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Windows · portable, no install

SSH client, file manager, and code editor — in one app.

No more juggling separate programs for the terminal and the file transfers — one app, one connection, one password.

Download for Windows See what's inside
v0.2.0 · ~74 MB · portable executable, nothing to install
ArDem showing a terminal with build output, a two-pane SFTP file transfer, and a code editor open on a server file
Why

You're already running two programs for one job

A separate program for the shell, another for the files — two connections to the same server, two logins, two windows to keep straight.

Separate SSH tools
2 programs, 2 connections, 2 passwords
→
ArDem
1 app, 1 connection, 1 password
What it is

Three tools, one connection

A Windows desktop app for administering Linux, BSD, or any SSH-reachable machine.

Terminal

Full shell, with tabs and split panes.

Files

Two-pane manager for browsing and transferring files.

Editor

Syntax-highlighted code editing, straight on the server.

How it works

One connection, multiple channels

One handshake, then everything's instant

The SSH protocol allows multiple channels over a single authenticated connection. ArDem uses this fully: the first pane does the key exchange and authentication, and every pane, tab, or file session that follows to the same server costs only a channel. The second terminal opens instantly, not after another handshake. The file panel appears without a new login. The client stays alive as long as at least one channel is still open.

One protocol layer underneath

The file panel, the editor, and the transfer engine all go through a common interface and don't know what's underneath. Today: SFTP, SSH, FTP, FTPS. A new protocol means a module with the same shape, no interface changes.

What's inside

Built for daily server work

Terminal

GPU renderingWebGL — instant scroll even through thousands of lines per second from build logs.
Tabs & split panesUnlimited nested splits, dividers dragged with the mouse.
Synchronized inputType once, the command reaches every pane — tmux without tmux.
Detachable terminalMove it to a second monitor; the session doesn't drop.
Search in historyCtrl+F, with highlighting and a match counter.
Configurable scrollbackUp to 200,000 lines.

Security

Host key verificationThe server's key is pinned on first connect and checked on every one after. If it changes, you get an explicit warning with both fingerprints — and the default button is Cancel, not Continue.
DPAPI-encrypted passwordsTied to your Windows account. No plaintext passwords on disk.
Zero telemetryNo account, no cloud, no update checks. The only packets that leave the app are your SSH sessions.

Files

Recursive folder transferFully planned before a single byte moves — progress is in bytes and honest, the overwrite question is asked once for the whole transfer, and cancel actually stops it.
POSIX permissionschmod and recursive size calculation.
Full keyboard navigationBackspace goes up, Enter goes in, F2 renames, type-ahead jumps to files. Context menus everywhere.
Hover preloadHold the cursor on a folder and its contents load in the background — navigation feels instant even on a server on another continent.
Resizable, collapsible panesColumns adapt to width.

Editor

CodeMirror-based, tabbed windowIts own window, separate from the terminal.
Syntax highlightingC/C++, Lua, Python, SQL, Shell, JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, PHP, YAML, Markdown, INI.
VS Code shortcutsCtrl+D selects next occurrence, Alt+↑↓ moves lines, multi-cursor editing.
Sidebar file treeBrowse the server without leaving the editor.
Saves straight to the serverKeeps file permissions; refuses binary files and anything over 5 MB.

Dashboard & tunnels

Live server statsOne round trip: load relative to real core count, memory, disk, top six processes, uptime, logged-in users. Clean POSIX probing with fallbacks — works on Linux and FreeBSD.
Command librarySave what you type daily, run it with one click, in one pane or all of them at once.
Port forwardingLocal and remote. Example: local tunnel 3306 → 127.0.0.1:3306 puts the server's database in your local HeidiSQL, encrypted over SSH, without opening the port to the internet.

Interface

Command paletteCtrl+Shift+P, fuzzy matching — type "spr" to find "Split pane right".
Server switcherCtrl+P — two letters and you're connected.
Schema-driven settingsSearchable, with fields that appear or disappear based on context.
ThemesArDem, Classic terminal, Dracula, Nord, Solarized — or edit all 18 ANSI colors with live preview.
SSH keys

Reads everything, and adds its own format

OpenSSH keys, .ppk key files (v2 and v3), and ArDem's own .dem container.

.dem is a container, not a new algorithm — inside sits an entirely ordinary ed25519 key, and the server sees no difference. Compared to .ppk, it adds:

  • Readable JSON — open the file and understand what's in it
  • AES-256-GCM — tampering is detected, not just a wrong password
  • scrypt for the passphrase, 32 MB of memory per attempt
  • The fingerprint and authorized_keys line sit outside the encrypted part — you can add the key to a server without unlocking it

Key generation and conversion happen right in the app.

Technical

Electron, isolated properly

Full context isolation, no Node integration in the renderer, a strict Content-Security-Policy. All cryptography comes from Node's crypto module — nothing hand-rolled.

Electron Node.js ssh2 xterm.js CodeMirror basic-ftp
~200 KB
source, 25 files
74 MB
portable .exe
0
install steps

One password. One window. Every server.

Portable Windows executable — download and run, nothing to install.

Download ArDem for Windows