Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/jossephus/chuchu/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Chuchu connects to SSH servers using Transport.SSH — a native libssh2 path that handles authentication, host key verification, and shell setup before handing the session to the libghostty terminal renderer. You provide the host, port, username, and an authentication method when adding a server profile; Chuchu takes care of the rest each time you tap to connect.
Add a server
Open the server list
Launch Chuchu and tap + on the main server list screen.
Enter connection details
Fill in the fields:
- Name — a label shown in the server list (e.g.,
home-server)
- Host — the IP address or hostname of your server (e.g.,
192.168.1.10 or myserver.example.com)
- Port — the SSH port your server listens on
Port 22 is the default. You only need to change this if your server uses a non-standard port.
- Username — your login name on the remote server
Set the auth method
Set Authentication to Password, then enter your password in the Password field.
Save and connect
Tap Save. Your server appears in the list — tap it to connect.
Open the server list
Launch Chuchu and tap + on the main server list screen.
Enter connection details
Fill in Name, Host, Port, and Username as you would for password auth.
Set the auth method
Set Authentication to Key (for a key without a passphrase) or Key with passphrase (for an encrypted private key).Select the key you want to use from the SSH Key picker. If you haven’t added a key yet, see SSH key management to generate or import one. Enter the passphrase (if required)
If you chose Key with passphrase, enter the passphrase that protects your private key. This is the passphrase you set when the key was created — not your server account password.
Save and connect
Tap Save, then tap the server to connect.
Host key verification
The first time you connect to a server, Chuchu shows you the server’s host key fingerprint in SHA-256 format (for example, SHA256:AbCd1234...). You should verify this matches the fingerprint on your server before accepting.
- Accept — Chuchu stores the key in
HostKeyStore, keyed by host, port, and algorithm. Future connections to the same host and port succeed silently as long as the key hasn’t changed.
- Reject — the connection is closed and nothing is saved.
If the server’s key changes after you’ve already accepted it — for example after a server rebuild — Chuchu shows both the stored fingerprint and the new one so you can spot the mismatch. This trust-on-first-use (TOFU) model mirrors the behavior of standard OpenSSH clients.
Auto-reconnect
If a connection drops unexpectedly, Chuchu automatically attempts to reconnect using exponential backoff: the first retry waits 1 second, doubling on each subsequent attempt up to a maximum delay of 60 seconds. After 8 failed attempts, Chuchu stops retrying and shows an error. Tapping the server again starts a fresh connection.