Security

Secrets stay in the system's keychain

Passwords, private keys, passphrases and API keys live in the operating system's own store: Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, the Secret Service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet) on Linux. Where Linux has no Secret Service, they go to one sealed file (ChaCha20-Poly1305, its key derived with Argon2id from a passphrase asked once per launch). Never a database, a settings file or a log.

Sync (Pro) carries them only inside a copy sealed on the computer with a passphrase Shellden never receives.

Connections go straight to the server

SSH, SFTP, remote desktops, databases and clusters connect from the computer to the server. Shellden's servers are never in that path. Cloud and AI requests go straight to the provider, with the credentials set in the app.

SSH host keys are checked on first contact and a changed key is refused. A remote desktop's certificate is pinned on first use. A changed one blocks the connection with a warning.

The assistant asks first

The assistant runs on the AI chosen in the app: Remote AI sends each request straight to its provider. With Local AI nothing leaves the computer.

In Auto, only read-only commands run by themselves. Anything that writes, restarts or deletes waits for a click. The rules live in one plain file, ~/.shellden/permissions.json.

Database consoles keep safe mode on: reads run in a read-only session, and writes and drops wait for a click.

What reaches Shellden

No usage data. The update check sends the app's version, its platform and an anonymous computer identifier.

With an account: the email, the sign-ins and the computers signed in. The privacy page lists every item, how long it stays and who processes it (Stripe for payments, Cloudflare for network protection and the sealed sync copies, among others).

Updates and packages

The app installs only an update signed with Shellden's release key. The Linux repositories and their packages are signed with Shellden's packages key, whose fingerprint is on the download page.

Never locked out

The license never blocks the app: offline, Pro keeps working for 14 days, then falls back to Free. The app, the terminal and saved hosts always open.

Reporting a vulnerability

Reports go to [email protected], also listed in /.well-known/security.txt.