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Configuration

Connecto stores configuration in platform-specific locations.

Config file location

PlatformPath
macOS~/.config/connecto/config.json
Linux~/.config/connecto/config.json
Windows%APPDATA%\connecto\config.json

Find your config path:

connecto config path

Config file format

{
  "subnets": [
    "10.0.2.0/24",
    "192.168.100.0/24"
  ],
  "default_key": "/Users/john/.ssh/id_ed25519"
}

Fields

FieldTypeDescription
subnetsstring[]CIDR ranges to scan automatically
default_keystring?Path to default SSH key for pairing (optional)

SSH Configuration

Connecto modifies ~/.ssh/config when pairing. Each paired host gets an entry:

# Added by Connecto
Host mydesktop
    HostName 192.168.1.55
    User john
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/connecto_mydesktop
    IdentitiesOnly yes

Entry fields

FieldDescription
HostAlias used with ssh command
HostNameIP address or hostname
UserRemote username
IdentityFilePath to private key
IdentitiesOnlyUse only the specified key

SSH Keys

Keys are stored in the SSH directory:

PlatformDirectory
macOS/Linux~/.ssh/
Windows%USERPROFILE%\.ssh\

Key files

For each paired host:

  • ~/.ssh/connecto_<hostname> - Private key
  • ~/.ssh/connecto_<hostname>.pub - Public key

Key type

Connecto generates Ed25519 keys by default:

  • Modern elliptic curve cryptography
  • 256-bit security level
  • Small key size (compact authorized_keys)
  • Fast generation and authentication

Environment variables

VariableDescription
HOMEHome directory (Unix) - used to find ~/.ssh
USERPROFILEHome directory (Windows) - used to find .ssh

Ports

PortProtocolPurpose
5353UDPmDNS discovery
8099TCPPairing protocol

authorized_keys Format

When accepting a pairing, Connecto adds to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys:

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIG... connecto_laptop_2024-01-15

The comment includes:

  • connecto_ prefix for identification
  • Source hostname
  • Date of pairing