ssmtui

A terminal UI for AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store built with ratatui and the AWS Rust SDK.

ssmtui lets you browse, filter, view, edit, create, refresh, and copy parameter values directly from your terminal.

Installation

• cargo install ssmtui or cargo install ssmtui --locked

Screenshots

Features

• Browse Parameter Store names in a left panel
• Lazy-load values in the right panel (background worker pool)
• Refresh all parameters and values with threaded fetching
• Search/filter parameters by name with /
• Ripgrep-style search across parameter values with g (auto-loads all values first)
• Edit selected value in external editor ($EDITOR -> vim -> vi)
• Create new parameter entries from popup (a)
• Copy/yank selected value to local clipboard (y)
• Shows selected parameter metadata in header

Requirements

• Rust (stable)
• AWS credentials configured via standard AWS chain
• Network access to AWS SSM APIs
• Optional for clipboard:
  • macOS: pbcopy
  • Linux: wl-copy or xclip or xsel

AWS Configuration

This app uses the standard AWS SDK config chain.

Useful env vars:

• AWS_PROFILE
• AWS_REGION or AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

If region is not set, SDK default chain behavior is used.

Run

cargo run

Keybindings

Main screen

• / search/filter mode (matches parameter names)
• g grep mode (matches parameter values, like ripgrep over the store's content; triggers a full refresh first if any values aren't loaded yet)
• j / Down move selection down
• k / Up move selection up
• R refresh all parameters and values
• y yank/copy selected value to clipboard
• e edit selected value in external editor and update SSM on change
• a open create-parameter popup
• Ctrl+C quit

Create popup

• Tab switch field (name/value)
• Ctrl+S save/create
• Esc cancel

Value field (vim-like)

Insert mode:

• type to insert
• Enter newline
• Esc to Normal mode

Normal mode:

• h/j/k/l move cursor
• 0 / $ line start/end
• i insert before cursor
• a insert after cursor
• x delete char
• Enter submit create
• Esc cancel popup

Project Structure

• src/main.rs runtime loop + key handling
• src/app.rs app state and core behaviors
• src/aws_ssm.rs AWS SSM integration
• src/ui.rs all ratatui rendering
• src/editor_tools.rs external editor + clipboard helpers
• src/text_edit.rs cursor/text editing helpers
• src/models.rs shared data types

Notes

• On startup failure to load from SSM, the app now starts with an empty list (no demo defaults).
• SecureString values are fetched with decryption first, with non-decryption fallback.