.example.com
    User alice
    Port 22

# Tags: staging, eu
Host web-eu-01-staging
    HostName 1.staging.eu.example.com
    User alice

Multiple tags are comma-separated. Tags are shown next to the hostname in the picker.

Reserved tag: ignore

Hosts tagged ignore are hidden from the list entirely:

# Tags: ignore
Host legacy-host
    HostName old.example.com

Setup

Script

Link or copy sshls to somewhere on your $PATH:

ln -s /path/to/sshls-script/sshls ~/scripts/sshls
# or copy it: cp sshls ~/scripts/sshls

Make sure the target directory is on your $PATH.

Zsh autocompletion

Link _sshls to your zsh completions directory:

ln -s /path/to/sshls-script/_sshls ~/.zsh/completions/_sshls

If ~/.zsh/completions is not already in your fpath, add this to ~/.zshrc before compinit:

fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)

Then reload completions:

exec zsh

sshls <Tab> will now complete with the tags defined in ~/.ssh/config as well as the add subcommand.

Dependencies

• fzf
• awk, column (standard on most systems)