SSH with Bitwarden

I have switched to SSH from HTTPS for GitHub about two years ago. And that introduced me to the term Secure Shell (SSH). Although, even now I don’t fully understand it but I’ve got a little gist of it.

SSH encrypts your data before transferring it to the server with the generated keys and when the server transfers you the data only the private key is able to decrypt the data.

Manage SSH with Bitwarden

Generate new SSH key:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "email@example.com" -f "~/.ssh/new-ssh"

The command generates two files
- ~/.ssh/new-ssh: Contains the PRIVATE KEY. DO NOT SHARE THIS.
- ~/.ssh/new-ssh.pub: Contains you public key.
In Bitwarden desktop app, create new SSH Key > Save > Edit > Import the content of ~/.ssh/new-ssh in Private Key field. The Public Key and Fingerprint field will gets update automatically.
Again in Bitwarden, go to Settings > Check “Enable SSH agent”.

Add the Bitwarden socket file path in your config (.bashrc or .zshrc) file. Then, restart your terminal.

# For Linux/MacOS
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK="$HOME/.bitwarden-ssh-agent.sock"

Now, delete the ~/.ssh/new-ssh file. After this you only have the ~/.ssh/new-ssh.pub file.

rm ~/.ssh/new-ssh

Add the Public Key (content of ~/.ssh/new-ssh.pub) in your GitHub account.

Now create ~/.ssh/config file to add the host configuration.

~/.ssh/config

HostName github.com
 User git
 PreferredAuthentications publickey
 IdentityFile ~/.ssh/new-ssh
 IdentitiesOnly yes

Check where your config works?

ssh -T git@github.com

Clone GitHub repo like:

git clone git@github.com:user/repo

How Does Above Config Better?

It is better because the Private Key (~/.ssh/new-ssh file) is not on your system, it is safely and securely encrypted in Bitwarden and your tools are able to access it from Bitwarden SSH Agent. You may check it whether the Bitwarden SSH Agent is running or not?

ssh-add -L

Also your SSH is always available in Bitwarden, you don’t need to create new you reset your system. Just copy it from Bitwarden.

`Host` And `HostName` In `~/.ssh/config`

From gemini-3-pro

Think of your ~/.ssh/config file like the Contacts app on your phone.

Host: The Nickname you give the contact (e.g., “Mom”). This is what you type.
HostName: The actual Phone Number (e.g., 555-0199). This is where the call actually goes.

Modify the above ~/.ssh/config:

~/.ssh/config

Host gh
  HostName github.com
  User git
  PreferredAuthentications publickey
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/new-ssh
  IdentitiesOnly yes

Now you verify your SSH connection like:

ssh -T gh

Or, clone GitHub repo:

git clone gh:user/repo

Here the gh works as the alias for git@github.com

Manage SSH with Bitwarden

How Does Above Config Better?

Host And HostName In ~/.ssh/config

`Host` And `HostName` In `~/.ssh/config`