termal.in

Agents · Claude Code

Give Claude Code SSH access — without handing it your keys.

Termalin is an SSH client with a built-in MCP server. Claude Code — or any MCP-capable agent — connects through it and works your servers for real: runs commands, reads and writes files, opens its own sessions or steps into yours. Your keys never touch disk, and you watch every move.

Free tier · 14-day Pro trial · Windows, macOS & Linux

01  /  set up in 3 steps

Point Claude Code at your servers in three steps.

Termalin ships a real MCP server — a bundled termalin-mcp binary that gives an agent SSH and SFTP access to the hosts you choose, authenticated through the app's key agent.

  • 1Pick the hosts. Install Termalin and choose what to expose in Settings → MCP — each host is written with agent-only auth, so no passwords land on disk.
  • 2Register the server with Claude Code — one command:
claude mcp add termalin -- <path>/termalin-mcp

Using Cursor or another MCP client? Point its MCP config at the same binary:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "termalin": { "command": "<path>/termalin-mcp" }
  }
}
  • 3Ask for something real. The agent lists your hosts and gets to work — tail a log, restart a service, check disk, edit a config, deploy.

02  /  its own sessions — or yours

The agent opens its own sessions, or steps into yours.

Most MCP servers wrap an API. Termalin's wraps your servers — the agent works them the way you do, with real sessions, files and tunnels:

  • Its own sessions — the agent opens a session and runs there in the background, a glowing tab you can watch. Included in the Free tier.
  • Or step into yours — on Pro, the agent joins a session you already have open and runs alongside you, the border glowing while it acts. Consent-gated, its own toggle.
  • The whole workflow — one-off commands, persistent SSH sessions it can reuse, SFTP reads and writes, and port forwards: a local tunnel to a service behind the server, or a SOCKS proxy.

03  /  key custody & consent

Keys stay with you. Nothing runs without consent.

The agent never sees a credential. Termalin's key custodian signs on its behalf — unlock once and sessions authenticate with no ssh-add, no key on disk, and no private key handed to the model. Agent access is off by default; letting an agent type into your live sessions is a separate toggle again; and only the hosts you export in Settings → MCP are reachable at all — each with its own access level, full, an allowlist of commands, or blocked.

04  /  oversight

Watch every move — live, recorded, and on the log.

The watch grid mirrors every open session side by side as a live tile, and sessions an agent is driving glow — so you see it work in real time, across a fleet if need be.

  • Marked in the recording — each agent command gets its own green marker on the replay timeline, so "what did the agent do?" has a scrubbable answer. More on recording →
  • Written to the audit log — every sign-in, host connection, file operation and agent command, with where (IP · country) and which device.

05  /  no app running

A hosted MCP endpoint for agents that live in the cloud.

Agent running somewhere your desktop isn't? Create an API key in the web cabinet and point it at https://termal.in/api/v1/mcp with Authorization: Bearer tk_live_…. It runs commands and reads or writes files on your tunnelled servers — the ones running the one-line install agent — even when nothing is open on your machine, authenticating with a short-lived certificate so no key is handed out. Keys can be scoped to specific servers, set to a command policy (full, an allowlist, or read-only), given an expiry (30 / 90 / 365 days) and revoked any time; hosted runs are rate-limited and time-boxed. The two paths reach different hosts — the local server works the inventory you export from the app, the hosted endpoint your enrolled tunnel servers. New to the idea? Start with SSH for AI agents, or go straight to the full MCP reference.

Questions

How do I connect Claude Code to my servers?

Install Termalin, pick which hosts to expose in Settings → MCP, then register the bundled server with claude mcp add termalin -- <path>/termalin-mcp. Claude Code can then list those hosts, run commands, and read or write files over SSH and SFTP. Full reference →

Does Claude Code get my SSH keys?

No. The agent authenticates through Termalin's key custodian — you unlock once and Termalin signs on the agent's behalf, so no private key is written to disk or handed to the model. The hosted endpoint goes further and uses a short-lived certificate instead of a key. More on security →

Can I watch what the agent is doing?

Yes — every open session is mirrored live in the watch grid, sessions an agent is driving glow, each agent command is marked in the session recording, and everything is written to the audit log.

Does this only work with Claude Code?

No — Termalin speaks the standard Model Context Protocol, so any MCP-capable agent can use it. Point your client's MCP config at the termalin-mcp binary, or use the hosted HTTP endpoint with an API key.

Is the MCP server free?

Yes — the Free tier is the whole desktop app, local-only with no host limits, and includes the MCP agent opening its own sessions. Pro ($8/mo billed yearly, $10 monthly) adds the encrypted cloud and lets the agent step into your live session. Every new account starts with a 14-day Pro trial — no card required. See pricing →

Give your agent a real terminal — free.

The Free tier is the full desktop app — no host limits, MCP server included. New accounts get Pro free for 14 days.

Free tier · 14-day Pro trial · MCP reference · SSH for AI agents