Pixieterm

A secure, cross-platform SSH client built with Wails (Go + React). It manages remote hosts and SSH keys with client-side AES-256-GCM encryption, ensuring the server never receives plaintext credentials.

Technical Architecture & Features

• Full SSH Terminal: Powered by xterm.js with PTY support, scrollback replay, and dynamic window resizing.
• OS-Native Secure Storage: Integrates with macOS Keychain and Windows Credential Manager via go-keyring.
• Key Derivation: Uses PBKDF2 key derivation from a master password (100,000 iterations) to secure local data.
• Async Event-Driven Prompts: Asynchronous communication between Go (backend) and React (frontend) for master password entry and host key verification.
• Authentication: Auto-refreshing JWT authentication featuring transparent 401 retry handling.
• Host Verification: Strict host key verification with interactive fingerprint display (mimicking standard known_hosts behavior).

Tech Stack

Backend

• Language: Go
• Framework: Wails v2

Frontend

• Framework/Language: React 19, TypeScript
• State Management & Data Fetching: Redux Toolkit, TanStack Query
• UI & Styling: Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui
• Terminal Emulator: xterm.js