Andy Dixon
0fc9451583
- Host certificates: certificate authorities are trusted per OpenSSH host pattern (stored as @cert-authority known-hosts rows, matched against 'host' or '[host]:port' as OpenSSH does, with *, ? and !). For a host a CA covers, the client asks for a certificate; one signed by a matching CA, of host type, naming the host and in date is trusted without a first-use prompt, and anything else is refused. Hosts no CA covers keep the existing key checks. Applies to jump hosts and tunnels too. - User certificates: <key>-cert.pub next to the configured private key is used for publickey login (falling back to the plain key). - Settings → Known Hosts: import ~/.ssh/known_hosts (hashed names and @revoked lines skipped and counted), export in OpenSSH format, and a Trust a CA form. Verified against OpenSSH sshd with ssh-keygen-issued certificates: host cert accepted without prompting and user-cert login with only TrustedUserCAKeys; a CA for other hosts falls back to the key check; a different CA is refused.
Nexus Terminal
A native desktop client for SSH, Telnet, RAW TCP, Serial, VNC, RDP, IRC, GitHub and local terminals — with secure credential handling and a focused, multi-session workflow.
Nexus Terminal helps you manage many connections at once, keep terminal work organised, and move files with confidence. It is a single Rust application with no webview, so it starts quickly and stays responsive under heavy terminal output.
Highlights
- SSH, Telnet, RAW TCP, Serial, VNC, RDP, IRC, GitHub and local terminal sessions in one app
- Tabbed sessions with split panes, pinning and drag-to-reorder
- SFTP browser with drag-and-drop uploads and a permission-aware directory picker
- SSH jump hosts, SOCKS5/HTTP proxies, local and remote port forwards, agent forwarding and TOTP auto-fill
- Serial consoles with full line settings (baud, data bits, parity, stop bits, flow control)
- Native VNC and RDP viewers; RDP with NLA, certificate pinning, and SOCKS5/HTTP proxy or SSH tunnel routes
- Disconnected overlay with one-click reconnect, and auto-reconnect with backoff
- Broadcast input, snippets, trigger rules and terminal search
- Session recording (asciicast v2) and playback
- Secure credential storage with the OS keychain first and an encrypted vault fallback
Quick start
- Launch Nexus Terminal.
- Click + at the bottom of the sidebar (or press Cmd+N / Ctrl+N) and create a connection profile.
- Click Create & Connect to save it and open a session in a new tab. Afterwards, click the profile in the sidebar to connect.
Prefer a one-off session? Use Cmd+Shift+Q / Ctrl+Shift+Q to quick connect, or click Local Machine in the sidebar for a local shell.
If a session drops, use the Reconnect button in the disconnected overlay.
Documentation
- Product overview: docs/overview.md
- Quick start (shareable): docs/quick-start.md
- User manual: docs/user-manual.md
- Illustrated user guide (PDF): docs/guide/nexus-guide.pdf, built from LaTeX in docs/guide (
makethere;tools/screenshots.shregenerates the screenshots) - Build and release: docs/build-and-release.md
Keyboard shortcuts
All shortcuts use Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows/Linux.
| macOS Shortcut | Windows/Linux Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Cmd + K | Ctrl + K | Open command palette |
| Cmd + N | Ctrl + N | New connection |
| Cmd + W | Ctrl + W | Close current tab |
| Cmd + Tab | Ctrl + Tab | Next tab |
| Cmd + Shift + Tab | Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Previous tab |
| Cmd + 1–9 | Ctrl + 1–9 | Switch to tab by number |
| Cmd + , | Ctrl + , | Open settings |
| Cmd + F | Ctrl + F | Find in terminal |
| Cmd + Shift + D | Ctrl + Shift + D | Split pane right (side by side) |
| Cmd + Shift + E | Ctrl + Shift + E | Split pane down (top and bottom) |
| Cmd + Shift + R | Ctrl + Shift + R | Toggle session recording |
| Cmd + Shift + B | Ctrl + Shift + B | Toggle broadcast input mode |
| Cmd + Shift + S | Ctrl + Shift + S | Open snippet library |
| Cmd + Shift + Q | Ctrl + Shift + Q | Quick connect |
| F11 | F11 | Toggle fullscreen |
Building from source
Nexus Terminal is a Rust workspace in rust/. With rustup installed:
cd rust
cargo run --release
See docs/build-and-release.md for platform prerequisites, tests and release packaging.