Manage reusable endpoint aliases

Endpoint aliases let you store credentials and connection details once and reuse them everywhere with the @alias shorthand. Aliases live inside the encrypted ~/.connect/connect_aliases.enc store and are honored by copy, move, sync, list, remove, and other commands.

$ connect alias add
Alias name: warehouse
Endpoint (no folder, e.g. sftp://host or s3://bucket): sftp://ops@files.example.com
SFTP private key path (optional): /home/ops/.ssh/id_ed25519
SFTP key passphrase (optional):
SFTP password (optional; recommended to leave blank in URI):
Connection test: OK
Alias 'warehouse' saved. You can now use it as @warehouse in commands.

Alias lifecycle commands

• connect alias add launches an interactive wizard that validates the connection before saving. Sensitive inputs (passwords, SAS tokens, MinIO URLs) are stored outside the displayed endpoint when possible.
• connect alias list prints every alias together with a scrubbed summary of its target.

$ connect alias list
warehouse    sftp://ops@files.example.com
backups      s3://backups
analytics    sftp://analytics.example.com
# If no aliases:
$ connect alias list
No aliases configured.

• connect alias edit <name> re-runs the prompts so you can rotate credentials or switch protocols.
• connect alias delete <name> removes the record from the alias store.

Using aliases in transfers

• Reference an alias by prefixing a path with @alias, optionally followed by more folders: @warehouse/incoming/2024/.
• Mix aliases and raw endpoints in the same command. For example:

$ connect copy -r @warehouse/incoming/ @analytics/staging/,s3://backups/monthly/

• When an alias stores SFTP credentials the CLI injects them automatically, so your command line can stay clean.

Tips for secure storage

• The alias file is encrypted with the same key material used for Connect licensing. Ensure the ~/.connect directory stays restricted to the account that runs the CLI.
• Prefer storing passwords and keys within the wizard prompts instead of embedding them in URIs, so accidental shell history leaks do not expose secrets.
• Keep aliases focused on the endpoint root; append per-transfer folders directly in the command to remain flexible.