whatisgithub

What is shuttle?

fitztrev/shuttle — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

★ 4,579Objective-CAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

In one sentence

Shuttle is a small macOS menu-bar app inspired by SSHMenu that gives developers and sysadmins one-click shortcuts to connect to remote servers over SSH. Install by dragging to Applications, no package manager needed.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((shuttle))
    What it does
      Menu-bar SSH shortcuts
      Quick server access
      macOS menu bar app
    Inspired By
      SSHMenu for Linux
    Planned Features
      Cloud server discovery
      AWS and DigitalOcean support
      Keyboard shortcuts
    Tech Stack
      Objective-C
      macOS
    Audience
      Developers
      Sysadmins
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Add SSH shortcuts to your macOS menu bar so you can connect to any remote server with a single click.

USE CASE 2

Organize connections to multiple staging, production, or cloud servers in one tidy menu without remembering hostnames.

USE CASE 3

Replace a growing list of terminal aliases for SSH connections with a visual menu-bar picker on macOS.

What is it built with?

Objective-CmacOS

How does it compare?

fitztrev/shuttlesvgkit/svgkitarashpayan/appirater
Stars4,5794,5794,596
LanguageObjective-CObjective-CObjective-C
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity1/52/52/5
Audienceops devopsdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

macOS only, full configuration details are in the project wiki rather than the README.

License details are in the repository, check the license file before commercial or redistributed use.

So what is it?

Shuttle is a macOS application that lives in your menu bar and gives you quick access to a list of shortcuts. The README is brief and does not explain in detail what kind of shortcuts it manages, but the project was inspired by SSHMenu, a Linux tool for connecting quickly to remote servers over SSH, so it is primarily aimed at developers and system administrators who regularly connect to multiple machines. Installation is simple: download the app and copy it to your Applications folder. There is no package manager required. For configuration and usage details, the README points to a separate wiki hosted on GitHub. The roadmap listed in the README includes planned features such as automatic discovery of cloud servers from services like AWS or DigitalOcean, a graphical preferences panel, update notifications, and keyboard shortcuts for opening the menu. These were listed as future plans, the README does not say which of these have shipped. Shuttle is written in Objective-C, the native Apple programming language used for macOS apps before Swift became common. The project has a number of outside contributors listed. It is a small, focused utility with a modest README, so the full picture of its capabilities is in the wiki rather than the main documentation file.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to configure Shuttle on macOS to add SSH shortcuts for three different servers with custom display names.
Prompt 2
Help me write a Shuttle JSON config file that groups my AWS, DigitalOcean, and local VMs into separate submenus.
Prompt 3
I want to add keyboard shortcuts to open the Shuttle menu quickly, show me what settings to look for in the Shuttle wiki or config file.
Prompt 4
Explain how Shuttle stores its server list and whether I can sync that config file across multiple Macs using iCloud or Dropbox.
Prompt 5
Help me set up Shuttle to connect to a server that requires both a specific SSH key and a jump host.

Frequently asked questions

What is shuttle?

Shuttle is a small macOS menu-bar app inspired by SSHMenu that gives developers and sysadmins one-click shortcuts to connect to remote servers over SSH. Install by dragging to Applications, no package manager needed.

What language is shuttle written in?

Mainly Objective-C. The stack also includes Objective-C, macOS.

What license does shuttle use?

License details are in the repository, check the license file before commercial or redistributed use.

How hard is shuttle to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is shuttle for?

Mainly ops devops.

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