Remote sessions
A remote session moves Newt’s working side to another environment while keeping the interface on your computer. Both file panes, terminals, file operations, searches, and virtual filesystem mounts run on the target.
This is different from mounting a remote filesystem in one pane. A pane mount gives the current session access to one target’s files; a remote session makes the target the context for the whole window.
Start a session
Section titled “Start a session”Press Mod + Shift + R to open Connect, choose a target, and leave Open as a new session enabled. The connection opens in a new Newt window; your existing windows remain independent.
Newt can start full sessions through:
| Target | How it connects |
|---|---|
| SSH | Uses the system SSH client and respects ~/.ssh/config. |
| Docker or Podman | Runs the Newt agent inside a running container, including shell-less images. |
| Kubernetes | Runs the agent in a pod with kubectl exec, in a container of your choice. |
| Custom command | Uses a shell command you provide, for transports or sandboxes not covered by the built-in choices. |
| Elevated | Starts an agent through pkexec on Linux or UAC on Windows. |
| WSL | Opens a session in a Windows Subsystem for Linux distribution. |
Newt does not need to be installed on the target; it copies its agent there when connecting. Targets must run Linux or macOS on x86_64 or aarch64. See Connections and profiles for each transport’s options.
Elevated and WSL sessions are not in the Connect dialog. Run Open Elevated
from the Command Palette, or start Newt with --elevated, to open an
elevated session in a new window. On Windows, run Connect to WSL
Distribution… from the Command Palette, or start Newt with --wsl.
What runs where
Section titled “What runs where”Inside a remote session:
- both panes show files visible to the target;
- terminal processes run on the target;
- copy, move, delete, search, and archive operations run there;
- S3 and SFTP mounts use the target’s network and its AWS and SSH configuration;
- Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, SSH, and custom connections, including saved profiles, are launched from the target, so container discovery runs there too.
This makes nested workflows possible. For example, after opening an SSH session to a server, you can mount one of that server’s containers in a pane or open a second full session inside it.
Access to this host
Section titled “Access to this host”A remote session can be given access to this host, the computer running Newt.
With access, your computer’s filesystem appears in the session as an
additional Local mount for transfers between the two machines, and
newt cmd in the session’s terminals can use the clipboard and Newt’s
commands, such as opening files in local applications.
Access is off unless both of these allow it:
- Allow Remote Sessions Access to This Host, under Behavior in Settings. It is off by default, and until it is on no session gets access. Turning it off again denies access to every session connected afterwards, whatever their profiles say.
- Allow access to this host in the Connect dialog, for each connection that
opens as a session. It is greyed out, with a padlock button that opens the
setting, until Settings allows access. A saved profile remembers its own
choice; other connections, including Quick Connect recents and
newt --target, use the dialog’s last choice.
Without access, newt cmd in a remote terminal is refused; the other
newt commands still work,
because they act on the session’s own panes. A remote filesystem mounted in
one pane never reaches this host.
Connecting and disconnections
Section titled “Connecting and disconnections”While connecting, the window shows the connection’s transcript, including the transport command, SSH’s own output, and the agent bootstrap progress, which you can select and copy. After connecting, run Connection Log… from the Command Palette at any time to inspect the full transcript and agent output. SSH passwords, key passphrases, and host-key questions appear in Newt, including when the SSH process runs on the remote side of an existing session.
If the connection fails or drops, the window shows the error instead of silently returning to a local session. Choose Reconnect, or press Enter, to connect again; the panes return to their previous locations, but terminals and running operations from the lost connection are gone. Newt’s SSH connections send keepalives, so a connection that has silently died is noticed within about 90 seconds.
When a remote window is closed, Newt remembers pane locations on the target for the next session to the same target. Mounted locations such as S3, SFTP, archives, and search results are not reopened. See Windows and startup for restore settings and command-line startup paths.