Execute a command on a remote host via SSH. The command is interpreted by the remote login shell — pipes, redirects, globs, and other shell metacharacters work as expected. Returns stdout, stderr, and exit code.

Read a file from a remote host via SFTP.

Write content to a file on a remote host via SFTP. Creates or overwrites the file.

Upload a local file to a remote host via SFTP.

Download a file from a remote host to local filesystem via SFTP.

List files in a directory on a remote host via SFTP.

Diagnose SSH connectivity issues. Checks ssh-agent status, loaded keys, known_hosts, SSH config, and attempts a test connection. Use this BEFORE attempting SSH operations if you suspect connectivity issues, or AFTER a failed SSH operation to understand why it failed.

Ensure ssh-agent is running and reachable. Starts a new agent if needed and sets environment variables so subsequent SSH operations work. Use this FIRST when SSH operations fail with agent-related errors.

List all SSH private keys in ~/.ssh/ with their type, fingerprint, and whether they are loaded in the agent. Use this to find which keys are available and which ones need to be loaded.

Load an SSH private key into the running agent. Ensures the agent is running first. Use this after ssh_key_list shows a key that is not loaded.

Resolve the effective SSH configuration for a host. Shows hostname, user, port, identity files, proxy settings, and all other options from ~/.ssh/config. Use this to understand how SSH will connect to a host.

Remove a stale host key from known_hosts and re-scan the host to add the current key. Use this when you see 'Host key verification failed' errors, typically after a server has been recreated or reprovisioned.

Quick connectivity test to an SSH host. Reports success/failure with timing and actionable error details. Lighter and faster than ssh_diagnose — use this for a quick check before running operations.

Test Git-over-SSH authentication to a hosting provider (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, etc). Verifies your SSH key is registered and working. Use this when git clone/pull/push fails with SSH errors.

Execute a command on multiple remote hosts in parallel. Returns results per host. Use this instead of calling ssh_exec multiple times — it's faster and shows results side by side.

Search for files on a remote host. Wraps the find command with structured parameters so you don't have to construct find syntax manually.

Read the last N lines of a file on a remote host, optionally filtering by a grep pattern. Use this for reading log files instead of ssh_exec with manual tail/grep commands.

Check the status of a systemd service on a remote host. Returns whether it's active, its PID, uptime, and description. Use this instead of ssh_exec with systemctl.