ssh-connect

name	ssh-connect
description	Use when you need to SSH into a remote machine to run commands or open an interactive shell using credentials loaded from a .env file (SSH_HOST, SSH_USER, and key or password), avoiding interactive password prompts.

SSH Connect Skill

SSH into remote machines using credentials from .env file - no password prompts.

Setup

1. Create .env file in project root with your SSH credentials:

# Required
SSH_HOST=192.168.1.100
SSH_USER=ubuntu

# Authentication (choose one)
SSH_KEY_PATH=~/.ssh/id_rsa          # Recommended: path to private key
SSH_PASSWORD=your_password           # Alternative: password auth

2. Ensure Python dependencies are installed:

pip install paramiko python-dotenv

Usage

CLI

# Interactive shell
python .claude/skills/ssh-connect/ssh_connect.py

# Run single command
python .claude/skills/ssh-connect/ssh_connect.py "ls -la"

# Run multiple commands
python .claude/skills/ssh-connect/ssh_connect.py "cd /app && git pull && docker-compose restart"

Python API

from ssh_connect import SSHClient

# Auto-loads from .env
with SSHClient() as ssh:
    output = ssh.run("hostname")
    print(output)

# Or specify credentials directly
with SSHClient(host="192.168.1.100", user="ubuntu", key_path="~/.ssh/id_rsa") as ssh:
    output = ssh.run("uptime")

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
SSH_HOST	Yes	Remote hostname or IP
SSH_USER	Yes	SSH username
SSH_PORT	No	SSH port (default: 22)
SSH_KEY_PATH	No*	Path to SSH private key
SSH_PASSWORD	No*	SSH password

*One of SSH_KEY_PATH or SSH_PASSWORD is required.

Security Notes

• Prefer SSH keys over passwords when possible
• Add .env to .gitignore to prevent credential leaks
• Never commit credentials to version control