# SSH Utility - Smart SSH Connection Manager

A transparent SSH wrapper that automatically chooses between local and remote connections based on network connectivity.

## What it does

This utility acts as a drop-in replacement for the `ssh` command that intelligently routes connections:

- When you type `ssh desktop`, it automatically checks if your local network is available
- If local: connects via `desktop-local` (faster local connection)
- If remote: connects via `desktop` (Tailscale/VPN connection)
- All other SSH usage passes through unchanged (`ssh --help`, `ssh user@host`, etc.)

## Installation

The utility is automatically compiled and installed to `~/.local/bin/ssh` via Ansible when you run your dotfiles setup.

## Configuration

1. Copy the example config:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p ~/.config/ssh-util
   cp ~/.dotfiles/config/ssh-util/config.yaml ~/.config/ssh-util/
   ```

2. Edit `~/.config/ssh-util/config.yaml` to match your setup:
   ```yaml
   smart_aliases:
     desktop:
       primary: "desktop-local"     # SSH config entry for local connection
       fallback: "desktop"          # SSH config entry for remote connection
       check_host: "192.168.86.22"  # IP to ping for connectivity test
       timeout: "2s"                # Ping timeout
   ```

3. Ensure your `~/.ssh/config` contains the referenced host entries:
   ```
   Host desktop
       HostName mennos-cachyos-desktop
       User menno
       Port 400
       ForwardAgent yes
       AddKeysToAgent yes

   Host desktop-local
       HostName 192.168.86.22
       User menno
       Port 400
       ForwardAgent yes
       AddKeysToAgent yes
   ```

## Usage

Once configured, simply use SSH as normal:

```bash
# Smart connection - automatically chooses local vs remote
ssh desktop

# All other SSH usage works exactly the same
ssh --help
ssh --version
ssh user@example.com
ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 server
```

## How it works

1. When you run `ssh <alias>`, the utility checks if `<alias>` is defined in the smart_aliases config
2. If yes, it pings the `check_host` IP address
3. If ping succeeds: executes `ssh <primary>` instead
4. If ping fails: executes `ssh <fallback>` instead
5. If not a smart alias: passes through to real SSH unchanged

## Troubleshooting

### SSH utility not found
Make sure `~/.local/bin` is in your PATH:
```bash
echo $PATH | grep -o ~/.local/bin
```

### Config not loading
Check the config file exists and has correct syntax:
```bash
ls -la ~/.config/ssh-util/config.yaml
cat ~/.config/ssh-util/config.yaml
```

### Connectivity test failing
Test manually:
```bash
ping -c 1 -W 2 192.168.86.22
```

### Falls back to real SSH
If there are any errors loading config or parsing, the utility safely falls back to executing the real SSH binary at `/usr/bin/ssh`.

## Adding more aliases

To add more smart aliases, just extend the config:

```yaml
smart_aliases:
  desktop:
    primary: "desktop-local"
    fallback: "desktop"
    check_host: "192.168.86.22"
    timeout: "2s"

  server:
    primary: "server-local"
    fallback: "server-remote"
    check_host: "192.168.1.100"
    timeout: "1s"
```

Remember to create the corresponding entries in your `~/.ssh/config`.