SSH Access

Every Rigbox workspace is a full Linux VM with SSH access. Connect from any terminal to get a shell or transfer files.

Prerequisites

Before connecting via SSH, you need:

An SSH key pair on your local machine (e.g., ~/.ssh/id_ed25519)
A Rigbox account with an API key
At least one running workspace

If you don’t have an SSH key yet, generate one:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"

Register an SSH Key

To connect via SSH, you first need to register your public key with Rigbox. Replace <KEY_NAME> with a label you’ll recognize (for example, laptop).

rig ssh add --name <KEY_NAME>

This reads your default public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) and registers it automatically under the name you provide. To register a key from a different path, pass --file:

rig ssh add --name <KEY_NAME> --file ~/.ssh/my_rigbox_key.pub

You can register multiple SSH keys for different machines - for example, one for your laptop and one for your desktop. Give each a descriptive name so you can identify them later.

Sync Keys to a Workspace

When you create a workspace, your registered SSH keys are typically synced automatically. If you add a new key while a workspace is already running, sync it manually:

rig ssh sync --workspace <WORKSPACE_ID>

This copies all your registered public keys into the workspace VM’s ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file.

Keys are synced automatically on workspace start for most templates. You only need to run rig ssh sync if you add a key to an already-running workspace.

Connect to a Workspace

When you create a workspace, Rigbox gives you an SSH command in this format:

ssh <WORKSPACE_NAME>-<WORKSPACE_ID_SUFFIX>@<REGION>.rigbox.dev

To print the exact SSH target for a workspace at any time, run:

rig workspace ssh-info --workspace <WORKSPACE_ID>

<WORKSPACE_ID_SUFFIX> is the workspace ID with the leading ws- stripped, and <REGION> is the workspace’s region (for example, eu-west-1). For example, if your workspace is named my-project with ID ws-ctbxi8lb in the eu-west-1 region:

ssh my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev

The examples below continue with my-project / ws-ctbxi8lb / eu-west-1. Replace those with your own workspace name, ID suffix, and region. The SSH server identifies you by your registered key and routes the connection directly to your workspace VM.

The SSH command is shown in the dashboard when you create a workspace. You can also construct it from the workspace name, ID (strip the ws- prefix), and region.

Connecting to the right region

Each workspace runs on a compute node in a specific region (today: eu-west-1), and you connect to that region’s hostname directly:

ssh my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev

The dashboard always shows the correct region in the SSH command it generates, and rig ssh-info <workspace> from the CLI prints the same target. As Rigbox expands to more regions, the hostname will change accordingly — there is no central rigbox.dev:22 gateway to fall back on.

Older ssh <name>+rig@rigbox.dev instructions referred to a gateway router that is no longer deployed. If a third-party guide or older script still uses that format, replace it with the region-direct hostname.

Specify an identity file

If your key is not in the default location, specify it explicitly:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/my_rigbox_key my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev

SSH config shortcut

Add this to your ~/.ssh/config for easier access:

Host my-project
  HostName eu-west-1.rigbox.dev
  User my-project-ctbxi8lb
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Then connect with:

ssh my-project

File Transfer

Use scp to transfer files between your local machine and a workspace.

Upload a file

scp ./local-file.txt my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev:/home/developer/

Download a file

scp my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev:/home/developer/output.txt ./

Upload a directory

scp -r ./my-project my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev:/home/developer/

Using rsync

For larger transfers or syncing directories, rsync is more efficient:

rsync -avz ./my-project/ my-project-ctbxi8lb@eu-west-1.rigbox.dev:/home/developer/my-project/

Managing SSH Keys

List your registered keys

rig ssh ls

List keys synced to a workspace

rig ssh ls --workspace <WORKSPACE_ID>

This returns the keys currently in the workspace’s authorized_keys file.

Remove a key

rig ssh rm --name <KEY_NAME>

Removing a key with the CLI does not immediately remove it from running workspaces. The key will be removed the next time the workspace restarts or you run rig ssh sync.

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

If you get Connection refused, verify:

Your workspace is running (check with rig workspace ls)
Your SSH key is registered and synced
You’re using the correct username format: <WORKSPACE_NAME>-<WORKSPACE_ID_SUFFIX>@<REGION>.rigbox.dev

Permission denied

If you get Permission denied (publickey):

Check that your key is registered: rig ssh ls
Sync keys to the workspace: rig ssh sync --workspace <WORKSPACE_ID>
Verify you are using the correct identity file: ssh -v my-project-ctbxi8lb@{region}.rigbox.dev

Slow connection

If connections feel slow:

Check your network connection
Try connecting with -o ServerAliveInterval=60 to prevent timeouts
For file transfers, prefer rsync over scp for large datasets

API Reference

Add SSH Key - Register a new SSH key
List SSH Keys - List registered SSH keys
Delete SSH Key - Remove an SSH key
Sync Workspace SSH Keys - Sync keys to a workspace
List Workspace SSH Keys - List keys on a workspace

Getting Started

Concepts

Deploying & hosting

AI, automation & data

CLI Reference

Integrations & tools

Build on Rigbox

SSH Access

SSH Access

Prerequisites

Register an SSH Key

Sync Keys to a Workspace

Connect to a Workspace

Connecting to the right region

Specify an identity file

SSH config shortcut

File Transfer

Upload a file

Download a file

Upload a directory

Using rsync

Managing SSH Keys

List your registered keys

List keys synced to a workspace

Remove a key

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

Permission denied

Slow connection

API Reference

​SSH Access

​Prerequisites

​Register an SSH Key

​Sync Keys to a Workspace

​Connect to a Workspace

​Connecting to the right region

​Specify an identity file

​SSH config shortcut

​File Transfer

​Upload a file

​Download a file

​Upload a directory

​Using rsync

​Managing SSH Keys

​List your registered keys

​List keys synced to a workspace

​Remove a key

​Troubleshooting

​Connection refused

​Permission denied

​Slow connection

​API Reference

SSH Access

Prerequisites

Register an SSH Key

Sync Keys to a Workspace

Connect to a Workspace

Connecting to the right region

Specify an identity file

SSH config shortcut

File Transfer

Upload a file

Download a file

Upload a directory

Using rsync

Managing SSH Keys

List your registered keys

List keys synced to a workspace

Remove a key

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

Permission denied

Slow connection

API Reference