Features

SSH Keys

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SSH Keys

Read when:

  • changing local key storage;
  • debugging SSH auth;
  • changing provider key-pair cleanup.

Crabbox creates a fresh SSH key per lease by default. This avoids sharing a long-lived personal key with every runner and gives the provider layer a resource name it can clean up.

Local key storage is under the Crabbox user config directory, outside the repository:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/crabbox/keys/<lease>/
Linux: ~/.config/crabbox/keys/<lease>/

The CLI sends only the public key to the coordinator. The Worker imports or reuses that public key in the provider:

  • Hetzner SSH key;
  • AWS EC2 key pair.

When a coordinator returns a different final lease ID than the provisional CLI ID, the CLI moves the local key directory to the final ID so later status, ssh, run --id, and stop commands can reuse it.

Provider-side delete paths remove per-lease cloud keys/key pairs when machines are deleted. Explicit CRABBOX_SSH_KEY remains supported, but doctor only validates it when set.

Related docs: