Keybindings

Press ? on any screen in the TUI to see context-sensitive help.

Host List

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate down and up
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
Enter	Connect to selected host
Tab	Cycle to next top tab (Hosts -> Tunnels -> Containers -> Keys -> Hosts)
Shift+Tab	Cycle to previous top tab (Hosts -> Keys -> Containers -> Tunnels -> Hosts)
Esc	Clear group filter or multi-select. Cancels only, never quits. First idle press surfaces a one-shot toast pointing to q
a	Add new host
A	Add pattern
e	Edit selected host or pattern
d	Delete selected host or pattern
c	Clone host or pattern
y	Copy SSH command
x	Export config block to clipboard
/	Search and filter
#	Filter by tag
t	Tag host (bulk tag editor when hosts are selected)
s	Cycle sort mode (config order / A-Z alias / A-Z hostname / most used / most recent / down first)
g	Cycle group mode (none / provider / tag; tag step is skipped when no user tags are defined)
i	All directives
v	Toggle detail panel
[ / ]	Scroll detail panel (Detailed view only; toggle with v)
u	Undo last delete or bulk tag operation
p	Ping selected host. ProxyJump hosts inherit bastion status
P	Ping all hosts. ProxyJump hosts inherit bastion status
!	Down-only filter (show unreachable hosts)
S	Cloud provider sync
Space	Select / deselect host
Ctrl+Space	Select / deselect host (alternative)
Ctrl+A	Select all visible / deselect all
r	Run snippet on host(s)
R	Run snippet on all visible
F	Remote file explorer (scp)
C	Per-host container overlay for the selected host (Docker / Podman). For every container across every host, use the dedicated Containers tab via Tab
T	Manage host tunnels
I	Import from known_hosts
X	Purge stale hosts
V	Sign Vault SSH certificates for all signable hosts. Always available. Press V again during a run to cancel. When no role is configured shows a hint to set one in the host form
K	SSH key list overlay (legacy read-only view). For the multi-action surface use the Keys tab via Tab
m	Theme picker
n	What's new overlay. Shows recent changelog sections. Also reachable via Jump
:	Jump. Universal fuzzy search across hosts, tunnels, containers, snippets and actions. Type to filter, Enter to open
?	Help
q	Quit

Search

Key	Action
Type	Filter hosts
Enter	Connect to selected
Ctrl+E	Edit selected host
Ctrl+P	Ping selected host (ProxyJump hosts inherit bastion status)
Esc	Cancel search
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous result
Ctrl+Space	Multi-select toggle
Ctrl+A	Select all matching / deselect all

Forms

Forms use progressive disclosure. Required fields are shown first. Press Tab or Down from the last required field to expand and reveal optional fields.

Key	Action
Tab / Down	Next field (expands form if on last required field)
Shift+Tab / Up	Previous field
Enter	Always saves, regardless of which field is focused
Space (on toggle field)	Flip the boolean (Verify TLS, Auto Sync, Tunnel Type)
Space (on empty picker field)	Open the picker (Identity File, ProxyJump, Password Source, Vault SSH Role, Regions)
Space (on populated picker field)	Insert a literal space — supports paths like /home/me/My Keys/id_rsa and custom commands like my-script %h
Ctrl+D	Set global default (in password picker)
Esc	Cancel (asks to discard if changed)

Picker fields: when the field is empty, Space opens the picker overlay. Once you start typing the picker becomes unreachable until you backspace the field clean. This preserves free-text editing while keeping the picker discoverable.

Discard prompt: pressing Esc on a dirty form surfaces a confirm dialog that follows the standard y/n/Esc contract (see Keybindings#Confirmation-dialogs). Y confirms discard, n / N / Esc returns to the form.

Confirmation dialogs

All confirmations follow the same contract:

Key	Action
y / Y	Confirm
n / N / Esc	Cancel
any other key	Ignored (by design — prevents stray keystrokes from cancelling)

Footer labels use action verbs for destructive operations (y delete | Esc keep, y sign | Esc skip, y purge | Esc keep) so the choice is explicit.

Tunnels Page

Reachable from the Host List with Tab (or Shift+Tab). Lists every tunnel directive from your SSH config across all hosts. Active tunnels show live throughput, channel events and the client processes using them in the detail panel on the right.

