FAQ

Does purple modify my existing SSH config?

Only when you add, edit, delete or sync. Auto-sync runs on startup for providers that have it enabled (toggle per provider, on by default except Proxmox). All writes are atomic with automatic backups.

Will purple break my comments or formatting?

No. purple preserves comments, indentation and unknown directives through every read-write cycle. Consecutive blank lines are collapsed to one.

Does purple need a daemon or background process?

No. It's a single binary. Run it, use it, close it.

Does purple send my SSH config anywhere?

No. Your config never leaves your machine. Provider sync calls cloud APIs to fetch server lists. The TUI checks GitHub for new releases on startup (cached for 24 hours). No config data is transmitted in either case.

Can I use purple with Include files?

Yes. Hosts from Include files are displayed in the TUI but never modified. purple resolves Include directives recursively (up to depth 16) with tilde and glob expansion.

How does password management work?

Configure a password source per host (Enter on the Password Source field in the host form) and purple retrieves the password automatically when you connect via the SSH_ASKPASS mechanism. See Password Management for details on each source.

Can I manage Docker or Podman containers?

Yes. Press C on any host to see all containers over SSH. Start, stop and restart without leaving the TUI. Auto-detects Docker or Podman. No agent, no web UI, no ports to open. See Container Management.

Does the container view require root?

No. The SSH user just needs permission to run Docker or Podman commands (e.g. membership in the docker group).

Can I transfer files?

Yes. Press f on any host to open the remote file explorer. Local files on the left, remote on the right. See File Explorer.

What cloud providers are supported?

AWS EC2, Azure, DigitalOcean, GCP (Compute Engine), Hetzner, Linode (Akamai), Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Proxmox VE, Scaleway, Tailscale, UpCloud and Vultr. See Cloud Providers.

How does provider sync handle name conflicts?

Synced hosts get an alias prefix (e.g. do-web-1 for DigitalOcean). If a name collides with an existing host, purple appends a numeric suffix (do-web-1-2).

Can I use purple on Windows?

Not natively. purple runs on macOS and Linux. On Windows, use WSL and install purple inside your WSL distribution with curl -fsSL getpurple.sh | sh. Windows Terminal renders the TUI correctly.

Does purple work with ProxyJump bastion hosts?

Yes. purple uses the system ssh binary with your config, so ProxyJump chains work transparently. Connecting, file transfer, container management and snippets all work through ProxyJump.

How do I speed up the file explorer?

Add ControlMaster to your SSH config. See File Explorer for the recommended configuration.

Does purple work with Vaultwarden?

Yes. Configure the Bitwarden CLI to point to your server with bw config server https://your-vaultwarden-url, then use bw:item-name as the password source. See Password Management.

How many hosts can purple handle?

purple is tested with configs containing 1000+ hosts. Search remains instant. The TUI renders smoothly at any size.

Why is the crate called purple-ssh?

The name purple was taken on crates.io. The binary is still called purple.

Does purple require an account or subscription?

No. No account, no signup, no telemetry. purple is a local binary. The only network request it makes on its own is a GitHub release check for updates (cached 24 hours).

Can AI assistants use purple?

Yes. Run purple mcp to start a Model Context Protocol server. Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP-compatible AI assistants can list hosts, run commands and manage containers through your SSH config. See MCP Server for setup instructions.

Which terminal emulators work?

Any terminal that supports ANSI escape codes. Tested with iTerm2, Terminal.app, Alacritty, kitty, WezTerm, Warp and Windows Terminal (via WSL). Respects NO_COLOR and adapts to three color tiers: modifiers only, ANSI 16 and truecolor.