SSH host manager for the terminal

The usual mess

Most people accumulate SSH destinations in three places at once: ~/.ssh/config, half-remembered aliases, and whatever GUI client they used last month. Searching is slow. Labels drift. Jump hosts get retyped.

Dedicated GUI host managers fix discovery by inventing a second database. Then your scripts, editors, and teammates no longer share the same inventory.

What Bast does instead

Bast reads the SSH config you already have, including Include files. It adds organization on top: groups, tags, colors, notes, favorites, and smart sorting. Connection settings stay in OpenSSH.

Pick a host in the TUI or run bast "Production web" from the shell. Bast launches your system ssh binary. No proprietary protocol, no parallel host store.

Get a clean host list in minutes

1. Install Bast, then run bast to open the host picker.
2. Confirm existing hosts appear from ~/.ssh/config. Add labels, groups, and tags for the ones you reach every day.
3. Optionally import destinations from shell history, then connect with Enter or bast <label>.

Built for people who already use OpenSSH

Bast is for macOS and Linux terminals. If you want a phone-native GUI client or a Windows desktop suite, see the comparisons. If you want a faster path through the config you already trust, Bast is the host manager that fits.