Add a Server

Create your first machine, choose an authentication method, verify the host key, and organize with groups and tags.

A server in SwiftServer is a machine: an address plus a way to log in. Create one with the + button on the Dashboard or in Machines (⌘N on the Mac).

Machine information

Name — optional; if empty, the host is used as the name.
Host — IP address or hostname.
Port — defaults to 22.

Choose how to log in

The Authentication section offers three methods:

Identity — pick a saved identity, a reusable username + credential you can attach to many machines.
Password or Key — a username with a password, an SSH key, or both. When both are set, SwiftServer tries the key first and falls back to the password.
Keyboard Interactive — for servers that prompt step by step (including two-factor prompts). Optionally enable Auto Try with Password to answer the first prompt automatically.

Keyboard-interactive and the dashboard

Dashboard status needs unattended logins, so Show Status in Dashboard is disabled for machines that require interactive prompts.

Passwords, keys, and passphrases are stored in the device Keychain — never in SwiftServer's own files. If you enable Require Authentication in Settings, viewing or changing any saved secret asks for Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode first.

Test and save

Tap Test Connection before saving. If it fails, the message tells you which side to check — key settings, password, or network. Then Save.

Trust the host key

On first contact, SwiftServer shows the server's key with its SHA-256 fingerprint and asks you to Trust it — compare it against the fingerprint your provider or ssh-keygen -lf shows.

If a server ever presents a different key later, SwiftServer stops and shows Host Key Changed with both fingerprints — the stored one and the new one — side by side. Only choose Replace if you know why the key changed (a reinstall, a rotated key). An unexpected change can mean something is intercepting the connection.

Two related switches live in Settings → Connection: Connection Timeout (5–300 seconds, default 15) and Always Trust Host Keys, which skips these prompts entirely — convenient for lab networks, but it removes the protection, so leave it off for anything you care about.

Organize the fleet

Groups collect machines (a group has just a name and remark) — and you can run snippets across a whole group.
Tags are colored labels used for filtering the dashboard and Global View. Create them inline while editing a machine.

Preferences

Show Status in Dashboard — include this machine in monitoring.
Default SFTP Path — the directory SFTP opens first (defaults to /).