Create a connection

New connection

Click New connection in the top right and pick a protocol.

Protocol	Default port	Use
SSH	22	Terminal. File transfer (SFTP) reuses the same connection
SFTP	22	File transfer only, no terminal
FTPS	990 (implicit TLS). Other ports (usually 21) use AUTH TLS	FTP encrypted with TLS
FTP	21	Unencrypted FTP. Avoid it if you can
RDP	3389	Windows remote desktop

Enter a name, host, port and user name, then choose how to authenticate. Groups, tags, favorites and notes help you organize the list.

SSH authentication

• Private key: Point to a key file. If it has a passphrase, Rivet asks when connecting.
• Password: Rivet asks when connecting.
• ssh-agent: Uses keys from a running agent. On macOS this is SSH_AUTH_SOCK; on Windows, the OpenSSH Authentication Agent service (ssh-agent).

Saving passwords

When Rivet asks for a password or passphrase, check Save to the system keychain to save it, only if sign-in succeeds. It is stored only in the macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager, never in Rivet's own files. Remove it with Delete saved secret in the connection editor.

Connect

Click a connection in the sidebar. ⌘K (Windows Ctrl+K) jumps to the search box.

For an SSH server you have not connected to before, Rivet shows the host key fingerprint. Click Trust and connect only if it matches the fingerprint from the server administrator or from the server itself. See Security.

Import ~/.ssh/config

Import ~/.ssh/config in the sidebar brings in the hosts from your OpenSSH config at once.

• Reads Host, HostName, Port, User, IdentityFile, ProxyJump, Include and wildcard defaults (Host *). Match blocks are skipped because their conditions cannot be evaluated.
• Hosts with a key file use private key authentication; others use ssh-agent.
• ProxyJump sets the connection with the same name as the jump host.
• Passwords and passphrases are not imported.
• Hosts that already exist with the same host, port and user are not selected by default.

Jump hosts

Pick another SSH connection under Jump host in the connection editor to connect through it (OpenSSH ProxyJump).

• A jump host can have its own jump host, up to 4 hops.
• Each hop's host key is verified separately.
• If a jump host is deleted, connections that used it switch to a direct connection.
• RDP connections can also use a jump host to connect through an SSH tunnel. See Remote desktop.

Delete several connections

Click Select to delete in the sidebar, pick connections and delete them. Their saved passwords are removed as well, and open sessions are disconnected and their tabs closed.