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
Enter	Start / stop tunnel
a	Add tunnel (opens host picker first)
e	Edit selected tunnel
d	Delete selected tunnel
s	Cycle sort (most recent / alphabetical)
/	Search by alias or forward
n	What's new overlay
:	Jump
?	Help
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle to next / previous top tab (same cycle as the Host List)
Esc	Clear search. Cancels only, never quits. First idle press surfaces a one-shot toast pointing to q (flag shared with the Host List, shows at most once per session)
q	Quit

Tunnel Host Picker

Reachable from the Tunnels page with a when adding a tunnel. Filters the editable hosts (excluding hosts from included files) as you type. Letter keys append to the query; only ↑ / ↓ navigate the list.

Key	Action
Type	Filter hosts by alias or hostname
↑ / ↓	Navigate filtered list
Enter	Pick host and open tunnel form
Backspace	Pop one query character (closes picker when query is empty)
Esc	Cancel and return to Tunnels page

Tunnel List (per host)

Reachable from the Host List with T. Manages tunnel directives for the selected host only.

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate
Enter	Start / stop tunnel
a	Add tunnel
e	Edit tunnel
d	Delete tunnel
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
?	Help
q / Esc	Back

Provider List

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate
Enter	Edit on a single config; expand/collapse on a multi-config provider
Space	Toggle expand/collapse on a multi-config provider
a	Add another config of the selected provider (prompts for labels when multi-config)
s	Sync the selected config (or all configs of the provider when on a header)
d	Remove the selected config (on a multi-config provider header, expand the group first to pick a specific config)
X	Purge stale hosts
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
q / Esc	Back (cancels syncs)

Snippet Picker

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate
Enter	Run snippet (captured output)
!	Run snippet (raw terminal)
/	Search snippets
a	Add snippet
e	Edit snippet
d	Delete snippet
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
q / Esc	Back

Snippet Output

Key	Action
j / k	Scroll
g / G	Jump to top / bottom
n / N	Next / previous host output
c	Copy output
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
Ctrl+C	Cancel execution
?	Help
q / Esc	Close

File Explorer

Key	Action
Tab	Switch pane (local / remote)
j / k	Navigate
Enter	Open directory or copy selected file(s)
Backspace	Go up one directory
Ctrl+Space	Select / deselect file
Ctrl+A	Select all / deselect all
.	Toggle hidden files
s	Cycle sort mode
R	Refresh both panes
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
Esc	Close

Containers Tab

Reach the Containers tab from the Host List with Tab (or Shift+Tab from Tunnels). Every Docker or Podman container across every cached host is grouped per host under a divider row that carries the host alias. The detail panel on the right summarises the host (engine version, runtime, sync age and running/exited counts) when the cursor sits on a divider, and the container (image digest, restart policy, user, privileged flag, mounts, network, healthcheck, compose project and a tail of recent logs) when it sits on a container row.

On a container row

Key	Action
Enter	Drop into an interactive shell on the container (docker exec -it)
l	Open the logs viewer (last 200 lines)
K	Restart this container (confirms first)
Ctrl-K	Restart every running member of this compose stack, one by one (confirms first)
S	Stop this container (confirms first)
e	Run a one-off command inside the container (prompt)

On a host divider

Key	Action
K	Restart every running container on this host, in order (confirms first)
S	Stop every running container on this host, in order (confirms first)
r	Refresh this host's listing
Space	Fold / unfold the host group

Tab-wide

Key	Action
j / k / ↑ / ↓	Navigate
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
g / G	Top / bottom
s	Cycle sort (A-Z host / A-Z container)
v	Toggle detail panel
/	Search containers, hosts and images
Esc	Clear search. Cancels only, never quits. First idle press surfaces the shared quit-hint toast
R	Refresh every cached host in parallel (max four at a time)
a	Add a host to the cache from a picker
n	What's new overlay
:	Jump
?	Help
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle top tabs
q	Quit

Logs viewer (l)

Key	Action
j / k / ↑ / ↓	Scroll one line
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
g / G	Top / bottom
/	Open modeless incremental search (smart case: lowercase matches anywhere, uppercase is case-sensitive)
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous match (only while search is active)
r	Refresh (re-fetch last 200 lines)
?	Help
Esc	Close active search, or close the viewer when no search is active
q	Back to the Containers tab

Search is modeless: while it is open, every keystroke is treated as input. Type to refine the query, Tab / Shift+Tab to step through matches, ← / → / Home / End / Backspace / Delete to edit, and Esc to exit search.

