ASBRIDGE
Reach every instance without opening a single port.
AsBridge is a native macOS app for AWS SSM sessions and port-forwarding tunnels — shells and databases you reach through IAM, not bastion hosts, exposed SSH, or a credentials file waiting to leak.
Everything a bastion host used to do, minus the bastion host.
AsBridge wraps AWS Systems Manager in the workflow you actually want: pick an instance, launch a shell or a tunnel, and get back to work.
One-click SSM sessions
Click a row for its actions, or hit Shell to launch an interactive session in Terminal.app. No bastion host, no SSH key to manage or rotate.
Port-forwarding tunnels
Open a local tunnel to an RDS instance, a cache, or an internal service in one click — and close the whole thing in one click, too.
Localhost-only binding
Every tunnel binds to 127.0.0.1. Nothing you forward is ever reachable from another machine on your network.
Nothing stored but a name
AsBridge remembers which AWS profile you picked — never a token, key, or password. Your config file holds no secrets to leak.
Health checks that behave
Status comes from process-alive and local-port checks only. AsBridge never opens a connection to your real database on a timer.
Autostart & restart-on-failure
Tunnels you rely on daily come back up on login, and recover on their own after a drop — no re-clicking through the picker.
RDS instance picker
Browse your RDS instances by name instead of hunting through the console for endpoints and ports.
Export and import
Move your whole tunnel and profile setup to a new Mac with a single file. No reconfiguration from scratch.
A real macOS citizen
Signed DMG, a Gatekeeper-friendly install, and an IAM policy doc so security can review exactly what AsBridge is allowed to touch.
Sidebar with live status
Instances, Tunnels and Activity in one window. Running tunnels and your favorites stay pinned in the sidebar, one click from a shell or a copied address. Filter by favorites, recents or online-only.
Command palette & shortcuts
Press ⌘K to start a tunnel or open a shell without leaving the keyboard. Every action also has its own shortcut in the menu bar.
Environment-tagged tunnels
Mark tunnels Prod, Staging, Dev or Local. They group by environment, and production ones wear a red tag so you never mistake them.
Before you install it
Does AsBridge store my AWS credentials? +
No. AsBridge keeps only the name of the AWS profile you choose — never an access key, session token, or password. Your actual credentials stay exactly where your AWS CLI already keeps them.
What actually happens when I open a tunnel? +
AsBridge starts session-manager-plugin in its own process group and forwards a local port to the remote host through AWS Systems Manager. Traffic stays on IAM-authenticated infrastructure, and the local end only ever binds to 127.0.0.1.
Which terminal does the shell open in? +
Terminal.app. Shells are fire-and-forget by design — no status tracking, no stop button — support for iTerm2 and Warp is planned for a later release.
Will AsBridge kill my other terminal sessions or tunnels? +
No. It only tracks and stops processes it started itself, recorded in its own runtime file. It will never touch a session-manager-plugin process it didn't spawn — including your own live terminal.
What if my Mac restarts or a tunnel drops mid-day? +
Tunnels you've marked to autostart come back on login, and AsBridge restarts any tunnel that exits unexpectedly — a flaky network doesn't mean re-clicking through the picker.
Do I need the AWS CLI and Session Manager plugin installed separately? +
Yes — AsBridge drives your existing aws CLI and session-manager-plugin install, resolved by absolute path so it works even from a Finder-launched app with no shell PATH.
Can I bring my setup to a new machine? +
Export your profiles and tunnel definitions to a single file, then import them on the new Mac. No reconfiguration from scratch.
Is this an official AWS product? +
No. AsBridge is an independent macOS client built on top of AWS Systems Manager. It requires your own AWS account and IAM permissions to run.