Bast

Mobile layout

How Bast adapts the TUI for narrow terminals, including phone SSH clients and small windows.

When your terminal is narrower than 60 columns, Bast switches to a mobile layout. The host and key lists stack above the detail panel instead of sitting side by side, so everything stays readable on a phone SSH app or a resized terminal window.

Layout

In mobile layout:

  • The list takes the top half of the screen and scrolls independently
  • A horizontal rule separates the list from the details below
  • Detail fields use the full terminal width

Resize back above 60 columns and Bast returns to the usual two-column layout automatically.

Connecting on narrow screens

On the hosts tab, the detail panel shows a highlighted Connect button. Click or tap it to start a session — the same action as pressing Enter in the desktop layout.

The footer hint updates to remind you: click Connect alongside the usual navigation keys.

Mouse and touch

Mobile layout is built for pointer input as well as the keyboard:

  • Click a row in the list to select it
  • Click Connect in the host detail panel to connect
  • On the keys tab, click Add to server in the detail panel to install a public key

Arrow keys and j / k still work for moving through the list.

When you might see it

  • SSH from a phone or tablet terminal app
  • A tmux or screen pane that is only a few dozen columns wide
  • A split editor terminal that does not leave much horizontal space

For fully headless or scripted workflows, use the CLI instead of the TUI.

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