Connection fields¶

Every field the new-connection and edit-connection dialogs can show, per connection type. Which rows appear is decided by the type you pick at the top of the dialog, so a field vanishing is the form adapting rather than something going wrong.

Types, default ports and surfaces¶

Type	Default port	Opens as
SSH	22	In-app terminal
Telnet	23	In-app terminal
RSH	514, no port field	In-app terminal
Mosh	22	External application
RDP	3389	In-app tab on Windows, external client on macOS and Linux
VNC	5900	External viewer for a direct host, embedded desktop tab for a hypervisor target
FTP	21	File browser
AWS S3	none	File browser
Serial	none	In-app terminal
Local	none	In-app terminal

There is no SFTP connection type. SFTP is reached through the file explorer of an SSH session, not as a connection of its own. FTP and AWS S3 are the two file-transfer connection types.

A program OpsPilot starts in its own window — Mosh, a viewer for a direct VNC host, RDP on macOS and Linux — gets an entry in the tab bar with a Close button while it runs. During the free trial and without a subscription it counts toward the 10 sessions open at once, like any tab. See Free trial and limits.

For what each surface looks like in use, see Remote desktop, Hypervisor consoles and Network requirements.

Field matrix¶

Type	Host	Port	Username	Authentication
SSH	Yes	Yes	Yes	Password or SSH key (toggle)
Telnet	Yes	Yes	No	None — prompts on the device
RSH	Yes	No	Yes	None
Mosh	Yes	Yes	Yes	Password or SSH key (toggle)
RDP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Password only
VNC	Yes	Yes	No	Password only
FTP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Password only
AWS S3	No	No	No	Own credential panel
Serial	No	No	No	None
Local	No	No	No	None

A few properties of the rows themselves:

Host. RSH gets a host field and no port field, even though its default port is 514.
Port. Where the field is shown, the default port is the field's placeholder rather than a pre-filled value, so any of them can be overridden per connection.
Authentication. Choosing ssh key on the password / ssh key toggle swaps the password field for private key file (with a browse button) and passphrase (if any).
No credentials. Telnet and RSH still authenticate — on the device, interactively, after the session opens.

AWS S3 collects no host, port, username or password. Its credentials live in their own panel instead, because S3-shaped credentials have nothing in common with a host / port / username login.

Fields common to every connection¶

Field	Control	Notes
connection name	Text, required	The label used in the sidebar and tabs
environment	Select	Colour-coded tag. Hidden for AWS S3, Serial and Local
group	Select	Defaults to — no group —. Carries policy
command safety profile	Select	— inherit from group — by default. SSH and Local
data handling profile	Select	— inherit from group — by default. SSH and Local
Enable AI	Toggle	Sub-caption "AI panel for this host". Shown for SSH, Serial and Local
Save connection	Toggle	Captioned "Credentials encrypted, never plaintext"
Let AI Assistant open this session	Toggle	Off by default. Also needs the master switch

Only two environments seed on first run, production and staging, and those are the two options the dialog offers. Add your own on Settings → Environments.

The dialog has no Save button. Save connection is a toggle, and the dialog is committed with the connect button. During the free trial and without a subscription, a connection saved when you already have 10 is kept but locked: the dialog says Connection saved, but locked. See Free trial and limits.

AI works in SSH and Local Console tabs; the model is told the operating system and shell of a Local Console tab. The two profile selects appear for those two types, so a local shell — where proposed commands run on your own workstation — can have a stricter profile than your servers.

Enable AI is shown for SSH, Serial and Local connections. External launchers, file browsers, Telnet and RSH do not show it. In the side list, the AI badge appears for SSH and Local connections.

Let AI Assistant open this session is a second, stricter permission than Enable AI. It is off for every new connection, and it only takes effect when Allow opening/reconnecting sessions is also on in Settings → AI Assistants → Session access. See MCP tools.

Type-specific panels¶

RDP¶

Field	Control	Notes
domain (optional)	Text	Windows domain, e.g. `CORP`
Force fresh session before connecting	Checkbox, off by default	Windows only. Logs off any existing disconnected session for this user on the host first, over WinRM

Force fresh session destroys unsaved work

The dialog says so itself: it destroys any unsaved work left open in that session. It also requires WinRM to be enabled and reachable on the target.

VNC — target and hypervisor panels¶

VNC adds a target select directly under the connection name, because it changes what the host, port, username and auth fields above it mean:

Target	What the shared fields mean	Panel below
Direct VNC host	The VNC endpoint itself	None
Hypervisor VM — KVM	The KVM host's own SSH login	List VMs, then a searchable VM list
Hypervisor VM — OpenStack	Not used	A separate Keystone auth panel

The KVM panel says this in the form itself: host, port, username and auth above are the KVM host's own SSH login, used to list and reach its VMs, not entered separately.

The OpenStack panel is a fully separate field set:

Field	Control
auth URL (keystone)	Text, e.g. `https://cloud.example.com:5000/v3`
Auth toggle	password or app credential
username, user domain (name or ID)	Text — password auth
password	Password — password auth
project, project domain (name or ID)	Text — password auth
application credential ID / secret	Text / password — app credential auth
region (optional)	Text, e.g. `RegionOne`
Skip TLS certificate verification	Checkbox, off by default
List VMs	Button, then a searchable VM list

See Hypervisor consoles.

FTP¶

Field	Control	Notes
initial path	Text, defaults to `/`	Where the browser opens
Secure (FTPS — explicit TLS)	Checkbox, off by default
Skip TLS certificate verification	Checkbox	Only shown once Secure is checked

Plain FTP is unencrypted

Without Secure, credentials and file contents travel in clear text. Prefer SFTP over an SSH connection.

S3¶

Field	Control	Notes
region	Text, e.g. `us-east-1`
bucket	Text
access key ID	Text
secret access key	Password
custom endpoint (optional)	Text, e.g. `https://s3.example.com`	For MinIO, Wasabi, Backblaze and other S3-compatible stores

The secret access key takes the same encrypted credential path as any other saved password. There is no initial-path field for S3 — an S3 connection always opens at the bucket root.

Serial¶

Field	Control	Notes
serial port	Select, with a refresh button	Populated from the ports on this machine
baud rate	Select	9600 to 921600. Defaults to 115200

Local¶

Field	Control	Notes
shell	Select	Defaults to use default (Settings → Terminal). The other options are filled in per platform
command safety profile, data handling profile	Select	As for SSH
Enable AI	Toggle	The built-in Local connection starts with AI off

The built-in Local connection is not one of the first 10 saved connections that the free trial and use without a subscription allow, as long as it opens a local shell. Changed into another type of connection, it counts like any other.