Keyward – terminal user interface for managing SSH keys and configuration

Keyward is a terminal user interface for managing SSH keys and configuration from a single keyboard-driven application.

It discovers and inspects keys, generates and rotates them, edits ~/.ssh/config, and audits the security of an SSH setup.

The software preserves comments, spacing, and ordering when editing configuration files. It also offers encrypted metadata and backups, a known-hosts viewer, SSH agent integration, and non-interactive commands for scripts and continuous integration workflows. Keyward operates without a daemon or network access and is distributed as a single static binary.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Discover, inspect, generate, import, rotate, and delete Ed25519 and RSA keys.
• View key types, sizes, fingerprints, comments, and passphrase status.
• Attach encrypted tags and notes to individual keys.
• Edit SSH configuration host by host with validation.
• Preserve existing comments, spacing, and ordering when saving configuration changes.
• Automatically retain backups of the five most recent SSH configuration versions.
• Run a graded security audit covering weak keys, missing passphrases, file permissions, and risky configuration directives.
• Display suggested fixes for issues found during security audits.
• Browse known hosts, inspect fingerprints and markers, and remove entries.
• Create and restore encrypted snapshots of the complete ~/.ssh directory.
• Store metadata in an encrypted vault protected by a master password.
• Add keys to a running SSH agent.
• Provide command-line operations suitable for scripts, cron jobs, and continuous integration pipelines.
• Produce machine-readable JSON output for key listings and security audits.

Website: github.com/gateway-of-last-resort/keyward
Support:
Developer: gateway-of-last-resort
License: MIT License

Keyward is written in Go. Learn Go with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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