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SSH tunneling

Toggle Use SSH in the connection form to open the SSH section.

SSH section of the connection form

  • Password — straightforward; stored in the keychain.
  • Key file — point at a .pem / .id_rsa. Passphrase-protected keys prompt on connect; passphrase stored in the keychain.
  • Agent — uses SSH_AUTH_SOCK on Unix or Pageant on Windows. Best option when you already have keys loaded.

First connect to an unknown host shows a TOFU prompt with the fingerprint and algorithm. Trust this host writes it to ~/.ssh/known_hosts. Subsequent connects verify silently; a key mismatch shows a red warning and refuses to connect.

Strict host key checking is a per-connection toggle in the SSH section.

When you connect, we:

  1. Open the SSH connection.
  2. Bind 127.0.0.1:0 (random port) locally and start a direct-tcpip forwarder to db_host:db_port.
  3. Tell the Postgres driver to connect to 127.0.0.1:<local_port>.

Dropping the connection tears down the pool first, then the tunnel.