# Cookbook
> Copy executable recipes that solve real multi-host SSH agent problems.
- Read this document in [Portuguese (pt-BR)](COOKBOOK.pt-BR.md).
- Product line: **0.3.6**.
## Latency Note
- Expect sub-second local CRUD and cold SSH connect dominated by network RTT.
- Prefer one-shot commands over tunnels when a single remote action is enough.
## Default Values Reference
- Port default: 22
- Timeout default: 60000 ms
- max_command_chars default: 1000
- max_output_chars default: 100000
- Telemetry: disabled
- Secrets at rest: **encrypted by default** (auto `secrets.key`)
- Install: `cargo install ssh-cli --locked`
## How To Initialize Master-Key Encryption
```bash
ssh-cli secrets init
ssh-cli secrets status --json
# never prints the key material
```
## How To Register a Password Host (stdin, no argv leak)
```bash
--host prod.example.com \
--user deploy \
--password-stdin
```
## How To Register a Key-Only Host
```bash
ssh-cli vps add --name edge --host edge.example.com --user ubuntu --key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
```
## How To Run a Remote Command With JSON
```bash
ssh-cli exec prod "hostname && uptime" --json
```
## How To Run Safe sudo With Compound Commands
```bash
# packing uses secure `sh -c`; metacharacters stay inside the remote shell
ssh-cli sudo-exec prod "apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl" --description "bootstrap curl"
```
## How To Elevate With su When sudo Is Unavailable
```bash
```
## How To Reject Oversized Agent Commands Early
```bash
ssh-cli vps edit prod --max-command-chars 1000
# long command is rejected before SSH when over limit (max_command_chars)
```
## How To Bound Output for LLM Context
```bash
ssh-cli vps edit prod --max-output-chars 20000
ssh-cli exec prod "dmesg" --json
```
## How To Probe Connectivity After Add
```bash
ssh-cli vps add --name lab --host lab.example.com --user lab --key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 --check
ssh-cli health-check lab --json
```
## How To Diagnose XDG Paths and Secrets Mode
```bash
ssh-cli vps doctor --json
# expect secrets_at_rest, secrets_key_source, secrets_key_file, telemetry=false
ssh-cli vps path
ssh-cli secrets status --json
```
## How To Re-encrypt a Legacy Plaintext Inventory
```bash
ssh-cli secrets init
ssh-cli secrets reencrypt
# config.toml passwords become sshcli-enc:v1:… blobs
```
## How To Export and Import Inventory Without Secrets
```bash
ssh-cli vps export -o /tmp/hosts.redacted.toml
ssh-cli --config-dir /tmp/ssh-cli-copy vps import --file /tmp/hosts.redacted.toml
```
## How To Open a Bounded Tunnel
```bash
ssh-cli tunnel prod 18080 127.0.0.1 8080 --timeout-ms 30000
```
## How To Transfer a Release Artifact
```bash
ssh-cli scp upload prod ./dist/app.tar.gz /opt/app/app.tar.gz
## How To Handle Host Key Rotation Safely (TOFU)
```bash
# first failure reports mismatch; only after human review:
ssh-cli --replace-host-key exec prod "true"
```
## How To Disable Elevation for Untrusted Automation
```bash
ssh-cli --disable-sudo exec prod "id"
# sudo-exec/su-exec remain blocked for this invocation
```
## How To Run Real SSH E2E Without Logging Secrets
```bash
# uses local env or --from-grok-config; prints only PASS/FAIL
bash scripts/e2e_real_ssh.sh --from-grok-config
```