Exec prompt (e)

Single-line text input that captures an arbitrary command to run via docker exec -it inside the container under the cursor.

Key	Action
Type	Edit the command
Backspace	Remove one character
Enter	Submit the command and drop into the exec session
Esc	Cancel and return to the Containers tab

Container Host Picker (a from the Containers tab)

Reachable with a. Lists hosts that are not yet in the container cache so the next refresh can include them. Letter keys append to the query; only ↑ / ↓ navigate.

Key	Action
Type	Filter hosts by alias or hostname
↑ / ↓	Navigate filtered list
Enter	Add the highlighted host to the cache and return
Backspace	Pop one query character (closes picker when query is empty)
Esc	Cancel and return to the Containers tab

Per-host overlay (C from the Host List)

The original per-host container overlay is still available with C on the Host List. It opens a single-host modal scoped to the selected host, with the same Docker / Podman runtime detection. For multi-host workflows (refresh all, restart whole stacks, jump between hosts) prefer the Containers tab.

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate containers
s	Start the highlighted container
x	Stop the highlighted container (confirms first)
r	Restart the highlighted container (confirms first)
R	Refresh the listing
?	Help
q / Esc	Close the overlay

Keys Tab

Reachable from the Host List with Tab (cycles Hosts -> Tunnels -> Containers -> Keys). Lists every SSH key found in ~/.ssh/ with strength score, randomart fingerprint, encryption status, agent-loaded status, last-touch and a per-key activity sparkline. A Vault SSH cert TTL strip renders at the top when any host has a Vault SSH role configured. The linked-hosts panel below the hero lists every host that references the highlighted key.

Key	Action
j / k / ↑ / ↓ / → / ←	Navigate keys
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
g / Home	First key
G / End	Last key
Enter / c	Copy the highlighted key's .pub to the clipboard
p	Push the highlighted key to a multi-host picker
V	Sign Vault SSH certificates for all signable hosts (same handler as the Host List)
/	Search keys by name
n	What's new overlay
:	Jump
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle top tabs
?	Help
Esc	Cancel an in-flight push run. With no push running, the first idle press surfaces a one-shot toast pointing to q (flag shared with the Host List, Tunnels and Containers tabs)
q	Quit

Search mode (after /)

Key	Action
Type	Refine the query
Backspace	Remove one character (empty query stays open; Esc is the explicit close)
↑ / ↓ / ← / →	Navigate filtered list
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
Enter	Copy the highlighted match and exit search
Tab / Shift+Tab	Exit search and cycle top tabs
Esc	Close search

Key Push Picker

Reached from the Keys tab by pressing p. Multi-select host picker that lists every host from ~/.ssh/config. Hosts whose vault_ssh role is configured (or whose CertificateFile points into ~/.purple/certs/) render as [-] and are skipped during selection commands so signed-cert hosts never receive a static authorized_keys append.

Key	Action
j / k / ↑ / ↓	Navigate hosts
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
g / Home	First host
G / End	Last host
Space	Toggle the host under the cursor (vault hosts notify and stay unselected)
a / A	Toggle every eligible host on or off (skips vault hosts)
Enter	Confirm selection and open the push confirm dialog. Empty selection notifies and stays
Esc	Cancel and return to the Host List

Push confirm (Enter after the picker)

Key	Action
y / Y	Push the key to every committed host (per-host outcome streams back as a toast)
n / N / Esc	Return to the picker with the selection intact

Theme Picker

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate up / down
Enter	Apply selected theme
q / Esc	Cancel and restore previous theme
?	Help

Tag Picker

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate
Enter	Filter by tag
PgDn / PgUp	Page down / up
?	Help
q / Esc / #	Back

SSH Key List overlay (legacy K)

The Host List's K opens a read-only key list overlay carried over from earlier releases. The multi-action Keys tab is the preferred surface; this overlay stays for muscle memory.

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate keys
Enter	Open the key detail view
?	Help
K / q / Esc	Close the overlay

Bulk Tag Editor

Select hosts with Space or Ctrl+Space, then press t to open the bulk tag editor.

Key	Action
j / k	Navigate tags
Space	Cycle action: [~] leave as-is, [x] add to all, [ ] remove from all
+	Add a new tag
Enter	Apply changes
u	Undo (from host list, after apply)
?	Help
q / Esc	Cancel (asks to discard if changed)