Ross ROSS = Recommend OSS · open-source software intelligence for agents

FiloSottile/yubikey-agent

yubikey-agent is a seamless ssh-agent for YubiKeys. observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/FiloSottile/yubikey-agent · homepage · Go · BSD-3-Clause (permissive) observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

32/100

  • Activity 0
  • Release rhythm 35
  • Longevity 100

Flags: no_releases

How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 2321
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 1004
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

2903 stars · 162 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

yubikey-agent is a seamless ssh-agent that stores SSH keys on YubiKey hardware via the PIV smartcard interface. It runs in the background, survives unplug/sleep, and requires a PIN and physical touch for each login.

Use cases

  • use a YubiKey as an SSH key for server logins
  • set up hardware-backed SSH authentication easily
  • require touch and PIN for every SSH login
  • keep SSH private keys non-extractable on a smartcard
  • replace ssh-agent with a YubiKey-backed agent
  • configure per-host SSH agent selection

When to choose

  • you want hardware-protected SSH keys on a YubiKey with minimal setup
  • you need an agent that tolerates sleep, suspend, and unplugging without restarts
  • you want maximum compatibility with standard SSH servers

When to avoid

  • you don't own a YubiKey or PIV-capable smartcard
  • you need Windows support, which is still work-in-progress
  • you want fully automated logins without PIN entry or physical touch

Facets

cli-tool · maturity stable

auth cryptography security cli security developer-tools go cli ssh-agent yubikey piv smartcard hardware-key ssh command-line macos linux

5 sources

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
FiloSottile/yubikey-agentmain32

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="FiloSottile/yubikey-agent")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem