Identities & SSH Keys

Identities

An identity is a reusable login: a username plus a password, an SSH key, or both. Attach one identity to many machines, and a credential change happens in exactly one place.

Create one under Identity in the sidebar: name, Username, and at least one of Password or SSH Key. If both are provided, SwiftServer tries the key first, then falls back to the password.

Generate an SSH key

Under SSH Key, choose Generate SSH Key:

• Key Type — Ed25519 (recommended), ECDSA P-256 / P-384 / P-521, or RSA with a selectable size (1024–4096, default 2048).
• Passphrase — optional; if set, it is required to use the key and is stored in the Keychain alongside it.

Keys are generated on your device and never leave it unencrypted. The public key carries a Generated By SwiftServer comment so you can spot it in authorized_keys later.

Import an existing key

Import Key accepts pasted private and public key text — the key type is detected automatically, and an optional passphrase can be stored with it.

Private keys are kept in the device Keychain; viewing or editing one later requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode when Require Authentication is enabled.

Install the public key on a server

Open a key's detail page and tap Export Public Key to Server. SwiftServer copies a ready-to-run command to your clipboard:

echo '<your public key>' >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Paste it into any terminal session on the target server (for example one last password-authenticated session), run it, and key login is set up. Nothing runs without you seeing it.